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Johnny Gargano On Cinematic Matches, Wanting To Face Seth Rollins

Steve Russell
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NXT Superstar Johnny Gargano has shared his thoughts on WWE’s recent cinematic matchups during an interview with Mirror. He also brought up his interest in facing Seth Rollins and how he’s been staving off boredom during the coronavirus pandemic.

WrestleMania 36 featured two cinematic matches in the Boneyard Match and Firefly Fun House matchup. Gargano was a fan of both, calling them “awesome.”

The Firefly Fun House match, in particular, resonated with him. He noted how people could call him weird, but “as a deep dive fan the match was genius. There were so many little deep dives and easter eggs throughout that you can go back and think ‘that was awesome’. They were so different and so cool.”

Johnny Gargano Wants Seth Rollins

Gargano revealed how he had heard Seth Rollins’ promo on RAW, claiming that there wouldn’t be an NXT or Johnny Gargano without him. His words were something Gargano has taken issue with. He admitted he was going to “shoot for the moon” with his challenge, but would love to see Rollins return to NXT and for them to feud.

“So if Seth Rollins is free on any Wednesday and wants to come by, feel free Seth, come on by. I heard his promo from Raw where he said that there wouldn’t be an NXT or Johnny Gargano without him. If he feels that way, he can feel free to come by on Wednesday, anytime.”

Combating Boredom

In an effort to maintain his fitness and combat boredom during self-isolation, Gargano revealed that he now owns a Peloton bike and has become “one of those guys now.”

It’s a purchase made in an effort to adapt to the current self-isolation the world continues to experience. He stressed how you have to “make the best of what you got.” He shared how people are generally good at adapting and that “you just gotta make the best of things.”

Alongside the Peloton, he and his wife Candice LeRae, now own a dog. He explained how they’ve both been wanting a dog for a while but weren’t at home enough as they would want to be. The coronavirus has changed that, allowing them time to train the dog and spend time together.

Drew McIntyre Comments On Heath Slater’s Release, Jinder Mahal’s WWE Return

Steve Russell
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WWE Champion Drew McIntyre has addressed the status of his former 3MB stablemates Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal. Speaking with Metro, McIntyre acknowledged Slater’s recent release from WWE. He revealed how the former-Superstar already has a “game plan he’s forming.”

Having been fired from WWE in the past, Drew McIntyre used that time away to reinvent himself. He eventually returned and ultimately claimed the WWE Championship. He shared that he is currently giving Slater advice on what to do now he is no longer with WWE.

The WWE Champion is confident that Slater will “really get to show the world what he’s capable of.”

According to McIntyre, there’s no reason Slater won’t take over the world, be brought back to WWE and get another opportunity, just as he was.

Drew McIntyre On a Jinder Mahal Feud

Turning his attention to Jinder Mahal’s recent return to Monday Night RAW, Drew McIntyre confessed he isn’t sure if fans would buy into a feud between them right away. He acknowledged that they have a “legitimate, real story” that can be built on.

McIntyre shared how Mahal needs a bit of a run first, allowing him to “build up some steam.”

Once that’s done and the time is right, only then should they come together. “Aside from what people saw on television, besides the fact he won the title before me and everyone kind of crapped on it, then I won the title and everybody kinda praised it.”

Drew McIntyre is set to defend his WWE Championship against Seth Rollins this Sunday. The two clash at WWE’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

Otis On The Origins Of The Caterpillar, His Conversation With Scotty 2 Hotty

Steve Russell
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WWE SmackDown Superstar Otis has explained the origins of his popular move, The Caterpillar. He divulged how he first started using the movie during an interview with Digital Spy. During their conversation, Otis also opened up about a conversation he had with Scotty 2 Hotty, who was known for his move The Worm.

Otis revealed that the first time he ever tried doing the Caterpillar was during a dance party at Elementary School. According to him, no girls would dance with him so he decided to “get the crowd over with my moves.” 

“I started shaking my hips and getting going and I waited till everybody was watching – you know, it was a big circle dance, everybody’s looking in there and checking you out. And that’s when I dropped. Bam! It’s a little bit stiffer on the floor than in the ring. And I got love from doing that move, so I just kept doing it. So now every wedding I get sore ribs the day after.”

Otis On Talking With Scotty 2 Hotty

Considering that his move has similarities to the Worm, Otis shared how he revealed he could do the Caterpillar after being coached at the WWE Performance Center by Scotty 2 Hotty. 

