Eddie Kingston has revealed that The Bunny is now a member of his “family” in All Elite Wrestling. Kingston made the announcement during this week’s episode of AEW Dark.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the family is back together,” said Kingston. “You’ve got my best friend Pentagon, you’ve got Fenix—the best tag team in the universe. […] You’ve got the big Butcher, you got the jacked-up Blade, and look at this beautiful specimen right here. Look who’s back? The Bunny. And now that we’re all together, everybody’s going to pay.”
By aligning herself with Eddie Kingston and his stable, The Bunny is once again with The Butcher and the Blade. She originally debuted as the team’s valet. Bunny would later become a part of the Nightmare Family, where she formed a tag team with Brandi Rhodes and accompanied QT Mashall ringside.
However, with this new defection, it appears as though The Bunny may no longer be a part of the Nightmare Family, subsequently breaking up her team with Brandi, the Nightmare Sisters. The pair took part in AEW’s recent Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament. They were almost victorious, making it all the way to the finals on the 8/22 episode of Dynamite. They ultimately lost to tournament winners Diamante and Ivelisse.
If you use any quotes from this article, please provide a H/T to SEScoops.
Sheamus has seemingly found some newfound respect for New Day member Big E following their recent SmackDown feud. As far as The Celtic Warrior is concerned, the new Big E “should be world champion.”
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Sheamus reflected on their rivalry on WWE’s blue brand. He explained how the world “saw a different side of Big E” during their feud, claiming that this new Big E is deserving of a world championship run.
Sheamus shared how he “[…] hit him as hard as I could, and he hit me back even harder. That’s a credit to him. He brought it, and I still have the marks on my back to prove it.”
This hard-hitting affair was by design. Sheamus stressed it was always his intention to demonstrate how tough Big E is with their feud.
“My intention, as soon as I learned I was working with Big E, was to show he is a tough bastard. I wanted to show a side of him that no one had ever seen. We all know he can joke and crack people up, but when it comes to a fight, he can also hold his own against anybody.”
Following the recent WWE Draft, Sheamus is now a Raw Superstar. Big E, however, remained on SmackDown. His New Day teammates, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, were also moved to Raw.
WCW Wrestler Johnny Meadows has passed away due to complications from COVID-19 according to posts on his official Facebook account.
The former WCW star who was close to 60 years old had tested positive for the virus in late September and according to reports, he had been on ventilator support since 28 September.
Meadows, whose real name was John Condrone, apparently passed away due to complications with his health sometime on Tuesday.
The veteran wrestler began his career in Southeastern Championship Wrestling where he competed against performers such as Kevin Sullivan, Hector Guerrero, and Dick Murdoch.
He held victories over notable names like Abdullah the Butcher and Stomper and he also competed in title matches against World Champions like Ric Flair and “Crazy” Luke Graham
During his career, Johnny Meadows had stints with many top promotions of his time including short runs in companies such as WCW, ECW, Georgia Championship Wrestling, and others.
Apart from the Meadows character, he was known for several other wrestling characters such as The Paradise City Rockers (with Joey Cazana), The Dream Team (with Don Lucas), The Playboys, The Crusiers (with Terry Bronson) and more.
We at SEScoops send our condolences to the family and friends of Johnny Meadows.
The company has announced that a special edition of the studio show will air this Friday night live from the WWE ThunderDome at the Amway Center in Orlando.
The special one night only episode of the show will air at 10pm ET, right after the episode of SmackDown goes off air and the replay of the blue branded show will then air at 11pm ET.
For those who don’t know, this Friday’s episode of SmackDown will be airing on FS1 because of Game 3 of the MLB World Series airing on FOX on the same night.
WWE Backstage premiered in November 2019 after SmackDown moved to Fox network and it continued airing until mid-March before the production of the show was halted due to COVID-19.
It was then cancelled in June and it’s believed to be one of the reasons why former WWE broadcast personality Renee Young who was one of the hosts of the show left WWE.
