Ember Moon has revealed how she suffered her unfortunate Achilles injury back in September 2019. The SmackDown Superstar caught up with Booker T on an episode of his podcast, The Hall of Fame, where she addressed the situation that led to her injury—one that involved the WWE 24/7 Championship.
Ember Moon’s Championship Chase
Moon recalled being asked by WWE to take part in a “24/7 title run” as Carmella had won the championship the night before. She admitted that she was fine with being a part of the segment, but confessed that she had a “bad feeling” going into it. Being a self-confessed team player, however, Moon was still willing to take part.
“We do the run through and I told Truth, I was like, ‘Truth, you better run, I’m gonna catch you, Truth. If I catch you, I’m tackling you and you’re going down.’ And so when we actually did it, I literally caught them right before we went through the curtain,” she said. “So they go through the curtain and they didn’t realize how close I was behind them. As I’m coming through, the curtain shuts, I open it, go through. Truth is dropping Carmella and I’m going full speed and I had to hit the brakes. I was just like, ‘whoah,’ BOOM, and I felt a pop.”
Whislt rehabbing and recovering away from in-ring competition, Ember Moon revealed during a previous appearance on WWE Backstage that she has accepted a coaching opportunity. Moon has been away from the ring dealing with this injury since her last television appearance on the September 23rd episode of Monday Night RAW.
Matt Hardy has directly addressed his current brand status in WWE. Responding to a Twitter question, the Superstar described his current as “Matt Hardy in LIMBO.” He also pointed out how, despite appearing on RAW, he was never officially a part of that roster.
“Ever since I returned last February, I’ve been listed on the #SmackDown roster. When I performed on #RAW in November & December, I wasn’t ever officially put on RAW roster. Saw several websites suggesting I’d switched roster pages, but not the case. Call me Matt Hardy in LIMBO”
Ever since I returned last February, I’ve been listed on the #SmackDown roster. When I performed on #RAW in November & December, I wasn’t ever officially put on RAW roster. Saw several websites suggesting I’d switched roster pages, but not the case.
After an extended period away from in-ring action, Matt Hardy returned to the ring on RAW. Upon his return, many fans were surprised to see him wearing attire reminiscent of his time in Team Xtreme alongside Lita and his brother, Jeff Hardy.
Despite a swell of excitement following his initial comeback, Hardy was, unfortunately, able to accrue much momentum on his time on the red brand, losing matches week after week.
Serving Two Masters
In a recent episode of Thoughts form the Throne, Matt Hardy spoke about how wrestlers and promoters now have to serve “two masters.” He highlighted how the industry now has to appeal to both the diehard fan and the casual fan. It is an approach he has embraced, admitting that he is “trying to cater to both.”
It looks like CM Punk wasn’t very happy with some remarks from the Miz made during the latest episode of WWE Backstage. The self proclaimed ‘Best In The World; blasted the A-Lister over his comments on the show in his latest ‘pipe bomb’ attack.
The Miz was the special guest on the WWE series this week
and he cut a promo on his appearance while talking to the camera as the filming
for the show was wrapping up.
However interestingly, towards the end of the promo, the
former World Champion apparently took a shot at CM Punk after asking Renee
Young if there was any better episode of WWE Backstage:
“Oh yeah, we are now done with WWE Backstage, they are taking the microphones off me. It was great, it was amazing. I feel like this was the best WWE Backstage episode ever. Oh, sorry. I didn’t ‘change the culture,’ my bad. my bad.”
The WWE on Fox twitter account later posted a clip of this promo on Twitter. CM Punk responded to it with a tweet of his own and in the response which has since been deleted, he told the WWE star to “go suck a blood money covered d**k in Saudi Arabia”:
Though this tweet wasn’t online for very long and it seems that the WWE on Fox account has taken down their post featuring the video of the promo as well.
For those who don’t know, CM Punk made a surprise appearance on WWE Backstage during the closing moments of the November 12th episode last year.
He cut a short promo during the appearance saying “It’s as simple as this, just when they think they’ve got the answers, I change the culture.”
There have been no response from any other guests of WWE Backstage on the matter and it would be interesting to know what Fox officials think about Punk’s comments.
The Young Bucks are considered to be one of the top tag
teams in the wrestling world right now but surprisingly, one of their dream matches
is not a regular tag team bout.
The duo recently appeared on ESPN West Palm where they talked about a number of things and the team of Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson also revealed their dream matches.
