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Chuck Taylor Labels Rivalry Between AEW And NXT ‘Fake Bulls**t’

Steve Russell
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Best Friends’ Chuck Taylor has labeled the Wednesday Night Wars between AEW and NXT a “fake, bulls**t rivalry.”

Taylor shared his thoughts during a recent interview with Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards for AEW’s official podcast, AEW Unrestricted. He stressed how there is no animosity between the rosters, pointing to how most of the NXT roster are his friend.

“People talk about this fake, bulls**t rivalry between AEW and NXT. But they [members of the NXT roster] are all my friends. Like, common, I was actually a groomsman in Johnny Gargano’s wedding,” Taylor said. “I want them to succeed, too. Obviously, not at our expense, I hope they lose and die forever, but those are all my friends. Pretty much everyone on NXT TV I know pretty well.”

His words come in the wake of former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho imploring NXT to switch to Tuesday nights. According to the Jericho, if WWE aired on a different night, they would be able to attain extra viewers. He stressed how the current Wednesday Night War is “kind of embarrassing for NXT at this point.”

Chuck Taylor and his Best Friends’ partner, Trent, competed this week on AEW Dynamite. They defeated Inner Circle members Santana and Ortiz in a Parking Lot Fight.

Ortiz Talks Jerry Lynn Being The Agent for The Parking Lot Fight

Jake Skudder
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AEW’s Santana & Ortiz recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The former LAX discussed a number of topics on the show, including this week’s Parking Lot Fight match that took place against Best Friends on AEW Dynamite.

“All thanks to Jerry Lynn, he agented the match” Ortiz began on the show. “I mean Jerry Lynn has all the experience in the world when it comes to these type of matches. And yeah, he definitely gave us the guidance because we came with a bunch of crazy ideas, as you could imagine.”

Ortiz on Lynn’s Influence

“We were just like, ‘oh, let’s do this, this, this, this and this. Jerry harped on that he doesn’t want the match to be like ‘building furniture'” Ortiz continued. “You know what I mean? Where the guys are trying to build all these crazy extravagant things to put people through or whatever the case is.”

Ortiz would then discuss how Jerry Lynn wanted the match to be laid out. “So, Jerry kept harping on that he wants the bout to flow, which I think we accomplished in the match. And, I mean, we were pretty much all on the same page. We all wanted to, for lack of a better term, murder each other.”

“We were down for whatever and Santana also had that talk where it was just like ‘hey guys, listen. We’re going out there and this is a fight to us.’ At the end of the day? We’ll be fine. But let’s go out there with that mentality, because if we don’t have that mindset? Like this is a real fight? It’s not gonna come across on the screen.”

Did you enjoy the Parking Lot Fight on this week’s episode of Dynamite? Let us know in the comments

Big E Raises $11,000 For Charity

Chris Stephens
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Big E announced on social media recently that New Day has raised over $11,000 for charity. The trio is donating proceeds from the below t-shirt to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund.

The shirt used for the fundraiser features Big E and Kofi Kingston taking a knee before a match on Smackdown this summer.

In late-July, Big E spoke to Yahoo Sports about taking a knee on Smackdown. He also spoke about Vince McMahon’s reaction to New Day’s statement that day.

“When Kofi and I got to the Performance Center that day, we felt like we had to do something,” Big E said. “We went and had a conversation with our boss, Vince McMahon, and he was completely on board. We felt like that even if it was just a five-second gesture, it was important to let people know that the things that affected them, we were feeling too. We’re not above this because we’re on TV or because we make money, we’re still people. I was born Black, I will die Black. I have lived my life as Black American much longer than I will ever be a WWE wrestler.”

Bully Ray Talks Risks of ‘Breaking Up’ NXT’s Undisputed Era

Jake Skudder
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WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed NXT’s Undisputed Era. Bully Ray noted how the group seems to be taking different creative paths on NXT television, with ‘leader’ Adam Cole showing more babyface-like tendencies recently.

“Adam Cole is the star of the show over there when it comes to the Undisputed Era in my eyes” Bully Ray began on the show. “What I saw last night from Kyle O’Reilly? I dug. I think branching off (Bobby) Fish and Roderick Strong as a tag team? Not a bad idea.”

Bully Ray on Splitting Up Undisputed Era

Bully Ray would then discuss the ‘risks’ of splitting up the group, with Cole leaving and the other three members attempting to get ahead on their own. “It’s gonna…it’s just gonna depend on whether or not these guys can get over on their own. Now, here’s the problem I see, not necessarily a problem but a challenge for the rest of the Undisputed Era. We can agree that Adam Cole is the over guy, he’s the standout star in the group. So now the other three guys have to somehow get over without the reaction of people [live].”

Bully Ray elaborated further, saying “they were related to the Undisputed Era, now they have to carve out their own identities. I think it’s going to be really up to NXT to come up with some good creative stuff for these guys and help them get over. The same way NXT helped like an Io Shirai get over with the packages that they put together for her.”

Bully would then reference his previous comments about Jeremy Borash, saying how the former TNA backstage producer brings out the best in Superstars with his video packages. “I always put over Jeremy Borash for the great work he does behind the scenes at NXT. With all of the packages, especially the Io one.”

Bully Ray would finish by saying that Fish, Strong and O’Reilly will need to get their personalities across if they’re going to succeed in the company. “We’re gonna have to see some good stuff for the rest of those Undisputed Era guys. Can they go in the ring and wrestle and get the job done? Absolutely. But you know what? Wrestling for the sake of wrestling doesn’t get you over to the moon and doesn’t make you a millionaire. You need that character, you need that personality. You need to be able to talk, you need to elicit emotion.”

Do you agree with Bully Ray? Let us know in the comments

Ryback Talks Ongoing Trademark Battle with WWE

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently discussed his ongoing trademark ‘battle’ with the company. You can check out what the full show at The Ryback Show podcast or via Patreon.

“I’m dealing with it now with the Ryback trademark” The Big Guy began on the show. “We’re going into the trademark attorney’s office, they’re going to be deciding this in the next 20 months.”

