y, but Kane has noticeably slowed in the last few months

The?New England Patriots?placed tight end Rob Gronkowski on injured reserve Saturday, ending his season, the team announced.Gronkowski underwent back surgery in Los Angeles on Friday, posting on social media that the surgery was successful and he was starting rehab. The Patriots had said they didnt expect Gronkowski to return this season but were waiting until after the procedure to make a final decision.Gronkowskis injury was traced to the big hit he absorbed from Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas on Nov. 13.He finishes the season with 25 catches for 540 yards and three touchdowns in eight games. He had missed time earlier in the season with a hamstring injury and bruised lung, and he left last weeks game against the New York Jets in the first half with what was described as a herniated disk in his back.The injury leaves the Patriots with tight ends Martellus Bennett and Matt Lengel on the active roster.It doesnt help losing great players, and to not have Gronk out there -- one of our best players and one of our most dependable, consistent players -- makes things challenging for us, quarterback Tom Brady told Westwood One Radio on Thursday night. But thats what the NFL season is about. Its about overcoming challenges, adversities.This was Gronkowskis third back surgery. He has had two previous surgeries to repair herniated disks in his back -- in 2009, when he was at the University of Arizona and missed the entire season, and in 2013, his fourth season with the Patriots, when he underwent surgery in June and didnt return until Week 7.He has undergone eight surgeries overall as an NFL player.This season, Gronkowski returned to action Sunday after missing the teams game against the San Francisco 49ers the week before because of a chest injury.The Patriots used their injured reserve/return designation on quarterback Jacoby Brissett on Wednesday, so the team is not able to activate Gronkowski off injured reserve if it makes a deep playoff run. Each team is allowed to designate only one player to return.Running back D.J. Foster was brought up from the practice squad to take Gronkowskis spot on the 53-man roster.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Nike Air Force 1 Billig .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Air Force 1 Dame Norge .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.airforce1norge.com/air-force-1-hvit-norge.html . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Nike Blazer Norge .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Air Force 1 Just Do It Norge . Miikka Kiprusoff had just announced his retirement after a decade-long run in Calgary and it would be up to Berra and Ramo to fill the void. The depth of a well-laid-out TLC pay-per-view card is based upon months of buildup, even though the majority of the matches were only confirmed one week ago. Three title matches seek to settle long-standing rivalries, and long conflicts in two other matches also have stipulations attached that should serve to wrap up months of good storytelling in their own right.While each of those five matchups each added a little spice to the concoction, the biggest question mark left standing surrounded something quite new -- a main event matchup between American Alpha and Wyatt Family representatives Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. In the final quarter of the show, in a match that did a great deal to spotlight what all four men could do, the quartet merely scratched the surface of what could quickly become another game-changer on SmackDown Live.Wyatt and Orton would ultimately go on to win and become the new No. 1 contenders for the SmackDown tag-team championships, but American Alpha fully enhanced their positions as the future cornerstones of the tag-team division. Jason Jordan put on incredible physical displays both early and late, suplexing both Wyatt and Orton with the greatest of ease, and showing an ability to look dominant one moment and vulnerable the next.Wyatt only enhanced that message, conveying his utter frustration at being challenged so heartily by both Jordan and Chad Gable in the early stages of the match by rolling out of the ring, ripping apart the announce table with a crazy look in his eye. He and Orton would soon take control, but even in the Wyatts dominant moments, American Alpha proved physically capable of changing the momentum on the turn of a dime.If there was a single drawback to this match, its that it didnt happen on pay-per-view and that we had to miss several chunks of it because of commercial breaks. If ever there was a time for the experimental commercial camera view that disappeared after only a week, this match wouldve been a prime candidate.Orton and Wyatt maintained a cold and calm control over the match, but an Orton Superplex came back to bite him as it gave Gable enough time to get the tag into Jordan, who came in and cleaned house. Gable seemingly neutralized Orton with a cannonball from the apron, and Jordan once again hit a chain of suplexes without once showing the signs of any struggle with the size of Wyatt. Ultimately, Luke Harper inserted himself into the match to offer assistance, but the finish was an equally inspired, and somewhat chaotic, effort as well.Wyatt was poised to hit Sister Abigail in a hurry, but Jordan got free, Gable rolled in and things seemed set up for Grand Amplitude and a shocking American Alpha win. Orton prevented that with a RKO out of nowhere, and while Jordan had one more brief surges with corner spears for both men, Harper pulled Wyatt out of the way and allowing him to hit Sister Abigail for the victory.Even with only a week to prepare and build it, this match felt like a big deal. American Alpha felt every bit on the same level as a 12-time world champion in Orton and a top-level guy like Wyatt, and this showdown felt like a prelude to something potentially special to close out 2016. As fun as the championship run of Rhyno and Heath Slater has been, it seems as if Wyatts curiously long title-less drought should finally come to an end on Sunday at TLC.If thats indeed the case, the first serious contenders for those titles should be obvious.Ambrose puts Ellsworth in the line of fire one too many timesThe long and winding road to diminutive upstart?James Ellsworth becoming a SmackDown