TMZ Sports - Page 40

We may have just found the world's biggest Dwayne Johnson fan ... a man in Mexico absolutely lost it, breaking down in tears as "The Rock" signed his WWE belt, and it was super sweet.

It all went down this week during Johnson's #BlackAdamWorldTour ... where he was promoting his upcoming superhero film.

DJ shared the clip on Instagram ... showing fans in Mexico City eagerly waiting to meet the actor -- and one of 'em had a WWE belt for the former wrestler to sign.

Johnson LOVES his fans and was more than happy to autograph the belt ... and that's when the guy is overcome with emotions to the point he starts shaking and praying.

"Thank you! Thank you, Rock! Thank you," the fan says, giving DJ a handshake.

"An emotional night," Johnson wrote in the caption, "Lots of tears of joy."

"Even my cold, dark soul gets a little emotional when I see people start to break and cry. It's a beautiful thing. THANK YOU MEXICO I love you back."

This memorable moment comes just a week after a younger fan met with the 50-year-old after waiting 2 hours.

And, like in Mexico City, the young girl, Carol, cried while they took photos and video together.

"This awesome girl (Carol) waited two hours to finally meet BLACK ADAM⚡️," Johnson said, "His heart may be cold and black, but it still beats 🖤 Especially, for kids."

Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann got a very personal security check, mate ... getting his ass scanned outside the U.S. Chess Championships days after he was accused of using said rear-end to cheat dozens of times.

Security took a good long look at Hans' butt with a metal detector outside the Saint Louis Chess Club, where the championship began on Tuesday. The guard was pretty thorough in his search -- considering the female competitor in front of him didn't even have to turn around for her scan.

Sure looks like the Chess Club folks have heard some widespread Internet buzz about exactly how Niemann might be cheating.

An investigation opened Tuesday by Chess.com against Hans ... claiming he "likely cheated" in more than 100 online matches. World champ Magnus Carlsen first accused Hans of cheating in over-the-board matches, and then interested chess fans suggested online he could be using a vibrating butt plug to tip him off on moves.

For his part, Hans denies cheating, in general, and specifically using a sex toy. After a big win in the first round, he said, "I'm not going to back down and I'm going to play my best chess here regardless of the pressure that I'm under.” He's also said he'd play naked if necessary.

Brittney Griner's wife says the WNBA star has hit the lowest moment of her life while locked up in Russia ... saying the basketball player has told her, "I feel like my life just doesn't matter."

Cherelle Griner nearly came to tears while discussing the state of her wife with Gayle King this week ... explaining she's never seen Brittney reach such a dark place before.

"BG's at her absolute weakest moment in life right now," Cherelle said. "She's very afraid about being left and forgotten in Russia. Or just completely used to the point of her detriment."

Brittney was arrested in February after she was accused of bringing hashish oil in her luggage to a Moscow airport. She later fessed up to the crime, and was sentenced to nine years in prison over it all in August. She is appealing the ruling, though she's expected to lose that at a hearing later this month.

And, Cherelle said the last time they were able to speak on the phone, she sensed something was very wrong with her wife.

"It was the most disturbing phone call I had ever experienced," Cherelle said. "And I've known BG 11 years. So I'm like, that was the most disturbing conversation."

Cherelle said Brittney has told her things like, "My life just don't even matter no more," and, "Am I just nothing?"

Cherelle added that she's very worried Brittney could ultimately be moved to a labor camp following her appeal hearing on Oct. 25.

"My brain can't even fathom it," she said.

AEW fans appear to be choosing a side in the beef between Sammy Guevara and Andrade ... chanting, "F*** you, Sammy," during Wednesday night's 'Dynamite' event.

It all went down at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. -- Guevara and Chris Jericho were partners fighting against Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia.

The match started with Jericho and Garcia face-to-face in the middle of the ring ... but the AEW fans quickly turned their attention to Guevarra, reciting the chant, "F*** you, Sammy."

We broke the story ... Guevarra and Andrade, son-in-law of WWE legend and Hall of Famer Ric Flair, were involved in a backstage altercation Wednesday night.