Ryback on Trademark Battle

Ryback would elaborate further, saying how the situation will be ‘held up’ by WWE to cost him as much as possible in legal fees. “This is going to be tied up, it’s gonna cost me god knows how much in attorneys fees and a lot of time. [I’m] getting the Ryback trademark so they cannot use it and profit off of it in any way. Or expose it or do anything to hurt my brand further that they’ve already done, it’s crazy.”

Ryback would also talk about WWE trying to ‘take’ his social media accounts before he left the company. “When I left there [they were] threatening me to sign over, not only all my social media, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at the time? [They wanted me to] not change my name [legally from Ryan Reeves to Ryback] AND give them my social media. Which is absurd.”

Feed Me More

The Big Guy would also confirm that the company wanted his assets beyond this, including his podcast and website. “They wanted me to sign over the rights to my website that I owned already; ‘Feed Me More,’ ‘The Big Guy,’ the podcast. They wanted me to sign everything over to them. I was already done, but my contract had not officially expired yet so what they were doing? They were trying to get me to sign everything over to them while that term was still ongoing.”

The Big Guy would finish by discussing how WWE Superstars feel ‘worried’ about contacting him because of concerns over ‘heat’ backstage. Ryback has been public in his dislike of WWE practices ever since he left the company and he states that other performers still in WWE get flack if they’re known to be speaking to him.

“That’s why a lot of them (WWE Superstars) don’t even want to affiliate and talk with me now. Because there’s heat now in that. And there are people that speak up and tell the truth, because this is how they make their living. This is why I was so hell bent on being able to create a living outside of that screwed up world.”

Results: NJPW G1 Climax 30 Day 2

Evan S
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0

New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!

Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.

Start Times:

  • Pacific: 9/19 10PM
  • Eastern: 9/20 1AM
  • UK: 9/20 6AM
  • Japan: 9/20 2PM
  • East Australia: 9/20 3PM

NJPW World VOD (Japanese Commentary)

G1 Climax 30 Day 2 Results

Yota Tsuji def. Gabriel Kidd (9:15)
I would recommend that everyone reading this go to NJPW’s English website and read Gabriel Kidd’s interview, in which he discusses Shibata grabbing his stomach fat and telling him to lose weight before he could join the LA Dojo. He certainly has, but it may have been Yota Tsuji’s weight may have helped him press the advantage, as he overpowered Gabriel Kid with strikes, and was too heavy for Kidd to lift when he attempted a suplex. Kidd hit a great standing dropkick to cut off Tsuji briefly, but in the end Tsuji caught him in the Boston Crab for the submission victory.

B Block: Juice Robinson def. YOSHI-HASHI (15:57)
Unlike Ishii yesterday, YOSHI-HASHI entered while proudly displaying his NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. Meanwhile, Juice Robinson entered in a white tank top and tight black pants and shoes, looking like a Blues Brother. These two hit some of the loudest chops I’ve heard recently, up there with the one sin yesterday’s match between Ishii and Suzuki. Juice made the crowd stomp and clap to the rhythm of “We Will Rock You” by Queen. His focus on the crowd let YOSHI-HASHI catch him in the Butterfly Lock, but the crowd resumed the rhythmic noise-making to support Juice. YOSHI-HASHI broke the hold to hit a swanton bomb, but Juice kicked out at two as the crowd. His chest red from chops, he went for the Karma, but Juice was able to sprawl to stop the hold and a heavy lariat. Finally, he hit two big punches and the Pulp Friction to put YOSHI-HASHI away. Juice 2 points, YOSHI-HASHI 0 points

B Block: Toru Yano def. SANADA (6:16)
SANADA also decided to bring new gear to the G1, wearing a black and silver outfit that looks like something a supervillain would wear, but a comically small skull mask. Toru Yano was carrying three rolls of tape in his trunks, which were removed by the referee early in the match. After being unceremoniously worked over, Yano retreated to the outside and told SANADA to come after him, but SANADA didn’t take the bait and Yano had to run back to the ring to stop from being counted out, and SANADA hit a plancha to the outside to press his advantage. From there, SANADA pulled Yano to the entrance walkway and put him in the Paradise Lock, then left him to trapped to be counted out. However, a young lion, thinking this was unfair, rolled Yano onto his back to set him free. This enabled Yano to tie SANADA and the young lion’s legs together with his last roll of tape, and win the match by countout. Also, the young lion wasn’t wearing his mask over his nose, shame on him. Yano 2 points, SANADA 0 points

B Block: KENTA def. Hirooki Goto (17:15)
Goto also didn’t bring out his NEVER 6-Man title, and it’s getting on my nerves that YOSHI-HASHI is the only one who did. KENTA had promised on Twitter that he would win this match using his Game Over submission, which he had used in this same building to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship when he was in Pro Wrestling NOAH. He put that plan into action, targeting Goto’s right arm with holds and kicks. As KENTA kicked Goto in the chest, Goto rose to his feet went for a lariat, but KENTA grabbed his arm, immobilizing Goto in pain. Goto fought back and started working on KENTA’s arm too. KENTA was able to get his foot on the rope to break Goto’s seated armbar, and got Goto back on the defensive again with a diving foot stomp. He lifted Goto for the Go 2 Sleep, but Goto grabbed KENTA’s knee to stop its impact. He applied his Shoryu Kekkai arm submission, but KENTA was able to reach the bottom rope to break it. Goto tried to finish the match with the GTR, but KENTA forced him into the Game Over and there was nowhere for Goto to go. KENTA wins by submission. KENTA 2 points, Goto 0 points