The show was hosted by Booker T alongside Young and it featured regular appearances from former wrestling stars such as CM Punk, Paige and Christian.
WWE has not confirmed the personalities for this special edition of WWE Backstage so far and it would be interesting to see who they bring in to host the show this Friday night.
There has been talk of Daniel Cormier possibly joining WWE in coming times and during a recent interview, the Miz revealed his thoughts on the possibility. TMZ Sports recently caught up with the A Lister and they asked him about the speculations of the former MMA star joining the pro wrestling world.
Replying to it, The Miz suggested that the transition from MMA to wrestling is very difficult and claimed that not many people can be as successful as the former Raw women’s champion Ronda Rousey was:
“It’s very difficult, not many people are able to do it, not many people can be as successful as Ronda Rousey was. She came in and really did a tremendous job in just acclimating to our style of professional wrestling. She did a great job and if he can do that, that’s fantastic, but some people just can’t get it.”
The reporter pointed out how Cormier has the charisma needed for becoming a WWE superstar and The Miz interestingly responded by saying “It takes a little more than charisma to be a successful Superstar.”
Advice For Daniel Cormier
The former Intercontinental Champion then went on to explain that there is no trick to make it into the world of wrestling. When asked what advice he would give Daniel if he does pursue a career in professional wrestling, The Miz said that the best advice he got was to stick with it:
“Stick with it, because there’s a lot of reasons that will tear you apart from it. That’s the best advice I’d ever gotten when I was first starting in WWE, not even in WWE, before WWE when I was in independent wrestling. I asked some Superstars what would be the best advice, the best advice I got was stick with it.
Because I watched so many people quit, I watched so many people look at it and go, ‘This is too hard on my body, too hard on everything, I don’t like traveling.’ There’s always an excuse, you know? Screw the excuse.”
Later in the interview, The Miz acknowledged how he made the jump from reality TV to WWE and claimed that he still loves his job. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
The ending of this week’s episode of Raw confused a lot of people with many wondering if the company ran out of time during the broadcast but latest reports suggest that this wasn’t the case.
The Hell In A Cell go home edition of the show saw Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton continue the build for their upcoming championship match in the final segment of the show.
Orton had locked himself inside the Hell In A Cell structure and he was cutting a promo on McIntyre when the WWE champion came out and tried to gain access to the cell.
Drew finally got inside the cage after using a pair of bolt cutters to cut the lock of the cage door and the show ended just before the former NXT champion could attack the Viper.
A lot of people wondered if this ending was a case of WWE running out of time for their broadcast and if they had planned a brawl between the two to hype their upcoming bout but it wasn’t the case.
According to reports from PWInsider, the segment went as planned. It wasn’t a case of the company running out of time and the ending took place exactly as approved by Vince McMahon.
The two stars will now face each other in a Hell In A Cell match at the PPV this Sunday and it would be interesting to see who comes out victorious in this bout.
2020 has been a year of releases with many big names becoming free agents and jumping ships and now another name seems to have joined the list in Impact Wrestling star Daga.
According to reports from WrestlingInc, the high flying star had asked for his release from the company a while back and the officials have now granted his request.
Daga made his Impact debut in February last year and the company had held off his release request while trying to re-sign him but the management did not succeed in their efforts.
The now-former Impact star is probably best known for his time with AAA in Mexico where he spent six years of his career from 2011 to 2017 and won multiple titles, including the AAA cruiserweight championship once.
He was asked about a potential AEW signing last year but Daga had confirmed that he hasn’t talked to the promotion, though he had shown interest in growing his name in the American market.
Now it would be interesting to see where the former Impact star goes next after his release and if WWE or AEW officials show any interest in signing the Mexican wrestler to their promotion in the coming times.
WWE has been criticized by many for gathering people and running shows during the coronavirus pandemic but it appears that their troubles might just be getting started. Latest reports have confirmed that The Orange County, Florida Department of Health is investigating several of the WWE arenas as potential locations where the coronavirus might be spreading.