Nick Jackson was the first to respond to the question about
the same and he explained that he would like to see a 6 men tag team match
between Young Bucks & Kenny Omega and The New Day:
“Off the top of my head, I would say The Elite versus New Day because that was something that was actually close to happening at one point, but it just never happened but I think if that six-man would’ve happened, it would’ve tore the house down,”
Matt Jackson then responded to the question as well and he revealed that his dream match would be between the brothers and the Revival.
Explaining the reason behind this, Matt claimed that he
feels like there is some real-life tension between the two teams and he doesn’t
know if it’s competitive or friendly.
What will be your dream match involving the AEW Vice Presidents? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
WWE has signed former Ring Of Honor star and former Mae Young Classic competitor Mercedes Martinez to a contract, according to SoCal UNCENSORED.
Martinez has been active in the wrestling world from the
past couple of decades and she first started training for an in-ring career in
late 2000.
She made her debut in November that year and the female star went on to wrestle for a number of indie promotions in England and America in the coming years.
Her first big break came in 2006 when she made her debut for
Ring Of Honor on March 25 where she competed in a Shimmer sanctioned match.
She was brought in by WWE for the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament where she made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated by Shayna Baszler.
Since then, Mercedes has made a number of appearances for
the company on the NXT brand and she competed in the second Mae Young Classic
tournament as well.
It’s interesting to note here that Mercedes Martinez has also made appearances for AEW recently and she made her debut for the promotion during the All Out event, where she was revealed as the ‘Joker’ in the second Casino Battle Royale.
No word yet on when Martinez will start her tenure with WWE or
what the company is planning for her but we’ll keep you posted on the matter.
There have been reports of Vince McMahon being high on Baron Corbin and they seem true considering the fact that he has been pushed as one of the top heels of the company in recent times.
During a recent interview on the Cheap Heat podcast, the former NXT star talked about a number of things and he also revealed why he thinks the Boss likes him.
According to Baron Corbin, Mr McMahon is a fan of his, because he is a big dude with legitimate toughness and he is a little bit old school:
“I think Vince McMahon has been a fan of mine because
I’m a big dude, a little bit old school, and have legitimate toughness. He sees
motivation in certain guys and certain guys want to have it and some
don’t.”
Continuing on the topic, King Corbin revealed how they came up with the ideas for his Constable Corbin gimmick including his shaved head look and in ring attire.
Apart from this, Baron Corbin also talked about his match
with Kurt Angle at this year’s edition of WrestleMania which was the farewell
match for the WWE Hall Of Famer.
Corbin first talked about the reaction he got online for the
bout and he then praised Angle for his old school mentality and the willingness
to give back to the business on his way out.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently had an interview with Inside The Ropes where he talked about things like working with Triple H, how special the Madison Square Garden venue is for him and more.
One of the things that have taken the wrestling world by storm in the past year is the war between AEW and NXT. The upstart promotion which only formed at the beginning of 2019 has been giving tough competition to WWE’s third brand.
However talking about the competition between these two shows, Mick Foley claimed that NXT has advantage over AEW because the guys at the Black and Yellow brand have been groomed for the bigger stage:
“NXT’s advantage is that their guys have been trained
to work for the camera, and I think they have an advantage of having more
seasoned stars and now a dedicated team writing for them, But in the end it
comes to down to who has the ability to tell better long-term stories and get
the audience engaged.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Foley also discussed how AEW stars want to put on the best match they can whenever they are in the ring but he explained that this doesn’t necessarily lead to the best promotion.
Mick Foley detailed his comments recalling how WWE officials told him to save his hardcore stuff for the big matches and he claimed that it improved his longevity.
Apart from this, the Hardcore Legend also talked about the difference between Bray Wyatt’s Fiend character and his old one. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.
WWE made a very interesting announcement on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw when Brock Lesnar came out and confirmed that he will be entering the Royal Rumble match as the #1 entrant.
There have been lots of rumors about his participation in
the match since then and there have been speculations that his entry in the
bout could be a way to set up his WrestleMania 36 match.
Another star who has been in news recently is Edge. He has been subject to reports of a possible return. So this development has led many to wonder if these two stars will cross paths at the upcoming PPV and set up a match for the Show Of Shows.
However, Dave Meltzer cleared up these rumors on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio and he confirmed that Edge vs. Brock Lesnar is not one of the planned matches for the upcoming edition of WrestleMania.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 2.385 million viewers in Oklahoma City, OK at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on the USA Network, which is down from 2.439 million viewers the previous week.
RAW Viewership
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
Hour 1: 2.550 million – Last Week: 2.525
Hour 2: 2.409 million – Last Week: 2.464
Hour 3: 2.195 million – Last Week: 2.328
The episode was expected to increase in its viewership from last week. The reason for that is due to the company building up two championship matches as well as an appearance by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar alongside Paul Heyman.