B Block: Zack Sabre Jr. def. EVIL (15:54)
With one of the briefest IWGP Heavyweight Championship reigns in recent history behind him, EVIL has a lot to prove in the G1. Credit to him, he was beating Zack from pillar to post in the early going, a little bit of help from Dick Togo notwithstanding. With his quickness, Zack was able to make his move and went to twisting EVIL’s neck and arms in a brutal fashion. EVIL was able to break Zack’s abdominal stretch by pulling on his ear, living up to his name. He went back to pummeling the wiry submission master with strikes and big suplexes. Zack countered EVIL’s lariat with an arm drag into a submission hold, but Dick Togo came onto the apron as a distraction. Zack casually kicked him away, but EVIL whipped him into the referee, and Dick Togo came in to lay boots to Zack. After being hit with one senton from each, Zack was able to fight back to take Togo out. EVIL went for a mule kick, but Zack caught EVIL’s leg in between his knees. EVIL hit the Darkness Falls for a near fall, and went for the EVIL STO, but Zack rolled him into the European Clutch for the pinfall victory. He was hurt and struggling to walk afterward, but the points go to him, overcoming a two on one disadvantage. Zack 2 points, EVIL 0 points

B Block: Tetsuya Naito def. Hiroshi Tanahashi (27:16)
Tanahashi’s plan, as it often is, was to attack Naito’s knees to neutralize his advantage of speed. However, early on, Naito was always one step ahead of Tanahashi, avoiding his front flip senton while laying on the mat in his tranquilo pose. Naito held control until Tanahashi hit a dragonscrew legwhip to send Naito retreating to the outside, and then hit the High Fly Flow to Naito standing outside. He said he was going to retire that move four years ago and yet here we are. He brought Naito back into the ring and landed more dragonscrews with Naito hung up in the ropes, then went for the Texas Cloverleaf, but Naito was able to stuff the hold. Tanahashi hit more Dragonscrews and was able to lock in the Texas Cloverleaf this time, which he used to tap out Naito in their last match and win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, three years ago. He locked it in at an even higher angle, but Naito grabbed the middle rope and saved himself. Tanahashi pushed his advantage with a bridging arm-trap suplex for a very close near fall. He went for the Sling Blade but Naito dodged it and landed a twirling DDT to put Tanahashi on his back. He hit repeated clubbing blows to the back of the neck, then hit Gloria only for Tanahashi to kick out at two. Naito went for the Destino, but Tanahashi countered it into the Sling Blade as the crowd applauded wildly and the ring announcer called that 25 minutes had passed. He hit a second Sling Blade and then the High Fly Flow, but then went for another High Fly Flow and Naito rolled out of the way. Naito capitalized with a gnarly running Destino that got a 2-count, then hit the Valentia and another Destino for the three-count! Naito 2 points, Tanahashi 0 points

Standings

A Block:
2 points – Will Ospreay, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Jay White, Kota Ibushi
0 points – Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, Shingo Takagi, Yujiro Takahashi

B Block:
2 points – Juice Robinson, Toru Yano, KENTA, Zack Sabre Jr., Tetsuya Naito
0 points – EVIL, Hirooki Goto, SANADA, Hiroshi Tanahashi, YOSHI-HASHI

WWE Possibly Protecting Top Star With Clash Of Champions Match Stipulation

Andrew Ravens
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Although the card for this year’s WWE Clash of Champions isn’t finalized yet, the top matches for it have been revealed. 

That includes WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defending the title in an ambulance match. As of this writing, McIntyre is scheduled to defend the title against Randy Orton, who has been off television for a week with a storyline injury. 

There is a chance that WWE adds Keith Lee to the match and replaces Orton as there is an open-ended booking. Up to this point, there have been some signs in place of Orton potentially winning the title here although that isn’t confirmed. 

Not only did he drop a loss to McIntyre in their first encounter at SummerSlam, but did get beat by Lee at Payback and there has been talk of Orton being the champion heading into the third match with Edge at WrestleMania 37. 

Dave Meltzer noted in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that “the one thing the ambulance match does is it allows them to protect McIntyre from taking a pin while getting the title off him.”

This pay-per-view event takes place next Sunday. 

Ryback on ‘Third Party’ Ban in WWE: “Everything Vince McMahon Put Out Is All Bullsh*t”

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently discussed Vince McMahon and WWE ‘barring’ Superstars from using third party sites as a revenue stream. You can check out what the full show at The Ryback Show podcast or via Patreon.

WWE’s recent crackdown on third party streaming platforms has been gaining a lot of traction, even in the mainstream. WWE has always been quick to refer to their ‘independent contractor’ status of their Superstars; however this recent move to choke Superstar’s earning potential on external services has called this into question once again.

Ryback on WWE Third Party ‘Ban’

“What they’re [WWE] doing? Obviously revenue is the name of the game” Ryback began on the podcast. “They have wh*red out these human bodies. We’ve talked about this before, they make money off of you all these other backend ways that you usually don’t get reciprocated for. Or, not reciprocated for nearly as well as you should be. Especially compared to other sporting agencies, entertainment agencies and things of that nature.”

Ryback would then discuss his beliefs as to why WWE would be looking to keep such a ‘stranglehold’ on the performers. “What they are doing? They don’t want mega stars. They don’t want people making a certain level of money where they’re comfortable leaving. Vince wants to keep every talent, male or female, working for them as long as humanly possible. As a business? Okay that’s fine. You want somebody working there as long as possible. The problem is? It’s all a** backwards how they treat people.”

“They do it by not paying them what they’re worth” Ryback continued. “First of all on the contracts, through the [actual] wrestling, and then on these other agencies [Cameo, Twitch etc] as they’re growing.”

Ryback would finish by mentioning Vince McMahon’s claims that the reason for the ‘crackdown’ is that it is potentially “hurting” the WWE brand. “They’re going to take control. Everything Vince put out is all bullsh*t as far as ‘damaging the brand.’ This is all money. So what he was trying to do? People are now making a lot of money doing these other things. And he’s [McMahon] trying to find a way to control it.”

Do you agree with Ryback here? Let us know in the comments

Triple H Ryback
Triple H and Ryback

John Morrison Reveals Talks With AEW Before Signing with WWE

Jake Skudder
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WWE Smackdown Superstar John Morrison recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet podcast. The ‘Shaman of Sexy’ discussed a number of topics during his time on the show; including talks that he had with AEW before eventually re-signing with WWE back in 2019.

Morrison originally left WWE back in November 2011. Since that time John Morrison would appear in a number of high profile promotions, including Lucha Underground and IMPACT Wrestling. Morrison was also heavily involved in the worldwide independent scene for the likes of 5 Star Wrestling (UK), PWG and Dragon Gate USA.