Otis stated how he told Scotty how much the move meant to him. He added how he acknowledged that Scotty was the “king of The Worm” but was adamant that he continued using the move, eventually popularizing it as the Caterpillar. 

Matt Hardy On Being Left Off List Hyping WWE’s Greatest Ladder Matches

Steve Russell
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This Saturday, FOX will be airing a two-hour special on WWE’s Greatest Ladder Matches. The announcement was accompanied by a Tweet highlighting how the special will feature top Superstars who competed in “the best of the most high-flying, crowd-wowing battles in sports entertainment — the ladder match.” Although the message listed a number of top stars, a few names were noticeably missing, including Matt Hardy’s.

The former WWE Superstar has since responded to the apparent slight by WWE. When a fan tagged him in a tweet complaining at Hardy’s omission, Hardy replied: “It’s all good.”

Hardy wasn’t the only Superstar to be missing from their advert. Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, and Matt’s brother, Jeff, were also noticeably absent.

Matt Hardy wrote:

“In 2020, wrestling fans know you can’t talk about @WWE’s greatest ladder matches without the names HBK, Razor, Christian, Bubba, D-von, Matt & Jeff included.. Hopefully, those matches are included for keeping the actual history credible.”

Matt Hardy Is All Elite

Matt Hardy recently made his debut on AEW Dynamite, aligning himself with The Elite. This week on Dynamite, Hardy will compete in a Street Fight.

He teams with Elite member Kenny Omega. The pair will take on the team of Inner Circle members Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara. This match marks Matt Hardy’s in-ring debut with the company since his first debuted on the show.

Shane Helms Believes Wrestling ‘Sucks Without An Audience”

Steve Russell
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Recently furloughed WWE Producer Shane Helms believes he knows why WWE’s ratings have been struggling as of late. Responding to a tweet regarding WWE’s flagging ratings, Helms bluntly relayed how ratings have been impacted because wrestling “sucks without an audience.”

Shane Helms stressed how watching wrestling without a crowd is an undeniable struggle for him. He credited the fans as being an undeniably vital component before juxtaposing the current product with watching a stand-up comedy show without an audience. Regardless of the quality of the comedian, without a crowd “it just won’t be as funny.”

“Because it sucks without an audience. It just does. Nobody loves wrestling more than me but I struggle to watch it while it’s missing one of it’s most vital components, the fans!”

Shane Helms On AEW’s Approach

Another fan reached out to him to ask his thoughts on All Elite Wrestling. Whereas WWE has been putting on RAW, NXT and SmackDown with no audience or noise, AEW has been performing Dynamite in front of a small crowd comprised of talent.

This small amount of noise creates a different atmosphere for the shows, and Helms was asked from a “producer and talent standpoint” what he thought.

AEW’s approach appears to be something that Helms is enjoying. He replied to the fan, sharing how AEW has “done some things that I really like.”

Cody Rhodes Reflects On Rejected WWE Gimmicks

Steve Russell
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All Elite Wrestling’s Cody Rhodes has recalled a few rejected gimmicks he had pitched during his time in WWE. Speaking with The Dan Le Batard Show, Cody shared details about two ideas he had worked on with his father, Dusty Rhodes. Both concepts were ultimately shot down. 

Cody recalled how, prior to leaving WWE, he went through a phase of going to the WWE Performance Center. He explained how he had been working on different projects with Dusty at the time, noting he was blessed he got the chance to do so. He noted how “none of them got green lit” before revealing how one was based on Iron Man’s Tony Stark. The gimmick would have seen Cody act as a “prince in the industry, the opposite of the common man which Dusty was.”

Another idea saw Cody Rhodes‘ Stardust character accompanied by a hairless cat. He recalled how Dusty was once trying to produce a promo with him as he held a hairless cat adorned with makeup and glitter. 

“At the end, everything I flew against the wall didn’t stick, which the ultimate answer of that was why don’t I try being myself and see if that sells any tickets. And that’s where I’ve been fortunate and blessed enough to have the most success.”

Cody Rhodes is set to compete this Wednesday night on Dynamite. He will be participating in the finals of the TNT Championship Tournament. He faces off against Lance Archer to determine who will be the inaugural TNT Champion. 

Matt Cardona: “I Don’t Go To Work To Eat Sh*tty Catering”

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The creator of Z True Long Island Story would discuss a number of topics from his time in WWE and subsequent release.