The tension between the two wrestling stars was so high, things got physical, and punches were thrown ... according to our sources.

The bad blood had been brewing since Sammy and Andrade had a back-and-forth on Twitter Tuesday night, and things finally came to a head once the two saw each other at the event.

As for if this budding feud is a part of an AEW storyline ... our sources tell us that's not the case, and the drama between the two men is real.

As a result, Andrade was sent home, but Sammy was still allowed to compete ... which ticked off the AEW fans.

LeBron James sent a message loud and clear to Adam Silver on Wednesday night ... sayin' if the NBA expands to Las Vegas, he's calling dibs on owning the new team.

"I want the team here, Adam," the Lakers superstar said. "Thank you."

James, a newly crowned billionaire, has made the public plea to get the Sin City squad before -- back in June, he said on an episode of "The Shop" his goal was to be the LV honcho one day.

But, following L.A.'s 119-115 preseason loss to the Suns in Vegas, James made it crystal clear to media members in attendance that he was dead serious about it all.

"I would love to bring a team here at some point," James said on the postgame podium. "That would be amazing."

Unclear if the Association has imminent plans to expand -- but if a move to 32 teams is on the horizon, rumors have swirled that Seattle and Las Vegas would be the targets.

James is clearly in love with the Nevada idea ... going as far as to say Vegas has "the best fan base in the world."

A man is suing the New England Patriots Hall of Fame ... claiming it ruined his one-of-a-kind, Tom Brady signed American flag -- costing him potentially over $1 MILLION.

The guy's name is Daniel Vitale ... and he says in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, that back in early 2020, he acquired a flag that had been autographed by the G.O.A.T.

In his lawsuit, Vitale says the flag was ultra-rare. It had flown at Foxboro Stadium during a Patriots vs. Dolphins game in 2001 -- the same season that Brady first took over as the starter in New England -- and was signed by the quarterback a few years later. Vitale said he believed it to be the only American flag known to be signed by TB12 in existence.

Vitale says in the suit that in 2021, about a year after he got the piece, he reached out to the Pro Football Hall of Fame to see if it wanted to put it on display. He claims it did, but only after Brady and his former head coach, Bill Belichick, had retired.

The HOF, according to Vitale, suggested he reach out to the Patriots Hall of Fame at Gillette Stadium to gauge its interest in the flag in the meantime. Vitale claims in his suit that the Pats HOF wanted it -- and officials there promised him it would be "curated to the highest standard."

Vitale says he handed it over under that premise ... and it was almost immediately displayed underneath the Brady Super Bowl XLIX jersey that had been infamously stolen and later recovered.

Vitale, though, said months later ... he was considering asking for it back. He said due to Brady's potential retirement and the subsequent skyrocketing value of Brady memorabilia, he was thinking about putting it up for auction.

But, that's when he says he found out that the QB's autograph had faded due to what he claims is the way the HOF improperly displayed the piece.

In the suit, Vitale said "neither the lighting at [the facility] nor the glass [it] used for case displaying the flag were designed to protect autographed sports memorabilia."

He added, "there was a significant gap in the glass directly in front of the flag through which unfiltered light and heat could pass."

All of it, he said, caused the T and other parts of Brady's signature to significantly fade.

In a video of Vitale recovering the flag, you can hear he was crushed to see the state it was in.

In the suit, he said due to the Patriots HOF's mishandling of the flag, the value of it decreased by potentially as much as over $1 million.

He's asking for damages.

AEW stars Sammy Guevara and Andrade were just involved in a backstage altercation, sources tells TMZ Sports, and Andrade has been sent home.

We're told the incident happened backstage at an AEW Dynamite show at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington D.C. Wednesday night.

Sources tell us words were exchanged, and then things turned physical. Sammy allegedly pushed Andrade, and punches were thrown, according to our sources. It's unclear if anyone was hit.

Our sources are adamant the altercation was not part of an AEW storyline.

As for the reason for the fight ... the guys have been in an intense beef that's spilled over on social media. On Tuesday, the wrestlers went back and forth on Twitter.