John Morrison on Leaving Lucha Underground

The former AAA Mega Champion revealed on the podcast that Lucha Underground ‘folding’ was a major reason he would explore a return to WWE. “So when season four of Lucha Underground ended? They have some stuff on their contracts where there’s a tail” John Morrison began on the podcast.

“The tail doesn’t start until the episodes stop airing, so I’d signed with IMPACT.” Morrison didn’t confirm if there was a clause in the Lucha Underground contract that would’ve prohibited him from joining WWE at that time. Although, it is likely that he could not sign for another television based promotion, which is intriguing as he would end up signing for IMPACT Wrestling.

“When everything was free and clear? I decided ‘I’m a free agent again, completely free like no ties anywhere. I’m going to figure out where I want to go.'” John Morrison continued. “So I talked to WWE, and I talked to AEW.”

Morrison then revealed that he would end up signing with WWE following a conversation with Vince McMahon. “I had a really good conversation with Vince and they made me a really nice offer. And, I ended up taking it.”

Do you think that John Morrison was right to go back to WWE or should he have picked AEW? Let us know in the comments

Original Clash Of Champions Plans For Raw Women’s Championship

Anutosh Bajpai
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While WWE seems to be building towards a match between Asuka and Zelina Vega for the Raw women’s championship at the upcoming Clash Of Champions PPV, new reports reveal that the original plans for the title were different.

Dave Meltzer reported on the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Shayna Baszler was originally slated to challenge The Empress for the Raw women’s championship at the upcoming PPV.

However, the company changed the plans for the title match when the former NXT Women’s Champion was paired with Nia Jax and the two won the women’s tag team championships.

The duo of Baszler and Jax are now scheduled to defend the women’s tag titles against Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan or The Riott Squad at the upcoming PPV.

Asuka on the other hand, does not have an announced match for the show yet but WWE is building a feud between her and Zelina Vega.

This week’s episode of Raw saw Vega walking away from Andrade and Angel Garza and she then had a confrontation with the Raw Women’s Champion later in the show.

With only one Raw episode left to go before the next WWE PPV, it’s likely that we will see a brawl between the two female stars at the next episode of the show and the company will announce a match between the two afterwards.

Rich Swann Talks Wale & Mark Henry Getting Him Into WWE

Chris Stephens
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Rich Swann will be in the main event of Impact Wrestling’s Bound For Glory PPV next month. The former X-Division and WWE Cruiserweight Champion was recently a guest on Wrestling Observer Radio and told an interesting story about how Wale and Mark Henry were responsible for him being signed to WWE in 2015.

“Wale had, I want to say, he had came to the Lyceum show and DragonGate in New York and he had Tweeted out the next day that AR Fox, Rich Swann, Ricochet and Uhaa Nation they all need to be on TV, they all need to be on someone’s radar,” Swann said.

“And from there, he was super supportive and he helped me out, like he got me in contact with Mark Henry and Mark Henry, another one who just was a huge proponent of mine. He just helped me out and got me into the WWE’s eyesight and I just tried to take advantage.”

Rich Swann on Almost Retiring In 2018

Swann also talked about how negative comments and people on social media once led him to announce his retirement. This took place shortly after Swann was released from WWE in 2018.

“Everybody thought that they knew what happened with my situation. They read things that was glorified and at that moment, I was just like you know what? I need to take a step back. I need to find something else to do. Maybe this isn’t for me because I’d never gotten in trouble in my life. I’d never experienced anything like that before.”

“I sat back and I broke down. I didn’t know what to do. And guys like Tommy Dreamer, Scott D’Amore, Don Callis, Sami Callihan, my close friend Jason Cade, they would tell me ‘don’t do this, don’t retire, don’t quit.'”

He would continue to say that it was wrestlers he had worked with reaching out and telling him not to quit that eventually led him to decide to continue his career.

Rich Swann vs Eric Young for the Impact World title will take place at Bound for Glory on October 24th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQW1A6W9GyM

Jon Moxley To Wrestle At Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport PPV

Chris Stephens
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AEW World Champion and IWGP United States Champion, Jon Moxley, has signed on to compete at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport PPV next month. Moxley had originally been scheduled to face Josh Barnett on the show this spring. That event was canceled due to the global pandemic, however.

The 3rd edition of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport is scheduled for October 11th, 2020. The show will air on PPV via FITE TV. Barnett announced Moxley’s participation in the event in the below Tweet:

https://twitter.com/JoshLBarnett/status/1307107158899789825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1307107158899789825%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fightful.com%2Fwrestling%2Fjon-moxley-announced-josh-barnett-s-bloodsport-october-11

Jon Moxley at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport

The first Bloodsport event via Game Changer Wrestling took place in 2018. The show was dubbed “Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport” originally and featured the main event of Minoru Suzuki vs Riddle.

The event was changed to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport in 2019. Two events were held that year as well. The first event was held in April and had Josh Barnett vs. Minoru Suzuki in the main event. The second event was held on September 14th, 2019 and featured Barnett vs. Chris Dickinson in the main event.

Also announced for the show on October 11th:

  • Calvin Tankman
  • Chris Dickinson
  • Deonna Purrazzo
  • Erik Hammer
  • Homicide
  • Jon Moxley
  • Josh Alexander
  • Kal Jak
  • Killer Kelly
  • Lindsay Snow

Melina Denies Reports She’s Signed With WWE

Chris Stephens
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0

It was reported yesterday that Melina had signed with WWE and was due to return to the company soon. The initial report was made by PW Insider, but Melina is now denying that she’s on her way back to the company. She took to Facebook to release a statement on the matter.

“I AM NOT signed with the WWE. But that doesn’t mean it is not a possibility. My reason for this post is that it bothers me that these sites lie to fans. If I potentially get signed, don’t forgive them for lying to you,” Melina wrote.