During the interview Matt Cardona would make impassioned comments about languishing backstage at WWE. The former Zack Ryder made it clear that he was in professional wrestling to be at the top of the mountain, to be a World Champion.

“I don’t have a family, I don’t have kids to feed. If I was in that situation, maybe I’d be thinking differently, right?” Cardona began. My dream, my goal was to always be a professional wrestler. Not just be any professional wrestler but be one of the top ones.”

Matt Cardona Wants To Wrestle

Matt Cardona would then go into his time ‘sitting in catering,’ a phrase often used by fans to describe someone under contract to WWE but sparingly being used on RAW, SmackDown or NXT. “I don’t go to work to just sit in catering and eat that sh*tty salt and pepper chicken” Cardona would proclaim.

“I want to wrestle, I want to be creative,” he continued. “I want to do something. I’m so excited about it [the release] and it’s just like, it really does feel like Christmas. I have those 90 days [release clause] and right now this world is so messed up I couldn’t even work anyway.”

Cardona finished by using a metaphor to describe his time waiting for the 90 clause to finish. “There’s no way to work right now, but that’s why it’s like Christmas gifts! You just turn the corner, and your dad has set up the cameras, you can’t go get them yet and I just see those those Christmas gifts and I want to rip them open and wrestle and just have fun. It’s, I have goosebumps right now just talking about it.”

You can check out Matt Cardona’s Pro Wrestling Tees store here.

Where do you think the former Zack Ryder will end up? On the indies or AEW, IMPACT, NWA? Let us know in the comments

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Aleister Black On What It’s Like To Work With Paul Heyman

Anutosh Bajpai
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Aleister Black says it has been “mind-blowing” to work with Paul Heyman, the Executive Director of WWE Raw.

It’s no secret that Heyman has certain wrestlers whom he has taken under his wing. Black, Buddy Murphy and Cedric Alexander are among the current crop of ‘Paul Heyman Guys.’

Aleister Black was a guest on WWE Backstage this week. The former NXT Champion appeared ‘out of character’ and spoke about his relationship with Zelina Vega and more.

During the discussion, Christian asked Black how he feels about working with the big names on the Raw brand.

Aleister Black on Working with Paul Heyman

Black said, “It’s so strange that people like yourself, people like Paul Heyman and people like Edge and many many more are now amongst people that I can call on to give me advice or to help me further my game within the WWE.”

“It’s a very unique situation for me because never in a million year that I think that some kid from Amsterdam would be in the position that not only he would be in Money In The Bank,” he continued. “But he would be a fan favorite, but he would be informed and led by Paul Heyman. It’s mind-blowing.”

You can see video of Aleister Black talking about his experience working with Paul Heyman in the video player embedded below.

Continuing on the topic, Black said that he has accepted this part of himself and it’s necessary to have such people in his close circle to elevate his career further.

Aleister Black is currently scheduled to compete in the mens’ Money In The Bank ladder match this Sunday on pay-per-view.

Zack Ryder On How He Got Put Into The IC Title Match At WrestleMania 32

Anutosh Bajpai
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Zack Ryder’s Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 32 was one of the highlights of his WWE career and the former champion himself admits that it was one of the top moments of his wrestling career.

However, the former WWE star was not originally expected to be part of the bout at all and he was put in the match due to the injury of the former Cruiserweight Champion Neville, now better known as Pac.

During his recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, Ryder talked about the match and said that it was the top moment of his career in the company. He then recalled the ups and downs going into the bout and revealed how he got the spot:

“Someone got injured. It was Neville, Pac, that got injured, and I went right up to Road Dogg, who was head of creative. I don’t remember exactly what I said. I think it was an out-of-body experience. I just rattled off why I think I deserve to be in that match. I think he could just feel that passion just coming out of my body.

I guess one of the things I said was, ‘I never heard my music play at Mania,'” said Zack Ryder “and later he said that was the comment that stuck with him and got him to vouch for me to get me in there.”

Zack continued by saying that just coming down the aisle and hearing his music for the first time at WrestleMania after so many years in WWE was a win for him alone and then winning the title was another incredible moment.

His father, who was sitting in the audience slid in the ring after this win and during the interview, the former WWE star revealed that this was not part of the plan and Dolph Ziggler waved his father over to get into the ring after the match.

Nikki Bella Calls Ronda Rousey’s WWE Debut a “Slap In The Face” To Womens Roster

Anutosh Bajpai
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Ronda Rousey made an impactful WWE debut at Royal Rumble 2018 but it overshadowed the victory of Asuka and it appears that Nikki Bella who was one of the final two competitors in the match is not a fan of the way things were handled.