Our sources say several wrestlers are pissed at Sammy for publicly airing personal/private issues, and things just boiled over at the arena.

Andrade posted somewhat of a cryptic message on social media.

We've reached out to AEW for comment ... but so far, no word back.

Bellator star Aaron Pico says he needs surgery after separating his shoulder in the first round of his Bellator 286 fight Saturday, telling TMZ Sports he'll likely be out 4 to 6 months.

"I'll be having surgery soon," the 26-year-old Bellator fighter says, adding ... "I'm just having some numbness in my fingers right now, and they're just waiting for the numbness to go away, and then immediate surgery. They say I'll probably be out 4 to 6 months, so it's not that long."

Of course, Pico, the number 4 ranked Bellator featherweight, dislocated his shoulder throwing a hook within 30 seconds of the first round of his fight with Jeremy Kennedy. Miraculously, Aaron was able to survive nearly an entire round with his shoulder dangling.

In-between rounds, Aaron directed his coach -- who obviously isn't a doctor -- to pop his shoulder back into place. Unfortunately, they didn't have any luck. That's when the ringside physician came to the cage and ultimately stopped the fight, despite Pico pleading with him to fix the injury and let him continue.

Aaron addressed fans who've attacked his coach for trying to get the shoulder back in the socket. He also tells us why the ringside doc wouldn't just pop the shoulder back in place.

Officially, Aaron lost the fight ... but the fact he was able to scrap 4+ minutes with a serious injury is insane, and goes to show how tough he is.

Shockingly, Pico says the injury didn't hurt ... at first.

"I just felt stuck, like something was blocking it, but I wasn't in pain," Pico says, adding he immediately left the cage before Kennedy was announced as the winner because he recognized he needed to get to the hospital.

Then the adrenaline wore off ... and well, it hurt, bad.

"Then when I got to the back, the pain really set in, and then when I got into the ambulance, I can handle pain, but I started to shed a few tears because I was like this thing is the worst pain I've ever been in."

It was just last week that Pico, along with best friend and fellow Bellator star AJ McKee, came to the TMZ office and sat down with Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and vowed to be champion one day soon.

Aaron's injury may have delayed his goal ... but it did anything but derail it.

In fact, he's already thinking about his return ... and ideally, he'd fight the guy at the very top of the division, Patricio Pitbull.

"If I'm being selfish, of course, I'd like to go straight for the title, but I believe Jeremy Kennedy deserves a rematch."

"If I need to fight him again, I will. If they want me to fight for the title, it's all good. I have nothing but respect for Kennedy. He didn't know my shoulder was out and he came to fight. Tough guy, s**t happens. There's nothing you can really do.".

The fan who was leveled by Bobby Wagner after running onto the field during "Monday Night Football" this week has now filed a police report over the incident ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The man went to the Santa Clara Police Dept. on Tuesday following the Rams vs. 49ers game, cops tell us, and filed the report. A spokesperson did not reveal any further details.

A rep for Direct Action Everywhere -- the org. that took credit for the wild scene at Levi's Stadium -- told us the report stems from a "blatant assault" by two Rams players.

As we reported, two protesters jumped railing at the stadium during the second quarter of the contest ... and armed with pink smoke bombs, they attempted to disrupt the action on the field.

One of the protesters, a woman, was taken down before she could get onto the playing surface. The other protester, though, evaded security long enough to take a jaunt on the gridiron.

The guy juked stadium staffers for several moments ... but as he headed toward the Rams' sideline, Wagner -- with some help from teammate Takkarist McKinley -- flattened him.

Security took over, and the fans were eventually detained, cited and released.

According to Direct Action Everywhere, the individuals performed the stunt in order to raise awareness for a trial involving the alleged theft of pigs from a factory farm. The org. said the man suffered a burn injury during the incident.

"Otherwise," they said in a statement, "they're a bit beaten up but in good spirits."

For his part, Wagner said after the game he jumped in to help security for safety reasons.

"You don't know what that fan got or what they're doing," the star linebacker said.

Wagner has not been arrested or charged with any crime.