“I lost my father last month, am I emotionally ready? I’m 41, am I physically capable? Is there a story available? Simply talking to the wwe makes my heart happy. I am grateful for my time with them. One day I’ll come home but when the time is right. So if it doesn’t happen now, Im sorry you thought I was returning. If it does happen… well these sites ruined a great surprise,” Melina continued.

Her full statement is below:

https://www.facebook.com/RealMelinaCom/posts/3250126958396530

Melina is a 5x champion in WWE. She won the WWE Women’s Championship 3 times and the Divas Championship twice. Before embarking on her own singles career, Melina was the manager of Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury as MNM.

Undertaker Reveals If He Ever Talked To Sting About A Potential Dream Match

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Sting vs. The Undertaker is one of the biggest dream matches of the wrestling history which never took place despite both the stars having careers spanning many decades and crossing paths in both WCW and WWE.

The Dead Man was recently interviewed by Barstool Sports where he talked about a number of things and the former World Champion also revealed if he ever had any talks with The Icon about a potential bout.

Taker was asked if he ever discussed a match with Sting. Replying to it the legend claimed they never talked about it despite knowing each other since the 80s:

“Not even once, I knew him from my days in WCW in the the late 80s but I never actually saw him again until he joined WWE, Its crazy that we never spoke.

We never called each other and discussed, ‘hey would you like to do this mega match’ or whatever. My schedule was always full, there were always guys waiting to face me.”

Undertaker went on to explain that a match between the two would have been cool in the early 90s when they were in their primes because he doesn’t want people to get a watered down version of their characters:

“To be completely honest, the match would have been cool in the 90s or early 2000s. I don’t want people to get a watered down version of that character.

I want people to remember the 90s, the WrestleMania matches with Edge, Batista, Shawn, and Punk, and not the match I had with Roman, when I was all beat up and out of shape. I looked like a Bloated Elvis.”

Ultimately, Undertaker vs. Sting will go down in history as one of the biggest dream matches in the wrestling history that never took place despite the possibility of it being one of the biggest wrestling matches of all time.

Results: NJPW G1 Climax 30 Day 1

Evan S
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0

New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!

Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.

Start Times (September 19, 2020): 1AM Pacific, 4AM Eastern, 9AM UK, 5PM Japan, 6PM East Australia

G1 Climax 30 Day 1 Results

Yuya Uemura def. Yota Tsuji (6:57)
Yota Tsuji has shaved his goatee off since his last match, and I’m personally not a fan of the clean-shaven look. These two are going to be wrestling a lot over the course of the tournament. Every date, except perhaps the last, will start with a singles match involving a combination of Uemura, Tsuji, and Gabriel Kidd, so it will be enlightening to see if anyone gets an edge against each other. These two in the ring has demonstrated the dynamic between them after their years as young lions: Tsuji being the harder hitter while Uemura has more finesse and is more easy to root for. Uemura hit a beautiful dropkick and submitted Tsuji with a high-angle Boston crab for the victory.

A Block: Will Ospreay def. Yujiro Takahashi (7:34)
Will Ospreay is back in Japan, and he got a great reception from the crowd. He has gained significant muscle mass over the last half year, and his billed weight has increased to 105 kilograms. Nevertheless, he seems not to have been slowed down too much by the weight gain, still flying through the air with ease. Yujiro tried to slow him down whenever possible, but Ospreay had too much energy and power for him. Ospreay hit the Stormbreaker for the not that hard-fought pinfall victory. Afterwards, he got on the microphone and talked about how he has nothing to fear because he is Will Ospreay. Not just his body, his head has clearly gotten bigger as well. Ospreay 2 points, Yujiro 0 points

A Block: Taichi def. Jeff Cobb (12:47)
Jeff Cobb seems to have acquired the goatee that Yota Tsuji removed, and it looks good on him. Rumor has it that he is now a contracted NJPW full-time wrestler, so he has a lot to prove. Unfortunately, Miho Abe will be absent for all of Taichi’s matches in the G1. Taichi did not want to fight Cobb head-on, and Cobb had to chase him around the ring until Taichi hit him with the bell hammer, which he had stealthily stolen. Now in control, Taichi tried to immobilize Cobb through attacking his legs, but Cobb would rise to his feet and dominate Taichi with his powerful throws. Taichi retaliated with beautiful leg kicks and slowed Cobb’s pace to a crawl, flooring him with a jumping high kick. Cobb tried to pick Taichi up for the Tour of the Islands, but Taichi slipped out of it and delivered a backdrop driver as the crowd swelled with applause. He finally was able to lift Jeff Cobb for the Black Mephisto and make it on the G1 board. Taichi 2 points, Cobb 0 points

A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Tomohiro Ishii (13:00)
Neither Ishii nor Suzuki brought the belts they possess to the ring, which is irrationally upsetting to me. Nevertheless, these two men started as we knew they would, at each other’s throats and just slapping, punching, and mouthing off to each other without a care in the world. They both made early attempts at their match-ending moves, but these were in vain. The really loud elbow strikes they threw resounded especially in the building where the crowds can only clap, not cheer loudly. Suzuki took the edge in the battle of strikes, and Ishii crumpled to the ground, but not for long. He rose up and continued taking the fight to Suzuki. They traded headbutts before Ishii lifted Suzuki and hit a reverse piledriver! In a last-ditch effort, Suzuki hit a fast Gotch-style piledriver for the win! Suzuki 2 points, Ishii 0 points

A Block: Jay White def. Shingo Takagi (19:28)
Since we’re talking about facial hair so far on this show, Jay White still has the disgusting-looking goatee, and it suits him. As the match began, Jay White continued to stall for time, but when he finally did get in the ring to fight, Gedo helped him intermittently, such as by holding Shingo’s leg to give Jay an opening. Shingo tried for the Noshigami, but Jay blocked it and dropped Shingo on his back with repeated suplexes. Shingo tried to run to the ropes for a lariat, but Jay hit the Complete Shot to slow his roll once again, which was the theme of this whole match: Jay continuing to cut Shingo off whenever he mounted a comeback. Jay attempted the Blade Runner, but Shingo reversed it and hit the Made in Japan for a near fall. Shingo lifted Jay for the Last of the Dragon, but Jay grabbed the referee so Shingo would lose his balance. Fed up, Shingo hit the Pumping Bomber and the Last of the Dragon again, but while Jay was on Shingo’s shoulders, he kicked the referee so there was no one to count the pinfall. With the referee down, Jay hit a low blow followed by the Blade Runner when the refeee made it back in the ring. Jay 2 points, Shingo 0 points