In her new book titled ‘Incomparable’, the former Diva’s Champion talked about the event and claimed that it was an incredible night with not so incredible finish.

She continued by saying that the booking was a little triggering for her. Nikki wrote that her words are not against the former UFC star but the moment was a bit of a slap to all the women who competed in the match:

“But it was a bit of a slap in the face to all the historic women wrestlers who had come out for the match, the main event, only to have the moment upstaged by the Ronda announcement. It just didn’t need to happen like that.

It dominated the postshow news cycle and became the only thing everyone wanted to talk about—not the historic Royal Rumble and Asuka’s dominance in the league.” said Nikki Bella. “And by the way, it sucked for Ronda, too. Because that’s no way to join a team—they threw her right into the lion’s den.”

Royal Rumble 2018 featured the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match which was won by an undefeated Asuka. She eliminated Nikki Bella for the win and the Japanese star was confronted by both Women’s Champions from Raw and SmackDown afterward.

However, before Asuka can choose her opponent for WrestleMania, Ronda Rousey made her official WWE debut. Her arrival ended up overshadowing the Japanese star’s victory, becoming the hottest topic of discussion among fans.

Drew McIntyre On Which Opponent He Would Like To Defend His Title Against

Anutosh Bajpai
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Drew McIntyre has been wrestling for almost two decades and he spent a good amount of time in the independent circuit at the start of his career and after getting his release from WWE in 2014 as well.

However, despite this, he has never faced AJ Styles in a one on one match and during his recent interview with Vicente Beltrán of ViBe & Wrestling, the WWE Champion talked about possibly defending his title against the Phenomenal One.

McIntyre was asked who he would like to face for the title. Answering the question, he said that he would like other possible challengers like Jinder Mahal to build themselves first and then talked about possibly facing the former World Champion:

“Somebody that’s not there right now, hopefully he can dig himself out from the ground, but AJ Styles is somebody that’s certainly up there. He’s a performer that, you know, he’s one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time.

When I first started training when I was 15 and he was, like, on top of the independent world, I used to study his tapes like crazy.” recalled Drew. “I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to be like AJ Styles,’ and then I kept getting taller and kept getting bigger and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not going to be like AJ Styles, but he’s really cool to watch.'”

The interview was recorded before this week’s episode of Raw which saw AJ Styles making his return to WWE programming and winning the last chance gauntlet match.

Styles now has the opportunity to win the Money In The Bank this Sunday. Winning the briefcase would guarantee him a world title opportunity, hopefully against the current WWE Champion Drew McIntyre.

NXT Star Brendan Vink Reportedly In Line For A Long Term Push

Anutosh Bajpai
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NXT star Brendan Vink has been making appearances on Raw in recent weeks and it appears that his presence on the show is part of a longer plan for the Australian wrestler.

WWE officials have considered him to be a project in development for sometimes now and the NXT star is in line for a push, according to Pwinsider.

WWE’s partner promotion Evolve was building Vink up and his push in the indie promotion would have continued if it wasn’t for the coronavirus outbreak.

His recent main roster appearances are apparently the beginning of trying to make him into a real star and they are building towards a long term push.

The plans for Brendan Vink’s push were described as being similar to the push given to the current Universal Champion Braun Strowman as part of the Wyatt Family when Mr McMahon saw the Monster Among Men as a long term project.

The NXT star has been teaming with Shane Thorne on WWE television recently and the two have made a number of appearances on Raw in recent weeks.

This week’s episode of Raw was the first time these two picked up a victory on the show when they teamed up to defeat the team of Cedric Alexander and Ricochet.

WWE RAW Bottoms Out With All-Time Low Viewership

Andrew Ravens
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Viewership data is in for Monday’s WWE RAW and Friday’s SmackDown. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:

RAW Viewership

Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.686 million viewers, which is down from the 1.814 million viewers last week. This marks the lowest viewership in the 27 year history of the program.

Here is the hourly viewership breakdown:

  • Hour 1: 1.807 million, 0.48 in the 18-49 Demo
  • Hour 2: 1.691 million, 0.46 in the 18-49 Demo
  • Hour 3: 1.560 million, 0.43 in the 18-49 Demo

RAW featured RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) in a non-title match, Brendan Vink & Shane Thorne (w/MVP) vs. Cedric Alexander & Ricochet, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Murphy in a non-title match, and a Last Chance Gauntlet Match that featured.