The health department has asked their Strike Team to look into a total of 17 business locations as potential coronavirus hotspots including a number of bars and fitness centers. The list of places also includes several sites associated with WWE and the locations include the NXT arena at Full Sail University campus, WWE Performance Center, and the WWE ThunderDome at the Amway Arena.
A WWE spokesperson issued the following response to the story explaining that their arenas are not open to the public and they are producing shows with only the essential personnel in attendance:
“WWE is not open to the public, but rather operating on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance. As part of on-going weekly testing protocols, Aventus Labs have administered more than 10,000 PCR tests to WWE performers, employees, production staff and crew resulting in only 1.5 percent positive cases as compared to the current national average of more than 5%. Additionally, extensive contact tracing takes place and impacted individuals are placed in 14-day quarantine and then only cleared after they test negative.”
There is no word yet on what kind of action the health department could take against the company. We will keep you updated on any development in the story.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.777 million viewers with a 0.52 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was down from last week, which did 1.855 million viewers and 0.57 demo rating.
To compare, just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.341 million viewers. This marked the first episode of RAW with its new roster after last week’s Draft and the go-home show for Sunday’s Hell in a Cell event.
WWE went up against an NFL game that aired on ESPN, which was between the Cardinals and Cowboys that had 11.317 million viewers.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 1.806 million, 0.50 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.835 million, 0.56 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.689 million, 0.49 in the 18-49 Demo
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.124 million viewers on FOX. This is down from the 2.178 million viewers that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown averaged 1.987 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 2.087 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 1.978 million viewers while the second hour did 1.995 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.156 million viewers while the second hour did 2.017 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
Sami Callihan will go one-on-one with his longtime rival Eddie Edwards tonight on AXS TV and Twitch. At Bound For Glory, Callihan will be in Ken Shamrock’s corner as he takes on Edwards. Shamrock and Callihan have formed an alliance in the promotion. They previously feuded and then formed a tag-team.
“If you told a 14-year-old Sami Callihan that he’d be tag-teaming with Ken Shamrock, he’d freak out,” Callihan said in an interview with Slam Wrestling. “But, now, as a grown man, I don’t just look at him like a legend – I look at him as an equal, a co-worker. I look at it as a big feather in my cap that I’m the person they put with him after he came back to wrestling after being gone for so many years. Because they knew we could really do good business.”
Callihan also spoke about the last couple of years he has spent in Impact Wrestling. He won the company’s world title and has had high-profile feuds with Rich Swann, Tessa Blanchard and others.
“To go from someone like Pentagon Jr. then to Brian Cage, to Rich Swann, to Tessa Blanchard, then to Ken Shamrock. Anyone you put me in the ring with, I’m going to bring out the best in them.”
Scarlett Bordeaux has provided an injury update on Karrion Kross. The former NXT Champion was forced to vacate the title shortly after winning it from Keith Lee at TakeOver 30 due to suffering a separated shoulder.
According to an Instagram post from Bordeaux, however, Kross’ recovery is going well. “Everyone loves a comeback, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes.”
“We’re getting closer… and he’s about to be the deadliest piece on the board,” Scarlett wrote regarding Kross’ recovery. “
Bordeaux included a video of Kross using a pulley to life both her and another person from a seated position in her post.
Kross currently holds a perfect 7-0 record in NXT. He’s defeated Leon Ruff, Liam Gray, Tommaso Ciampa, Bronson Reed, Dominik Dijakovic, Danny Burch, and Keith Lee. There is currently no timetable for his return.
Separated shoulders typically take between 2-3 months to recover from but it depends on the severity of the injury.
Kross became the 18th wrestler to ever win the NXT title when he did so at TakeOver 30. He began the 20th reign in the title’s lineage before being forced to vacate the belt the next week.
Darby Allin says that he and Steve-O have something planned for Dynamite tomorrow night. Allin will challenge for the TNT Championship coming up on November 7th at Full Gear.
Allin posted a short video featuring him and Steve-O talking about this upcoming episode of Dynamite.