Aaron Judge's 62nd homerun ball has gotten a ton of attention, and with a value of $2 million, justifiably so ... but it's not the only ridiculously valuable piece of memorabilia, the uniform, bat, cleats and batting gloves are also worth a fortune!

TMZ Sports talked to David Kohler from SCP Auctions -- one of the industry leaders in sports memorabilia -- about the value of basically everything but the record-setting baseball.

"Certainly the bat, the tool, the trade that he used yesterday to hit this historical milestone home run. That bat's worth a lot of money and the uniform he wore. Those are Aaron Judge's basically right, so I'm sure he's keeping those, but again if we had those at auction, in our firm, SCP Auctions, that's gonna probably bring, for a pair, probably a million dollars."

"Of course, his cleats that he wore, his batting helmet of course -- all those things are gonna bring big bucks for this very historical moment."

And, Kohler says if Aaron were to inscribe any of the items, they'd be worth even more!

As for the baseball, it's still the most valuable item from the historic game ... and worth upwards of $2 million.

"This baseball's worth a lot of bucks! Our estimate actually, with everything that's gone on in the last week or two leading up to the last game yesterday, our estimate is over $2 million for this baseball!"

FYI, Kohler's company has auctioned some of the most important balls in sports history ... including Barry Bonds' 500th, 755th, 756th and 762nd HR ball, as well as Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire's 500th HR baseball.

And, they'd like to add Judge's 62nd ball to the impressive list.

"We haven't talked to him personally yet, but we reached out to him," Kohler says, adding the situation is very much like a "lottery ticket landing in your lap."

Joe Burrow is speaking out about his own experiences with hard hits to the head following Tua Tagovailoa's recent injury ... revealing he's blacked out and completely lost memory of parts of games.

The Cincinnati Bengals superstar's comments come as the topic of concussions has returned to the spotlight this season ... after the Dolphins allowed their star QB to play in a game just four days after he appeared to suffer a serious head injury against the Bills.

Burrow says, unfortunately, these things will continue to happen due to the nature of the sport ... and players know what they're signing up for.

"You're going to have head injuries," Burrow said on Colin Cowherd's podcast. "You're going to tear your ACL. You're going to break your arm. That's the game that we play. That's the life that we live."

Burrow -- who said he's had concussions where he didn't remember the second half of a game or an entire game -- said there's an inherent risk associated with the sport that he accepts.

"I know I got a little dizzy at one point," Burrow said on the podcast. "But nothing long-lasting."

Tua's situation has sparked serious concern with the Dolphins' handling of concussions ... with many questioning why he was even on the field to get hit in the head again on Thursday after suffering what looked like a possible head injury just four days prior against the Bills.

Tagovailoa's situation was so serious, Dr. Bennet Omalu -- the famed neurologist portrayed by actor Will Smith in the 2015 movie "Concussion" -- told us Tua should walk away from the NFL.

"If you love your life, if you love your family, you love your kids -- if you have kids -- it's time to gallantly walk away," Omalu said. "Go find something else to do."

"Sometimes money is not more valuable than human life. $20 billion is not worth more than your brain."

Myles Garrett is back on the football field ... just over one week after his terrifying car crash in Ohio.

The Cleveland Browns superstar was seen doing drills during team practice on Wednesday ... and you can tell the guy was hyped about putting on the pads once again.

The media at the Browns' training facility recorded the defensive end warming up and participating in individual defensive drills.

Ashley Bastock of Cleveland.Com said the 26-year-old even winked at the camera during his workout.

This is definitely a good look for Garrett ... especially since the three-time Pro Bowler suffered a shoulder and bicep strain after his Porsche 911 Turbo S flipped multiple times in a vicious crash last Monday.

Garrett -- who was cited for the accident -- says he was with a female passenger in Sharon Township, Medina County when he was speeding at 65 MPH in the 45 zone ... and confessed that this incident was a "wake-up call".

"Just trying to be smart overall with driving," Garrett said to the media last week. "Don't take it for granted ... You know, just take my time."