SmackDown Viewership

SmackDown averaged 1.885 million viewers on FOX in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. This is down from the 2.005 million viewers that the show did for the previous week’s episode of SmackDown.

The show averaged 1.919 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was down from the 2.014 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets. 

The first hour drew 1.941 million viewers while the second hour did 1.896 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.050million viewers while the second hour did 1.978 million viewers. 

SmackDown pulled in a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.

Cody Teasing Surprises For Wednesday’s Live AEW Dynamite

Michael Reichlin
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AEW has some surprises in store for this week’s episode of Dynamite on TNT.

After several weeks of taped shows, AEW Dynamite will be live Wednesday night from Jacksonville, FL at the Daily’s Place Amphitheater. There will not be any fans in attendance just yet. However, that hasn’t stopped AEW from loading up the show.

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will be in action, “Broken” Matt Hardy makes his AEW in-ring debut in a star-studded tag team match and more.

AEW Dynamite Preview (5/6)

AEW is advertising the following items for Wednesday’s Dynamite:

  • AEW World Champion Jon Moxley vs. Kazarian (Non-Title Match)
  • Street Fight: Kenny Omega & “Broken” Matt Hardy vs. Le Sex Gods (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara)
  • Cody vs. Joey Janella
  • Lance Archer vs. QT Marshall
  • The return of Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Cody also teased “some surprises” for the show in a tweet sent out Tuesday morning.

AEW Double or Nothing takes place Saturday, May 23rd from Jacksonville, FL. As of this writing, the only match confirmed for the pay-per-view is Cody vs. Lance Archer to crown the first AEW TNT Champion. Expect some PPV match announcements on Dynamite, including details on Jon Moxley’s next challenger.

Check out part of our exclusive interview with AEW World Champion Jon Moxley:

Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona Talks WWE Release

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The creator of Z True Long Island Story would discuss a number of topics from his time in WWE and subsequent release.

Mass Text

Talking directly about the day of release, Cardona said “we all got this mass text to watch his Vince McMahon video, explaining that the cuts would be happening. So, I can’t say it was unexpected.”

Matt Cardona Being Anxious

Matt Cardona would elaborate further, saying this WWE contract was actually coming up for renewal, and that he had felt anxious about what direction his career would take. “I never re-signed my contract so my deal was going to be up in August” Cardona revealed. “I had been dealing with contract negotiations for over a year. The anxiety that I had about it, like do I stay? Do I go? It was really eating me up. So when that call was made and I was released the decision was made for me, instantly, I was relieved. You know what I’m saying? Because the anxiety I had for over a year. Subconsciously, Consciously, it anxiety was instantly gone.”

14 Years

The former Zack Ryder would then discuss the potential opportunities that he has ahead of him on the independent scene, having been with WWE for 14 years. “I felt so excited because I want to work. I want to do stuff, I want to be creative, you know? To now be able to do whatever I want. I’ve been fortunate that I was with WWE for 14 years, that’s when I signed, I was was 20 years old, I grew up there.”

“I grew up as a as a wrestler, I grew up as a man, but It’s time. It’s time for me to go out and do it my way. To do my things, to fail on my own, to succeed on my own. Even having like a pro wrestling tees store! Thinking of ideas, I just love the hustle. I love being creative and I love wrestling so I cannot wait for the future.”

You can check out Matt Cardona’s Pro Wrestling Tees store here.

Where do you think the former Zack Ryder will end up? On the indies or AEW, IMPACT, NWA? Let us know in the comments

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Court Bauer Invites Mike Tyson To Wrestle MLW Exhibition Match For Charity

Michael Reichlin
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Boxing legend Mike Tyson recently announced he’s back in training and is considering a few exhibition fights. This caught the attention of Major League Wrestling boss Court Bauer, who extended an invite to Iron Mike to step inside an MLW ring.

During a recent chat with Rapper TI on Instagram Live, Tyson revealed his plans to get in shape and box a few exhibition fights.

“I want to go to the gym and get in shape to be able to box three or four-round exhibitions for some charities and stuff,” said Tyson.

The 53-year-old Heavyweight Champion wants to use his notoriety to help raise money for people who are homeless and struggling with drug addiction. Tyson is feeling is his age, but still has glimmers of the killer instinct that made him a global phenomenon.