“Hey everybody, I’m Steve-O,” the Jackass star begins the video. “And we all know that Darby Allin is going to be competing for the TNT Championship on November 7th and clearly, there is something really wrong with him because before that match he is going to do this…”
The camera then pans down to reveal a body bag with the words “Face of TNT” on it.
“All kidding aside, this has bad news written all over it,” Steve-O continued.
Darby Allin’s video with Steve-O can be viewed in the Tweet below:
This isn’t the first time Steve-O has been involved with wrestling. Along with Chris Pontius, he appeared on an episode of WWE RAW from 2006. They ended up getting physically involved with Umaga during the show and the Samoan Bulldozer didn’t take kindly to them not selling moves enough to his liking.
“The Samoan Drop, I’ll tell you, it hurt. Like, I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t breathe,” Pontius later said of the experience.
“So now the match is supposed to be over, but I don’t know that I have to play dead,” Steve-O added. “So, I keep moving around and I’m like, ‘Oh!’ and he’s not done beating me up. Now, he’s going to hit me with a f–king elbow that actually knocked me into a blackout. And I showed this to Jason Ellis and he said, ‘Dude, that is not a WWE elbow. That is an MMA [elbow]’, and I’m begging him, like, ‘Please stop doing this to me!’ But that means that he has to keep doing it because I’m moving around. I don’t remember leaving the ring and they just cut to commercial.”
Former President of TNA/Impact Wrestling, Dixie Carter, recently sent out a Tweet promoting the Bound For Glory PPV scheduled for this Saturday. Carter was responding to a Tweet from Scott D’Amore when she made the comments. D’Amore is promising to send a personal video to anyone who pre-orders the PPV from FITE.
Elijah Burke Says Dixie Carter Doesn’t Get Enough Credit
Elijah Burke recently mentioned that he doesn’t feel Dixie Carter gets enough credit for her work in wrestling. He was speaking with the Wrestling EpiCenter podcast when he said Dixie gets a bum rap.
“Certainly, she gets a bum rap and she doesn’t get enough credit for what she did do, which was take a company that was going under and made it a national company and made it a somewhat profitable company. Sure, she was not the wrestling genius or wrestling mastermind, as so many other people have pointed out. But, when it came to the promotion and what needed to be to get IMPACT to a respectable number 2 at the time, she did that. She did that!”
The Lineup For Bound For Glory
Here is the lineup for Saturday’s Bound For Glory event:
Impact World Championship Eric Young (c) vs Rich Swann
Knockouts Championship Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs Kylie Rae
Impact Tag Team Championships The Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs the Good Brothers vs The North vs Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
X-Division Championship Rohit Raju (c) vs Jordynne Grace vs TJP vs Chris Bey vs Trey Miguel vs Willie Mack
Goldberg’s name had become a synonym with his undefeated streak and it made him one of the biggest attractions for WCW until the decision was made to end this record run.
On the latest episode of the Keepin’ it 100 podcast, Disco Inferno who was part of the WCW roster during the time period, revealed how the former world champion reacted backstage after his loss.
Goldberg was worried about his future with the company after the loss. In fact, he felt that he was getting buried:
“He was like talking about like an appearance he had to make or something and started talking like, ‘if they even want me now?’ Like he was thinking, like he got completely buried.
This was his first loss. Right? Nash was showering and then when Nash was drying, Nash asked Bill, he goes, ‘Do I have heat over this?’ Bill was like, ‘nah, nah, nah man. No. Not at all. I’m not talking about you. And I’ll never get that.”
Goldberg made his WCW debut in September 1997 and he quickly became an attraction due to his monstrous look and the undefeated streak which saw him picking victories over the likes of Scott Hall and Hollywood Hogan.
After 173 consecutive wins, the former WCW star’s streak came to an end at Starrcade 1998 when Kevin Nash defeated him thanks to the interference from Scott Hall. Goldberg continued being a top star for the company in the following years until the promotion was sold to WWE.