A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Kazuchika Okada (21:35)
Ibushi and Okada were tentative to confront each other, despite the fact that if they were to last as long against each other as they did in their Wrestle Kingdom match this year, this bout would end in a time limit draw. Okada’s victory eight months ago seemed to make him not take Ibushi too seriously, as even when he gained an advantage, he would clap and stomp to rile up the crowd instead of putting the pressure on Ibushi. Okada applied the Money Clip, which is the name for the cobra clutch that he’s been using ever NJPW resumed, but Ibushi got his foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Okada pulled Ibushi outside the ring and tried to hit the tombstone piledriver on the floor, but Ibushi got out of it, and then hit an asai moonsault to Okada on the outside. Okada and Ibushi fought over another piledriver in the ring, but Okada was finally able to hit the tombstone. Okada let Ibushi get to his knees and challenged him to hit him, but Ibushi got to his feet and kicked the kneeling Okada in the head. Ibushi tried to follow up, but Okada caught him and hit a spinning tombstone piledriver, than applied the Money Clip again, but Ibushi was able to get Okada off him. Okada grabbed Ibushi’s hands like he was going for the Kamigoye himself, but Ibushi lifted him into a sitout powerbomb, and then hit the Kamigoye for the three count! Ibushi 2 points, Okada 0 points

Standings

A Block:
2 points – Will Ospreay, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Jay White, Kota Ibushi
0 points – Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, Shingo Takagi, Yujiro Takahashi

B Block:
0 points – EVIL, Hirooki Goto, KENTA, Tetsuya Naito, Juice Robinson, Zack Sabre Jr., SANADA, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI

Ladder Match Set For WWE Clash Of Champions

Andrew Ravens
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Two new matches have been announced for the upcoming WWE Clash of Champions PPV.

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lucha House Party and WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn in a Ladder Match will take place. 

Friday’s episode of SmackDown saw Hardy throw out the idea of the match to both Styles and Zayn after Styles went over the former champion in a singles match. This comes after a few weeks of build between the three stars as Zayn was the champion earlier this year before he was stripped due to time off.

WWE presents the Clash of Champions pay-per-view event on Sunday, September 27, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center that will air on the WWE Network. 

Updated WWE Clash Of Champions Card

  • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
  • WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso
  • WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Ruby Riot
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lucha House Party
  • WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn – Ladder Match

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

The Rock Rips Off His Electric Home Gate Due To Power Outage (Photo)

WWE SmackDown Results (9/18): Samoan Street Fight, Bayley Attacks Sasha Banks

Robert Lentini
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WWE SmackDown aired live from the ThunderDome in the Amway Center. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso faced King Corbin and Sheamus in a Samoan Street Fight in the main event. Big E returned and attacked Sheamus before beating down the security guard that set him up a couple weeks ago.

SmackDown Results (9/18)

  1. Cesaro def. Gran Metalik
  2. Nikki Cross def. Lacey Evans
  3. AJ Styles def. Sami Zayn
  4. Roman Reigns & Jey Uso def. Sheamus & King Corbin in a Samoan Street Fight

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

The Miz & Morrison Served Otis With A Lawsuit

Otis. Image Credit: WWE.com
Otis. Image Credit: WWE.com

The Miz and John Morrison kicked off the show with an episode of the Dirt Sheet. Miz and Morrison rolled footage from Talking Smack of them announcing that Mandy Rose is now on the RAW roster.

Miz claimed that he wasn’t using his power and influence to get revenge on Otis. He said he was simply trying to help Otis because he has the MITB contract and now Otis can solely focus on cashing in his contract. The Miz added that Otis should be thanking him for sending Mandy Rose away. Miz and Morrison then joked that Mandy Rose was hooking up with guys on the RAW roster before Otis interrupted.

Otis marched down the entrance ramp and tackled Miz in the ring. Otis leveled Morrison with a Clothesline and launched him to the outside. Tucker rolled Miz back in the ring and Otis slammed him to the canvas. Otis followed it up with a Splash to The Miz and then the Caterpillar Elbow Drop. Otis climbed to the middle turnbuckle and hit another Splash. Otis then stripped Miz to reveal he was wearing tighty whities.

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1307109428190117890?s=20

The Miz said that this was all part of his plan and got a phone call. Miz said “did you see it? was it enough?” before walking away with a smile on his face. Later on SmackDown, Otis was served with a lawsuit from Miz and Morrison. The lawsuit said that Otis has a week to forfeit the MITB contract of they are heading to court.

Cesaro Picked Up A Win

cesaro nakamura raw

Gran Metalik faced Cesaro tonight on SmackDown. Kalisto and Lince Dorado were ringside for the match. Lucha House Party will challenge Cesaro & Nakamura for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at Clash of Champions.

Match Recap: Metalik controlled the action early but got distracted because Lince and Kalisto were shouting instructions from outside the ring. The referee eventually kicked Dorado and Kalisto out from ringside. Metalik flipped onto Cesaro as SmackDown went to a break.

When SmackDown returned, Metalik connected with a Hurricanrana off the top rope for a near fall. Metalik went for a Moonsault but Cesaro got his knees up. Cesaro quickly hit the Neutralizer for the pinfall victory.

Alexa Bliss Hit Lacey Evans With The Sister Abigail

alexa bliss smackdown 9 18

Alexa Bliss welcomed Nikki Cross for an episode of A Moment of Bliss. Last week on SmackDown, Alexa Bliss hit Nikki Cross with a Sister Abigail during a Fatal 4-Way match. Bliss still introduced Nikki as her best friend tonight.

Alexa asked Cross what her plan of action was for her match against Bayley because she hasn’t been able to beat Bayley since last year. Nikki stated the title match at Clash of Champions is going to be different because Sasha Banks isn’t in Bayley’s corner.