Tyson says he’s doing several hours of cardio, lifting weights and works out in the boxing ring to get in better condition. “I’m start to put those combinations together,” he said. “I’m in pain, I feel like three guys kicked the s*** out of me.”

Tyson claims to be in the best shape of his life. Last week, he released this video of himself hitting the pads.

https://twitter.com/MikeTyson/status/1256300450539700224

MLW CEO Court Bauer caught wind of Tyson’s training and sees opportunity. With Tyson getting back in shape for a few exhibition fights, this could be the chance for him to finally cross over for a sanctioned pro wrestling match.

https://twitter.com/courtbauer/status/1257671160000634882

Tyson is a lifelong wrestling fan. He’s made several appearances on WWE television over the years, most notably serving as a special enforcer for the main event of WrestleMania 14. We’ll follow up on this story if Mike Tyson responds to the invite.

Check out our exclusive interview with MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone:

ACH Reflects On WWE T-Shirt Controversy: ‘I’m Ashamed Of Myself’

Steve Russell
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Former WWE Superstar ACH has reflected on his ignominious departure from the company’s black-and-gold brand NXT.

The former-Jordan Myles spoke with the Submission Squad podcast, looking back on his public, vocal displeasure with WWE. With time to reflect, he admitted that was “ashamed” of himself and his approach.

ACH confessed he had a “meltdown” in front of the entire world: “I said so much stuff and if I was to go back and take it all back…it really sticks to me.” He spoke about how he had been working his dream job in WWE and making money from pro wrestling.

ACH added how he was finally at a place in his life he had worked had to be and had only just begun to feel comfortable. 

“I’ve sacrificed a lot of pro wrestling, and I don’t expect anything back, but I made a lot of sacrifices,” ACH stated. “I’m ashamed of myself. I’m embarrassed. This is something that I’ll never be able to shake.”

ACH admitted that the entire situation and its fallout has taken away his passion for wrestling to the point he doesn’t even want to watch any pro wrestling. He shared how he would wake up and questions life’s purpose.

“Without my passion, what do I do?” he pondered. “It’s going to be a stain on my career forever.”

ACH made waves back in October after taking vocal issue with a WWE t-shirt design.

Bret Hart Shares Favorite Moments From His Legendary Career

Chris Stephens
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Bret Hart recently sat down with Sportsnet to discuss some favorite moments from his historic in-ring career.

The Best There Is, the Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be started off by talking about the influence Stampede Wrestling stars had on the business.

“I believe that the Stampede wrestlers like Dynamite Kid and myself, kind of went down to New York and WWF when we first got there in 1984/85, and really started raising the bar for wrestling,” Hart said. “Working harder than a lot of the big giants they had there at the time. We slowly changed the pace of wrestling, I think.”

As Hart continued, he stated that he believes today’s wrestling is too faced-paced.

“I do think that wrestlers of today watched Bret Hart and that’s how come they wrestle so quick and action-packed today,” he said. “I think they go too fast too much today in wrestling. I like the old stories but wrestling’s never been more popular than it is right now so it’s hard to criticize it.”

Bret Hart On Winning The WWF Title For The First Time

Hart also spoke about the first time he won the WWF title. He noted that his match against Ric Flair was one of the hardest of his career.

“The match we had was in Saskatoon, I know for a fact it was one of the hardest matches I’ve ever had,” Hart said. He continued to say he broke his finger and hurt his ankle during the match.

“I never really got to celebrate winning the world title. The first time I celebrated it was in the emergency ward in the hospital in Saskatoon,” Hart said.

Bret Hart On Wrestling The British Bulldog In Wembley

Hart also spoke about wrestling the British Bulldog for the Intercontinental Championship in the main event of SummerSlam 92. He spoke about how he feels losing that match helped his popularity.

“I had such a groundswell of fan support all around the world when I lost,” Hart said.

He would continue to say he feels the loss helped show WWE that Hart was a top guy.

“It showed how popular I was around the world, finally. They recognized like ‘we really have something with this guy.'”

There’s much more to the interview, which runs about 32 minutes. You can listen to the full Bret Hart interview talking about his illustrious career at Sportsnet.ca.

Discussion: What are your favorite Bret Hart career moments? Let us know in the comments section.

Bruce Prichard Talks About Shelton Benjamin’s Time In WWE

Steve Russell
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During an episode of his podcast Something To Wrestle With, Bruce Pichard spoke about RAW Superstar Shelton Benjamin’s tenure with the company. Prichard noted how he doesn’t feel that Benjamin has reached his full potential in WWE.