WWE’s Paige recently took to Instagram to celebrate 2-years of sobriety. She posted a photo of her from 2 years ago and placed it side-by-side with a current one. It definitely appears the 28-year-old is in a much better place these days.
“I’ve posted something like that before. But so proud of my progress! 2 years of soberness. Mumma feeling goooooddd,” Paige said in the post.
Paige also mentioned that her brother is celebrating 6-weeks of sobriety. She noted that he seems to have aged backward in the last 2 months.
“He is 6 weeks in of being sober and I’m SO proud!!! He aged backwards in just under 2 months. Please throw some support in the comments, he deserves it ? Can’t wait for him to come visit me and ronnie for his 40th in February.”
Paige and former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio became engaged in 2016. The couple announced they had split in late-2017. There were concerns at the time that substance abuse was rampant in their relaionship. Del Rio will go on trial early next year for aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault. If convicted, Del Rio could face as much as 99 years in prison.
Gallows and Anderson have started a number of new business ventures since leaving WWE and it has made many wonder if this is a sign that their days in the ring are numbered.
The Good Brothers were recently interviewed by Entrepreneur.com where they talked about things like their future business plans, getting released from WWE and more.
During the interview, Gallows and Anderson were asked if the new projects they have undertaken are a sign that they are planning their retirement and the two responded negatively:
“We are not counting down the days until then. We want to be out there when we’re 50 if we can be. There’s a chance our bodies don’t hold up, so we want this brand that we’re creating now to be the thing that carries us into the next thing.”
The fact that the duo decided to sign with Impact Wrestling and make the company their home base in the US surprised a lot of people because many were hoping Gallows and Anderson to sign with AEW.
When asked about it, the duo claimed that Impact officials put together a very good deal for them and they explained that the company is promoting them as their top stars. You can check out the full interview at this link.
WWE Hall of Famer and AEW Commentator Jim Ross recently discussed WWE RAW from 2005 on the Grilling JR podcast.
This week’s episode of the show was a watch-along of RAW from 10/10/05. That episode was eventful for JR as an on-screen character as he was ‘fired’ on television. As is usually the case, Jim Ross would discuss players and events from the timeframe, including WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon.
JR on Stephanie McMahon
“I think she took after the old man as far as training and dieting” JR began on the podcast. “And in that era [Ruthless Aggression] she was very aware of her appearance as a television performer.”
Ross would then praise McMahon further, making a huge claim regarding her status in the Attitude Era from the late nineties to early 2000’s. “I always believe she was one of the best heels that we had in the Attitude Era. Because she took so much after her dad.”
Initially, Stephanie McMahon played more of a bit-part character in the Attitude Era. When McMahon aligned with Triple H it brought on the McMahon-Helmsley Era, it allowed her to flourish into one of the biggest heels on television at the time. McMahon would largely continue to play a heel role from that point on, both with and against her real life husband Triple H.
“I’ve always said that Vince…even though we philosophically didn’t get along all the time? He was the best heel we had in the Attitude Era” Jim Ross continued. “Because? He was the perfect foil or for top babyface (Steve Austin).”
Do you agree with Jim Ross? Do you think that Stephanie McMahon was one of the best heels in the Attitude Era? Let us know in the comments
Reports first came out earlier yesterday that the company was planning to give the Phenomenal One a bodyguard after his move to Raw during the latest WWE drafts.
Styles then confirmed these reports when he came out with Jordan Omogbehin on his side during this week’s episode of the Red Branded show.
The former World Champion had a match with Matt Riddle on the show but the bout was delayed a bit because Omogbehin refused to leave the ring. He only left when the referee threatened to disqualify AJ and started a 5 count.
His new bodyguard then also helped AJ Styles in picking up the victory against his opponent. He intimidated Riddle outside the ring by forming a fist and when a terrified Riddle ran back to the ring, he was caught by a Styles Clash:
Jordan Omogbehin is a Nigerian star who has previously played college basketball for the University of Florida and for Morgan State University. He was signed by WWE in October 2018 and he has made a handful of appearances for the NXT brand since then.