Gisele Bündchen got the kids out of the house for a workout -- hitting the gym in Miami as the supermodel and Tom Brady's marriage is seemingly all but over.

42-year-old Bündchen -- who was also spotted at the gym on Monday -- is focusing on her fitness as she remains in South Beach ... and on Tuesday, she brought Ben and Vivian along for the sweat session.

Gisele rocked a white tank and gray sweats for the workout -- and per usual, she was not wearing her wedding ring.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Gisele and Tom have been on the hunt for divorce lawyers for weeks ... and our sources say their relationship is pretty much beyond repair. In fact, Page Six is reporting Bündchen has already hired representation.

Both Gisele and Tom were forced to head south ahead of Hurricane Ian ... but while Brady returned to Tampa for the Bucs' game against the Chiefs, Bündchen elected to stay in Miami.

Uhhhhhhh ... that's not a cat toy!!

Serena Williams' adorable 5-year-old daughter occupied herself by playing with a cat toy -- also referred to as a tampon -- in a TikTok video posted by the newly retired tennis legend.

The clip shows Olympia unwrapping a tampon and pushing it out of the applicator in the bathroom.

Williams asked Olympia what she was playing with ... and she responded, "It's a cat toy for Karma."

Serena was clearly amused, at first -- holding back laughter and making faces at the camera -- that is until Olympia continued to unwrap more "toys."

Side note: a box of tampons ain't cheap.

"Okay, no," Williams said, "Let’s not play with too many of those" ... but Olympia vowed to open only one more.

The 41-year-old thought the whole thing was dope, though -- captioning the video ... "Who am I to steal her joy, it’s a Cat Toy! 🗣Don’t @ me #OlympiasWorld."

Her fans thought it was hysterical, as well ... with one person commenting, "😂😂 At least it’s a cat toy. My son used them on a school project as clouds 😂😂😂."

Another fan gave Olympia an "A for creativity" ... while someone else said, "you bout to have to go to the store!" to restock on tampons.

The fan who jumped over the stadium railing in an attempt to catch Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball somehow avoided injury ... but he did get some bad news following the fall -- he was immediately booted from the stadium.

The guy left his seat and jumped several feet onto a concourse below in an effort to land the historic baseball in the first inning of NY's game against the Rangers in Texas ... but he came up empty -- as the Yankees slugger's historic blast ultimately landed into a man's mitt in the first row.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the guy apparently avoided broken bones in the jump -- although he didn't necessarily escape unscathed, 'cause cops tell us he was met by security guards who tossed him from the venue.

We're told the Rangers did have an opportunity to press charges against the guy and/or issue him a criminal trespass warning -- but they declined, so cops let him go without further incident.

As we reported, Cory Youmans -- a finance worker in Dallas -- was the one who caught the ball ... which, according to SCP Auctions' David Kohler, is worth $2 MILLION.

Youmans told reporters at the stadium he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it.

Brittney Griner's wife, Cherelle, is speaking out for the first time since the WNBA star was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia ... saying it feels like her partner is being held as "a hostage" in the foreign country.

Cherelle sat down for an interview with Gayle King this week -- and explained she's absolutely "terrified" of what's going on with Griner, her trial, and the negotiations to get her out.

"It's like a movie for me," she said. "In no world did I ever thought our president and a foreign nation president would be sitting down having to discuss the freedom of my wife."

Griner -- who's been married to Cherelle since 2019 -- was arrested in February in Russia after she was found to have hashish oil in her luggage while at an airport.

During her trial, Griner admitted to having the substances in her bag, but she told a judge that she packed it by mistake and had no intentions of breaking Russian laws. She was eventually found guilty -- and sentenced to nine years behind bars.

She is appealing the ruling, and the date for a hearing on that matter has been set for Oct. 25.

Cherelle says it's all been a horrifying experience for her.

"As much as everybody's telling me a different definition of what BG is, it feels to me as if she's a hostage," Cherelle said. "It terrifies me."

Cherelle told King she has legitimate worries that she may never see her wife again.

"When you watch movies," she said, "sometimes those situations don't end well. Sometimes they never get the person back."