Prichard reflected on Benjamin’s early days in pro wrestling. He looked back on how he was a part of the developmental class that included Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Batista.

“JR would say, ‘Goddamn! Blue chipper class! Sassafras!’ And Shelton, first of all, he could do anything — to this day, he can do just about anything. Incredibly talented performer. Yeah, maybe missing a little bit of that it factor, but a great performer and being given the opportunity and being able to work with someone like a Jericho makes him shine all that much more.”

He stressed how Shelton Benjamin’s “stock” was high within WWE, and that many higher-ups felt he could become one of their top guys. Despite this initial belief, however, Prichard divulged how WWE “hit a wall” with Shelton Benjamin and just couldn’t get him to that next level. 

Because of this, Prichard doesn’t believe Benjamin has ever reached his full potential. As far as he’s concerned, Benjamin could’ve been a “much bigger star” but doesn’t believe audiences would accept him at this point.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xWhXdqaZUg

Lacey Evans Shares Her Thoughts On Recent WWE Releases

Steve Russell
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WWE Superstar Lacey Evans has shared her thoughts on WWE’s recent releases. Speaking with the Walkway Fight Club podcast, Evans called the situation “terrible,” highlighting how she feels for them and their situation. 

Evans explained that she takes news like that hard as she knows what it’s like to come from no money and a rough childhood. She noted how she knows what “rock bottom feels like” and described that sick feeling a person can get when “you don’t know what you’re doing to do.” 

Lacey Evans stressed that WWE is incredibly supportive, however. Evans added how the company ensures that everyone is taken care of, explaining how they make sure that “everybody has what they need and is taken care of, and to the point of going forward.” Evans conceded that it is an undeniably “crapping feeling” and that she can’t imagine being in their position. 

Reflecting on her military background, Evans then added how you just have to keep pushing forward. She spoke about the importance of being able to adapt and overcome adverse situations such as this. “You can’t let life no matter what it is; no matter what cards you’re dealt with, you keep got to keep playing, you got to play your hand, and you got to play to the best of your ability. I mean, it’s hard.”

Lacey Evans shared how she is keeping all those affected in her prayers and wishes them the best going forward.

Carmella Reflects On Women’s Money In The Bank Victory, Cashing In Her Briefcase

Steve Russell
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Former Money in the Bank winner Carmella has reflected on her historic victory during a recent appearance on WWE show The Bump. She also remembered being to finally get rid of the Money in the Bank briefcase after cashing it in. 

Carmella admitted she was nervous about her win. She looked back on how she was the smallest competitor in the match and stressed how the ladders were “huge and scary.” According to her, she had “never done any big crazy moves off the ropes, let alone a ladder. I was scared, but I knew what I had to do.”

As far as she was concerned, she was committed to making history. This mindset came from the fact that her MITB match was the first-ever women’s version of the popular ladder match and that “everyone is going to remember the first ‘Miss Money In The Bank,’ and here I am.”

Carmella Cashes In

Carmella would go on to hold the briefcase for almost 287 days. She finally cashed in her championship opportunity against Charlotte Flair on the SmackDown following WrestleMania 34. Carmella would successfully win the SmackDown Women’s Championship. She was more than happy swapping out the briefcase for the championship.

“I was so glad to get rid of that thing [the briefcase],” Carmella joked. “The story that I told the old people that would ask me at baggage claim at airports, they’d say, ‘Oh, what is that? Are you a banker?’ I’d be like, ‘No,” and I would make things up because they would never understand the significance of the briefcase and the contract inside. I’d say, ‘There’s a contract in there,’ and they’d say, ‘A contract for what?’ [Then I would reply], ‘Nevermind, I work at Bank of America, it’s part of my uniform.’ It was ridiculous.”

She believes that holding the briefcase for so long worked in her favor. Carmella thinks that, by the time she opted to use her opportunity, fans reacted even more for the cash in. It meant more for her on a personal note, too, as her parents were in attendance for that episode of SmackDown. 

WWE Is Selling Masks For Charity During Coronavirus Pandemic

Steve Russell
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In an effort to help during the current coronavirus pandemic, WWE has released a new range of themed masks.

They masks are compliant with guidelines set forth by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)for non-medical face coverings.

WWE will be donating 100% of net proceeds to Americares, a global non-profit relief and health organization. Each mask costs $12.99.