Though this is not Jordan’s first main roster appearance and the 26-year-old star has previously appeared on Raw Underground as a bouncer. He was also used as a ninja in Akira Tozawa’s group.
There is no word yet on where WWE is planning to go with this storyline and it would be interesting to see where this development leads us.
WWE RAW aired from the ThunderDome in the Amway Center. It was the season premiere of RAW and the final episode before WWE Hell in a Cell this Sunday. RAW also debuted a new theme song tonight.
RETRIBUTION then showed up as The Fiend and Alexa Bliss were holding hands in the middle of the ring. The lights went out again and The Fiend & Alexa Bliss were gone. The Hurt Business rushed the ring and a brawl broke out as RAW went to a break. The two teams faced off in an 8-man tag team match when RAW returned.
Match Recap: Lashley went right after T-Bar and sent him to the corner. Bobby connected with a Flatliner before Slapjack tagged in. Lashley greeted Slapjack with a massive Suplex and Cedric Alexander tagged himself in. Cedric connected with a kick to the face for a near fall.
MVP tagged in and beat Slapjack down in the corner of the ring. Hurt Business isolated Slapjack in the corner as Mace slammed on the steel steps. Mustafa Ali tagged in and stomped on Cedric’s arm. Ali brought Alexander out of the ring and slammed him into the barricade. The Fiend appeared on the jumbotron as RAW went to another commercial break.
When RAW returned, Shelton Benjamin hit Mace with a knee to the face for a near fall. Hurt Business then isolated Mace in the corner and took turns beating him down. Lashley planted Mace with a Spinebuster and then hit T-Bar with a Spear. Ali broke up the cover and retreated to the corner. T-Bar grabbed Lashley from behind but Bobby was able to apply the Hurt Lock. T-Bar quickly tapped out to end the match.
After the match, The Fiend showed up and beat RETRIBUTION down as Mustafa Ali retreated. The Fiend hit T-Bar with the Sister Abigail to end the segment.
Opinion: I don’t see how it is possible to take RETRIBUTION seriously after this. T-Bar, the imposing monster of the stable, tapped out after being in the Hurt Lock for a couple seconds. The Fiend then kicked RETRIBUTION’s ass with ease. RETRIBUTION is absolutely going to be dominating catering on RAW. I have no idea who I was supposed to be cheering for in this match.
Styles claimed that the real redemption of RAW was his return and boasted about defeating Jeff Hardy and Seth Rollins last week. Styles then battled Matt Riddle in a singles match. Before the match, Styles refused to have Jordan leave the ring and the referee started counting. Jordan grabbed the referee’s hand and the ref pleaded with him to leave the ring. Eventually, Jordan Omogbehin left the ring so the match could begin.
Match Recap: Riddle planted Styles with three Gutwrench Suplex and then Clotheslined him out of the ring. Jordan stood in the way of Styles as RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Matt Riddle hit another Gutwrench Suplex and went for the Broton but Styles got his knees up. AJ connected with the Pele Kick but Riddle immediately battled back and hit a German Suplex. Styles hit Riddle with a Neckbreaker for a two count.
AJ set up for the Styles Clash but Riddle countered into a Fisherman’s Suplex for a near fall. Jordan distracted Riddle and AJ capitalized with the Styles Clash for the pinfall victory.
Drew McIntyre Vowed To Retain The WWE Title At Hell In A Cell
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre was interviewed tonight on RAW. McIntyre will defend the title against Randy Orton inside Hell in a Cell this Sunday night at the PPV. McIntyre took the microphone from Charly and said he wanted to address Randy Orton directly.
McIntyre claimed that Orton is the most evil and entitled superstar in WWE. Drew stated that this should have been over at Clash of Champions but Orton attacked the four legends the following night on RAW. McIntyre said that those with darkness in them thrive inside Hell in a Cell.