Cross vowed to become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion at Clash of Champions. Nikki asked Alexa what is going on with her and brought up the Sister Abigail last week. Bliss claimed that she doesn’t know how to explain it because there is a change happening to her and she cannot control it.

Lacey Evans interrupted and mocked Bliss and Cross. Lacey called Nikki a “nasty thing” and stated she won’t beat Bayley because she is too nice. Cross laughed and blew her nose in Evans’ handkerchief. Lacey and Nikki then had a match after a commercial break. Alexa Bliss joined commentary for the match.

Match Recap: Lacey Evans rolled out of the ring and cleaned her hands with some sanitizer. Nikki hit Lacey with a Dropkick and went for a Sleeper Hold but Evans slammed Cross into the turnbuckle. Evans applied a Headlock and transitioned into an Arm Bar. Nikki broke free but Lacey caught her with a Clothesline and then a Moonsault for a near fall.

Evans brought the hand sanitizer into the ring and started spraying it on Nikki’s face. Nikki battled back with a Tornado DDT and a Neckbreaker for the pinfall victory. After the match, Lacey Evans mentioned The Fiend to Alexa and she all of the sudden had a dead stare on her face. Alexa planted Lacey Evans with a Sister Abigail before walking away.

Opinion: It seemed like nobody knew their lines during the A Moment of Bliss segment. Nikki Cross and Lacey Evans followed that up with a painfully dull match. The Alexa Bliss and The Fiend storyline is at least interesting. Cross versus Bayley at Clash of Champions already feels like an afterthought.

Latest On Will Hobbs Signing With AEW

Andrew Ravens
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AEW confirmed earlier this week that Will Hobbs had signed with the promotion. 

This came after the indie wrestler recently impressed company President & CEO Tony Khan.

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his signing and ultimate push began at All Out in the Casino Battle Royale. This was after Khan was impressed by him after he originally worked for the promotion as an enhancement wrestler on AEW Dark.  

In fact, Khan was hands-on in helping put together Hobbs’ match against Darby Allin on Saturday Night Dynamite last month. Khan had an idea behind the match to show that Allin could beat a physically impressive wrestler and Khan thought Hobbs performed great in that role.

The prospect first started working for the promotion back in July during a Dark TV taping and has worked several matches on the weekly show since then. 

He picked up his first win when he defeated Sean Legacy on the September 8 edition of Dark. This came just days after Hobbs participated in the Casino Battle Royale at All Out. Hobbs then defeated Jessy Sorensen on this past Tuesday’s Dark episode.

The Rock Rips Off His Electric Home Gate Due To Power Outage (Photo)

Andrew Ravens
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The Rock had an interesting start to his day on Friday. 

The former WWE Champion  is currently filming the “Red Notice” action comedy thriller for Netflix. He made a post on Instagram about how he ripped the front gate open at his home as he was late to work. 

The gate wasn’t working as it should because of a power outage after severe storms in the area. Thus, he took matters into his own hands. He wrote the following in the caption: 

“Not my finest hour [facepalm emoji], but a man’s gotta go to work. We experienced a power outage due to severe storms, causing my front gate not to open.

I tried to override the hydraulic system to open the gates, which usually works when power goes out – but this time it wouldn’t. Made some calls to see how fast I can get the gate tech on site, but I didn’t have 45min to wait.

By this time, I know I have hundreds of production crew members waiting for me to come to work so we can start our day. So I did what I had to do. I pushed, pulled and ripped the gate completely off myself. Ripped it completely out of the brick wall, severed the steel hydraulics and threw it on the grass.

My security team was able to meet the gate technician and welders about an hour later — and they were apparently, “in disbelief and equally scared” as to how I ripped it off [laughing emoji]

Not my finest hour, but I had to go to work.And I’m [100% emoji] ready to be BLACK ADAM [lightning bolt emoji] [muscle emoji].”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFSoqM8FR0T/?utm_source=ig_embed

The Rock has been preparing for months to get into top shape for his next role as “Black Adam,” which is slated to premiere on Dec. 22, 2021. 

First Look At The Rock As Black Adam (Photo)

Pete Dunne Has A New Role In WWE NXT UK

Andrew Ravens
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Along with being a full-time star for WWE, Pete Dunne has also got a new role in the company. 

The former NXT UK Champion is now working as a producer for the WWE NXT UK brand. The news was revealed when Dunne was labeled as an NXT UK Producer on the latest episode of the weekly NXT UK show on the WWE Network this past Thursday. 

It should be noted that he is still a member of the NXT roster in the United States. However, he has not wrestled since March due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Thus, when WWE relaunched the NXT UK brand at BT Studios, WWE put him to work in this new role while he’s stuck in the country.

He’s slated to appear on next week’s episode of NXT UK as he’ll be doing a segment where he picks the match-ups for the Heritage Cup Tournament.

Speaking of Dunne, he took to Twitter to show off his new physique as he has lost some weight. He wrote the following: 

“I’ve had quite a few mentions saying I’ve lost weight and asking if I’m unwell etc. I’ve used lockdown to get in the best shape of my life and I’m excited for an eventual in-ring return when travel is possible.”

Details On Storyline Direction For Paul Heyman & Roman Reigns

Andrew Ravens
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WWE got fans talking when they paired Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman together on television. 

It didn’t take “The Big Dog” long to find success with Heyman at his side. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has plans to make the pairing have a dynamic as different as possible from Heyman’s pairing with Lesnar, who is good friends with Heyman. Meltzer pointed out how Lesnar smiled at his promos, laughed at his jokes, and long-time fans knew the relationship dated back to 2002. 

When it comes to his pairing with Reigns, it’s the opposite as there is no friendship and the idea is that Reigns is in charge of the relationship. There’s also the idea of how Heyman was done in wrestling with Lesnar gone and had nothing left until he was approached by Reigns. Thus, Heyman feels that Reigns saved his career. 

Meltzer noted that there will be catchphrases such as “Reigning, defending, undisputed champion.” There will also be a designation of him as the Special Counsel and Reigns will be the Tribal Chief. 