There are plenty of designs for fans to choose from and features Superstars from across multiple eras. John Cena, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Edge, Seth Rollins, Mustafa Ali, the New Day, and Becky Lynch are just some of today’s current Superstars to have masks.

Other designs include Hall of Famers Triple H, Ric Flair, Edge, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and the nWo. WWE even have brand-specific options and championship belts options, such as the WWE Championship and RAW Women’s Championship.

To promote the products, WWE is using the marketing pitch, “Be a Superstar. Wear a WWE mask.”

The masks are available for purchase now via WWEShop.com.

Discussion: Would you wear any of these masks in public? If so, which one? Let us know in the comments section.

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Aiden English On Difference Between Working With Triple H And Vince McMahon

Anutosh Bajpai
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Aiden English had found success in his early days in NXT as part of The Vaudevillains tag team but he didn’t achieve much after being called up to the main roster.

The former WWE star recently had an interview with Inside The Ropes where he talked about his WWE career and many other things in detail.

During the interview, Aiden English also explained the difference between dealing with Triple H while in NXT and dealing with Vince McMahon in the main roster giving the impression that Mr. McMahon was harder to reach:

“Hunter was great because when NXT was starting, Hunter was out there on the floor, and he still is to this day and he’s helping put the show together, especially the TakeOvers and all that stuff, He’s hands on. I mean, Vince, between all the business stuff, network stuff, international stuff.

He’s dealing with that on our TV days, as well as trying to get these shows written.” said English. “So it is hard, and there’s a lot of the stories of waiting outside the office door and hoping knock and catch him at the right time, ’cause the man’s got to eat too. You don’t want to be the person knocking when he’s about to have dinner.”

The former NXT star went on to say that he didn’t develop his relationship with Vince during his initial run in the main roster but he started speaking for himself after becoming a singles competitor.

During the interview, Aiden English also talked about his pairing with Rusev and revealed that they used to ignore the promos given to them by WWE creative. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.

Roman Reigns Edited Out From WrestleMania 31 Replay (Video)

Steve Russell
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During last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW, WWE replayed a key moment from the main event of WrestleMania 31. The promotion featured a countdown of their top Money in the Bank moments over the past few years. Seth Rollins cashing in his opportunity took the number one spot. He would end up winning Brock Lesnar’s WWE Championship. There was another important Superstar involved with that cash in, however: Roman Reigns.

Roman Reigns was noticeably edited out of Rollins’ moment, with the company neither featuring nor mentioning “The Big Dog” during the footage. Although Rollins curb stomped Lesnar, he would actually pin Reigns to win the championship.

Roman Reigns Off WWE TV

This comes off the reported news that WWE officials and on-air personalities were not to mention Reigns on WWE TV. No definitive reason was given behind this choice. It’s worth noting, however, that WWE’s decision followed Reigns making the call to not participate in WWE’s recent WrestleMania 36 event.

Reigns was scheduled to compete against then-WWE Universal Champion Goldberg. Braun Stowman would replace him and ultimately claim the belt for himself.

Roman Reigns made the decision to not wrestle at WrestleMania 36 due to his past battles with leukemia which have left him immunocompromised and, thus, at a higher risk compared to other Superstars.

It was been speculated that it may be months before Roman Reigns will reappear on WWE programming depending on his safety and the potential further spread of the coronavirus.

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AJ Styles Was Reportedly Expected To Stay Out Of Action Longer

Anutosh Bajpai
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AJ Styles made his return to WWE programming this week on Raw and the Phenomenal One earned himself a spot in the upcoming Money In The Bank match at the show.

Dave Meltzer talked about the former World Champion on the latest episode of Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast and revealed that the original plans called for him to stay away from WWE programming longer.

AJ was apparently expected to spend more time on the shelf to sell his loss to the Undertaker in the boneyard match at WrestleMania 36 but the company changed the plans.

There is no news on why the decision was made but it’s speculated that the recent low ratings could be one of the reasons why he was brought back earlier than expected.

It’s worth mentioning here that Vince McMahon had talked about the low ratings on the 2020 Q1 earnings call and blamed them on the recent absence of big names from the WWE programming.

AJ Styles made his surprise return to WWE programming as the final participant of the Last Chance Gauntlet match on Raw and he defeated Humberto Carrillo to win the bout.

He will now be competing in the upcoming ladder match against Daniel Bryan, Baron Corbin, Otis, Aleister Black and Rey Mysterio at the Money In The Bank PPV this Sunday.

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