Live superstar has been pockmarked by a few incidents, but predominantly its a very positive story of the fish out of water making good. Dean Ambrose has continued to push him along every step of the way, and despite a brief hiccup, that relationship has paid off for the No. 1 contender for the world title every step of the way.It wouldnt be that clean or simple during the return of the Ambrose Asylum Tuesday night. Ambrose invited Ellsworth down to the ring and the pair proceeded to do what theyve done so well for months -- run down AJ Styles over and over again. The mere mention of Ellsworths 3-0 record against Styles and a future title match predictably summoned the WWE world champion out to the ring.As Styles challenged every word they said and every point they made, there was a certain irony in noticing the champ use some of the same lines to bag on Ellsworth that were said about Styles himself when people brought up the prospect of him coming to the WWE. Sure, Ellsworth doesnt have the look or the athletic gifts that Styles enjoys, but when theyre standing right next to each other its clear that theyre at least of a similar heightStyles ultimately snapped, pushing Ellsworth into Ambrose, dropping the steel steps on Ambrose and dropping a ladder on Ellsworths back. After a vicious chair shot across the back as Ellsworth hung from the ring to the outside, Styles hit an elevated Styles Clash from the top of the steel stairs to the outtside of the ring to brutal effect.ddddddddddddEllsworth was immediately put in a neck collar and onto a body board, eventually wheeled all the way into an ambulance. It hammered home the realities and side effects of Ambroses efforts to belittle Styles, as Ambrose could only utter, Its my fault, as he hopped into the ambulance alongside his little buddy as it rode off.We saw Ambrose again briefly in an epilogue-type moment in the final moments of SmackDown Live. As the tag-team champions were being interviewed, Styles walked in and taunted Slater & Rhyno about their match on Sunday, only for Ambrose to come charging from off-screen to get a measure of revenge for Ellsworth with a beatdown as it faded to black.Whether its guilt or inspiration, Ellsworth is all too likely to insert himself into this situation one more time on Sunday and, unlike some instances in the past, his involvement will likely be the piece de resistance of a match thats a fitting conclusion to TLC.Hits and misses? Dolph Ziggler and Kalisto against Baron Corbin and The Miz was an enjoyable, if predictably short, way to get all four men some face time before their respective matches at TLC. The story was really told in the final minutes, as Ziggler hit a big DDT on The Miz on the outside and then a superkick to Corbin, followed by a tope suicida over the top from Kalisto in which The Miz shoved Corbin into harms way as a human target.Maryse smashed Ziggler with a ladder, in a potential tease of what she could do on Sunday, and then Corbin smashed Kalisto with a steel chair for the DQ finish.The Miz and Ziggler will tell the final chapter of their lengthy Intercontinental championship rivalry, but we got one more bit of surreal build on Talking Smack. The Miz -- sorry, Mike Mizanin, as he corrected anyone and everyone on over the course of 30 minutes -- filled in for Daniel Bryan in the hosts chair on the post-show.He was smarmy throughout the show while making good points on every topic that came up. It made for a surreal third-person interaction when Ziggler came on as the first guest, but each hammered home their points effortlessly -- The Miz especially so. In his notebook, instead of notes for the show, The Miz showed the camera that hed simply written You are awesome. He described how its his personal approach to life, and it was 100 percent of everything The Miz has been over the last few months thats made him one of the most entertaining guys on WWE television.? In a reversal of their last contract signing, Becky Lynch took the first swing at Alexa Bliss and landed a punch flush in the mouth. The crowd was hot for the whole segment, but the conceit of having another contract signing became clear as Lynch pulled the tablecloth off the table and set Lynch up for a Bex-plex from the top rope. Bliss would ultimately take control and pushed Lynch through the table, setting up the final missing piece for Sundays gimmick-laden card -- a tables match. Lynch accepted later in the show, and she used some PG-13-level language to do it.It should provide a level playing ground for Bliss who, for every bit of improvement shes shown in the ring during this rivalry, is still a couple of steps behind the longtime ring veteran that is the SmackDown womens champion. I can point to another tables match with a championship on the line -- John Cenas showdown with Sheamus for the WWE world championship at TLC 2009 -- as the perfect example of a device that can deliver the title to someone who, at times, can be a bit overmatched in the ring. Putting serious doubt into the result will only raise the stakes and tension in this one.? Luke Harper versus Kane, with Kane winning clean for the second time in a row. I get it, Harper is supposed to be feeling the heat of proving himself within The Wyatt Family. But enough of making him lose to Kane, and, quite frankly, enough of Kane as the gatekeeper to the upper-card if few people are going to pass through it.The match itself was okay, but Kane has noticeably slowed in the last few months as hes maintained a somewhat active role on SmackDown Live. At 49, there has to come a time when a guy like Harper -- someone who embodies a lot of the things that Kane could do at his peak -- can actually get one over and look good in a showdown like this.Still as dominant as hes ever been, said JBL on commentary, just moments after talking about how he battled Kane in the 1990s and the aughts. Harper has been made to look foolish ever since his return, and losses like the one he suffered Tuesday (and during the Survivor Series kickoff show) have only served to further extinguish some of the hype he had upon his return. Its time to light a fire under this guy and see just what he can do, and if that doesnt get ignited by an absolute decimation of Kane in the near-future or a well-executed moment within the Wyatt Family, the window for Harper could get closed in a hurry. ' ' '