Drew added that he has never been in a Hell in a Cell match but that doesn’t give Orton an advantage. McIntyre said that he will put Randy Orton through hell to remain WWE Champion. Drew threatened to show up during Orton’s interview later tonight.
Match Recap: Asuka applied a Headlock to start the action off. Lana broke free but the RAW Women’s Champion leveled her with a shoulder tackle. Asuka went for the Asuka Lock but Lana reached the bottom rope to break the hold. Lana booted Asuka in the face and went for the cover but the champ kicked out at two.
Lana stomped on Asuka in the corner of the ring but Asuka caught her with a kick to the head. Asuka then applied the Asuka Lock for the quick submission victory. Asuka is still the RAW Women’s Champion. After the match, Women’s Tag Team Champions attacked Asuka from behind and then brought Lana outside the ring. Nia once again put Lana through the announce table with a Samoan Drop. Asuka then knocked Shayna out of the ring with the Hip Attack.
Charlotte Flair has decided to take the next step in her career as she has signed with a management company.
On Monday it was announced that the former RAW, SmackDown, and NXT Women’s Champion had inked a deal with VaynerSports Agency.
The agency is owned by entrepreneur and internet personality Gary Vaynerchuk as well as his brother AJ. The agency launched in 2016 and is under the successful VaynerMedia umbrella. Flair looks to be their first wrestler.
Gary V reacted to the news with a response of “BEEN WATING TO ANNOUNCE THIS! So pumped!!!” while Flair stated, “So excited!!!”
In this year’s WWE Draft, Flair was sent to the RAW brand even though she is currently on hiatus. She hasn’t been seen on WWE television in a few months. The reason for that is due to her taking time off to get a cosmetic procedure.
There is no firm word on when she will be back. When she first removed herself from the product, there had been rumors that she could be back by SummerSlam in August, which obviously didn’t happen, while others suggested as long as possible January for the Royal Rumble.
Eric Bischoff made some interesting comments about WWE NXT and TNA Wrestling.
While speaking on his After 83 Weeks post-show, the former SmackDown Executive Director spoke about the differences between TNA about 7 years ago and today’s NXT.
“I don’t think NXT is as good as TNA was when TNA was at its peak.”
He continued by noting that something being at its peak is subjective as some people like it at various stages. He stated that a lot of people liked it because it did feel different in the very beginning or because it was new or it had a smaller presentation. He noted that more than anything, everybody loves a competitor.
“But if you go back and look at TNA in terms of its peak across the boards, not for a moment in time but for an extended period of time across the boards in terms of television ratings, PPV buys and house show attendance. That’s going to be that period of time that I was describing earlier.
Right around the Aces and Eights peak storyline period with Brooke [Hogan] and Bully [Ray] and all of that when they were putting 2500, 3500, 5000 people in a venue.
Yes, they did, and they actually paid for it. I don’t know that NXT is doing anything better than TNA was when TNA was at its peak. I would be pretty sure…that I would bet that there are a lot more resources being pumped into NXT than there ever were being pumped into TNA.”
Bischoff came into the promotion in January 2010 alongside Hulk Hogan. He would be behind various storylines including the Aces & Eights group and Bully Ray becoming TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
It turns out that WWE originally had a different opponent in mind for John Cena at WrestleMania 36.
It wasn’t supposed to be Bray Wyatt, but rather Elias. Plans changed though. Elias shared the news in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.
“New Orleans, I’m in the mix with John and the Undertaker. The next year, I’m in there with John and the Undertaker again—John at WrestleMania, the Undertaker the night next on Raw. I was supposed to go on and face the Undertaker at the show in Saudi Arabia.
That never ended up happening because of Goldberg, but that was supposed to be my match. The year after was supposed to be myself against John Cena at WrestleMania in a three-year running story. Things obviously changed and that didn’t end up happening.”
Cena took part in the Firefly Fun House match against Wyatt at WrestleMania. It was a trip down memory lane for Cena as it wasn’t a normal match. Instead, WWE aired a series of segments where he went through all of his old gimmicks.
Elias ended up wrestling and beating Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania 36 at Night 1.