This was said to be a takeoff on Peter Maivia’s role in Samoan culture in the 70s.

Melina Reportedly Returning To WWE Soon

Chris Stephens
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Melina Perez, better known to wrestling fans as just Melina, is reportedly set to return to WWE this week. According to a report from PW Insider, WWE and Melina have come to turns on a deal that will see her return to the company.

Melina was last involved with the National Wrestling Alliance. She was one of the top heels in the company’s women’s division on episodes of Powerrr up until the pandemic.

Melina is a former 5x women’s champion in WWE. She won the Divas title on 2 occasions and on 3 occasions she won the WWE Women’s title. In 2009, Melina achieved her highest ranking from Pro Wrestling Illustrated when she was ranked the #3 female performer in the world by the publication.

Melina appeared on the RAW Reunion show last summer. She spoke about the experience in an interview with POST Wrestling.

“Oh my, it was therapeutic. I needed that, because I needed closure, I needed closure, I needed to say goodbye to the people I needed to say goodbye to. I needed to talk to the people who we never said goodbye but we never said our feelings.”

Before embarking on her own singles career, Melina was one of the Ms in the tag-team MNM. Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro (aka John Morrison) comprised the team. The tag-team are 3x former WWE tag team champions.

Miro Talks AEW Not Barring Third Party Revenue for Performers

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar and newly signed AEW performer Miro recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The ‘Bulgarian Brute’ discussed a number of topics during his time on the show; including the promotion of his outside projects within AEW’s programming.

Miro on AEW Promoting His Content

“Being with the company that actually promotes my stuff? They promote my YouTube channel, they promote Twitch, my social media. They wanted to do that because this is the way of the future. There are all these other dinosaurs [that won’t allow that]. We don’t need that, we don’t need that.”

Miro was of course referring to WWE and the recent policy that was put in place regarding third party sites. Twitch, Cameo and YouTube were particuarly being looked at by WWE as ‘harming potential’ for revenue.

WWE’s recent crackdown on third party streaming platforms has been gaining a lot of traction, even in the mainstream. WWE has always been quick to refer to their ‘independent contractor’ status of their Superstars; however this recent move to choke Superstar’s earning potential on external services has called this into question once again.

Andrew Yang

Former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently discussed why he called out WWE for their practices in light of the third party ‘ban.’

“I actually got a message from someone who is part of the WWE, pointing out to me the story about how WWE was saying, ‘Hey, don’t go on Cameo or Twitch.’” Yang would stated. “And it infuriated me because I know that the WWE has been trying to play it both ways for years, where they’re saying on one hand, ‘Can’t do anything without our say so. We own you, but you’re an independent contractor and we have nothing to do with your health, retirement, any of the benefits you’d get that would accrue to an employee.’ (h/t to 411mania.com for this transcription).

It was recently reported that WWE had made certain changes to the policy. These were mainly focused on Superstars not using their trademarked WWE character name for their third party use. This becomes a bit more murky when you factor in the amount of performers who use their real name when streaming or on Cameo.

Chris Jericho says he wrote the controversial line in Miro's promo
Chris Jericho says he wrote the controversial line in Miro’s promo

Arn Anderson Comments On Working With Roddy Piper

Chris Stephens
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Arn Anderson was recently asked about Roddy Piper on his podcast, the Arn Show. Anderson says he has a lot of respect for Piper’s accomplishments in wrestling even though the two didn’t know each other well.

“Piper was a guy that I didn’t spend any downtime with. I was a huge fan as you will find a lot of wrestlers are fans of Roddy Piper and what he brought to the table.”

“He was just so talented and good on the stick and that’s one of those things that I aspired to do well,” Anderson continued.

“I would just watch Piper and marvel at how good he was and he paid a lot of dues to get where he was in the business. He was just one of those really, really huge superstars. Like a wrestler’s wrestler as far as just being so well-rounded and really a superstar in the business. I miss him, that’s for sure, I miss getting to watch him perform.”

Roddy Piper passed away in his sleep on July 31, 2015. He was 61-years-old at the time of his death. His daughter, Ariel Teal Toombs, made her pro-wrestling debut last year under the name Teal Piper. She was recently spotted training with Ronda Rousey as well.

Anderson’s comments can be heard in the player below:

Mike Kanellis Talks 205 Live Being ‘Obscurity’ in WWE

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar Mike Bennett recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. Formerly Mike Kanellis, Bennett would discuss a number of topics from his time with WWE. These topics would include creative meetings with Vince McMahon, appearing for NWA and his battle with addiction.

Mike Bennett Talks ‘Obscurity’

“When we (Mike and Maria) got released back in April? I spent a good two months like trying to figure out where my next move would be” Bennett began on the show. “I knew I wanted it to be special, but I also didn’t know if anyone would really be interested in me.”

Elaborating further, Mike Bennett/Kanellis would discuss how he knew he was a virtual unknown on the WWE roster, nearly from day one. “I’m not completely oblivious to what the last three years were like. I would love to come out and be like, ‘oh yeah like I was a former WWE guy! So everyone’s going to be chomping at the bit for me to come and wrestle for them.’ But I was kind of living in obscurity at WWE in 205 Live.”

“I had little tidbits here on RAW and Smackdown” Bennett continued. “I really wanted to come out and do something special. But I didn’t know if that opportunity would exist, and like, thank god, this NWA opportunity came about.”

Mike Bennett recently appeared on the new NWA weekly PPV show on United Wrestling Network and FITE TV. Bennett challenged NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis for the prestigious Championship but was unsuccessful.

Bennett would describe how the opportunity to appear for the National Wrestling Alliance ‘excited’ him about pro wrestling again. “I don’t know how to explain it, it really just…it excited me about pro wrestling again. Because I had really been in a bad place. I hadn’t really enjoyed pro wrestling and a lot of that falls on my shoulders. I realised that, but the last three years [in WWE] kind of gave me a sour taste.”

Do you think that Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis deserved a better shot in WWE? Let us know in the comments

Mike & Maria Kanellis
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