Cena hasn’t been on WWE television since this contest. Instead, he has continued to focus on his career in Hollywood.
Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his role in the 2007 NBA betting scandal. An FBI investigation concluded that Donaghy bet on games that he was officiating in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons. While his career officiating basketball is over, he is about to begin one as a pro-wrestling referee.
Donaghy and Major League Wrestling have reached a deal that will see the 53-year-old return to officiating.
“Pro wrestling is entertainment, and I always joked the NBA was a form of entertainment and I compared it a little bit to pro wrestling behind the scenes,” Donaghy said to Sports Illustrated. “When I was growing up, I always enjoyed pro wrestling, guys like Hulk Hogan and Ivan Putski. I thought it would be fun to get involved and see where it goes.”
Donaghy is set to be the “personal referee” for Richard Holliday in the promotion. Holliday is part of the Dynasty faction in MLW. He is also the self-proclaimed “Caribbean Champion” although the title actually belongs to Savio Vega.
“If there is a good response, who knows where it can go from here?” Donaghy continued. “I’m willing to do whatever I can to make the show entertaining and fun for everyone watching, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Vice TV’s hit series Dark Side of the Ring has ben officially renewed for a third season. According to The Wrap, season three will feature 14-episodes and premieres in 2021.
Jason Eisner, Vice TV’s Executive VP and General Manager tells The Wrap that Dark Side is a ‘knockout show’ for the channel. He touted series Executive Producers Evan Husney and Jason Eisener as “true heavyweight champions of the world.”
Eisner continued, “Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Dark Side of the Ring’ are examples of the compelling, thought-provoking, and engaging storytelling we champion here at Vice TV. We can’t wait to see what the series will throw down in the third round!”
Eric Bischoff recently announced that he was interviewed for two episodes of Dark Side of the Ring season three. The subject matters he was interviewed for include Brian Pillman and WCW’s Collision in Korea pay-per-view (1995).
Evan Husney and Jason Eisner both commented on the renewal on social media.
It’s been hard to keep this secret but Season 3 is finally announced and underway! Can’t believe we’re making 14 more documentaries! https://t.co/sKTfraARS5
Kia Stevens, aka Awesome Kong, plays the role of Tammé Dawson on the Netflix series GLOW. The show was canceled due to the pandemic but efforts are underway to possibly end the series with a movie.
According to a recent Instagram post by Stevens, the show does not have any writers who are persons of color. She also stated the show has been irresponsible with how they have portrayed storylines related to racial stereotypes.
“It has been problematic to use our faces, oftentimes solely in the context of a racist storyline, and to be brief with our story development to serve the in-depth white storylines,” she wrote.
Stevens continued to mention that there are no persons of color on the show’s writing team.
“With zero persons of color in the writer’s room this season, it’s a huge oversight to be writing our narratives without anyone else to represent us besides ourselves,” she continued.
She also pointed out that a central theme of the show is performers from the original GLOW dealing with portraying characters who are racial stereotypes. She noted that the same thing is happening again with actors on the Netflix series.
Kia Stevens Statement On GLOW
“The meta-narrative of our show — actors dealing with the conflict of perpetuating stereotypes in order to have opportunity — is exactly what is happening in our real life.”
“We can no longer be quiet about the pain this has caused and the harm it has done in perpetuating the representation of people of color as sidekicks to elevate white leads.”
Stevens concludes her statement with a call for showrunners to hire an executive producer who is a person of color. They also would like the show to address how portraying racial stereotypes has impacted the performers and amplify their voices and characters in Season 4.
Stevens’ comments seem to imply some version of the show will be returning for a new season or a movie. This cannot be confirmed, however. It was also revealed recently that Taya Valkyrie was cast in season 4. At least one episode had been filmed before the pandemic shut down production. The series was always scheduled to end following the 4th season as well.
Kong returned to the wrestling world last year with AEW. She was briefly a member of Brandi Rhodes’ Nightmare family before the angle was scrapped.