Here is the hourly 18-49 demos breakdown:
Hour 1: 0.78 – Last Week: 0.80
Hour 2: 0.75 – Last Week: 0.78
Hour 3: 0.70 – Last Week: 0.72
The biggest competition that WWE RAW faced came in the way of a college football game on ESPN that did 1.446 million viewers.
Some of the matches that took place include WWE United States Champion Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) vs. Rey Mysterio, RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) vs. The OC (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford), AJ Styles vs. Akira Tozawa, Drew McIntyre vs. No Way Jose, Aleister Black vs. Shelton Benjamin, and Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe & The Big Show vs. AOP & Seth Rollins (Akam & Rezar) in the main event.
There was also a segment with Lana and Bobby Lashley to make their marriage “official” that also set up Lashley vs. Rusev for next week.
WWE will attempt to increase its viewership for RAW next week but it won’t be an easy task due to the competition that the show will face. RAW will be going up the NCAA National Football Championship game on ESPN that is expected to draw big ratings.
In case you missed the show, you can check out the six takeaways here.
WWE ice cream bars are finally returning. They are coming back in a different shape but with the same design and look as they had previously.
For over 20 years Good Humor marketed WWE-themed ice cream bars until they were discontinued in 2009. In 2011, CM Punk lobbied on WWE programming for the bars to be brought back. Now some 8 years after Punk’s pleas for their return, WWE ice cream bars are being brought back but in the form of stickless cookie sandwiches.
Good Humor now has the new WWE Super Stars ice cream sandwiches listed on their website here.
Punk gave an interview to WWE.com shortly after his comments about ice cream bars struck a chord with WWE fans.
“I want the freakin’ ice cream bars back! I’m still working on that. But in the meantime, I’m going to keep shoving it down people’s throats. Because everyone likes ice cream, which goes in your mouth and then goes down your throat.
“You know what? There are other ice cream companies out there. Good Humor, we’re giving you a gift. We’re giving you an option here, and if you don’t want to take it, we will sell our wares elsewhere.”
In 2011, CM Punk commented further on wanting WWE to bring back the ice cream bars in an interview with Red Eye Chicago.
“I really am hoping that does happen. A lot of people don’t realize that when I mouthed off about the ice-cream bars they wanted them the next day. It’s a licensing issue, and we are working with the proper people to bring them back. We want them back by the “ice-cream season,” as you can say, so next summer is a good possibility. Although I don’t think there is a day where I wouldn’t go without eating ice-cream.”
Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard are former WWF Tag Team Champions as the Brain Busters in WWE. They didn’t last long in the promotion, however. Anderson recently discussed what led to his departure from WWE in 1989 on an episode of “the Arn Show” with Conrad Thompson.
“(Vince McMahon) said ‘Guys, I don’t have guaranteed contracts but my word is good and I guarantee you guys will make more than you made with Crockett,” Anderson said of his meetings with Vince before signing with the company in 1988.
“We got to wrestle all the top teams and everything was going good until we checked the figures and in the fiscal year we were about 50 grand behind at about the 8-month mark,” he continued.
Anderson continued to say they asked for a meeting with Vince to discuss their finances. At the meeting, they asked Vince to cut them a cheque to bring them even with what they would have been making with Crockett over those 8 months.
“We said if you can’t do that, we’d like to put our notice in,” Anderson said.
Vince said he wouldn’t cut them a cheque but gave them his word he would make it up to them. Anderson and Blanchard instead gave him 3-months notice.
Blanchard would be suspended for a failed drug test shortly after. Anderson also discussed Blanchard’s 1989 departure from WWE on an episode of his podcast recently.
Anderson would then continue to say that during Blanchard’s suspension, his money almost doubled and he did end up making the kind of money Vince originally promised. He would continue to say he believes this was Vince McMahon’s way of sending a message to him that he should trust him.
Anderson’s comments can be heard in the player mode:
WWE Hall of Famer and Busted Open Radio co-host Bully Ray has an interesting theory about Brock Lesnar’s role in the 2020 Royal Rumble match.
As seen on Monday’s WWE RAW, Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman appeared on the show to drop a bombshell announcement. The reigning WWE Champion is not only entering the Rumble match. He has opted to be the first entrant.
Brock Lesnar Brings the Intrigue
On Tuesday’s episode of of Busted Open, Bully Ray explained why the announcement is so intriguing. “Brock is entering the rumble at number one, if you’re intrigued that means you’re going to tune in,” he began. “Now what they give us is gravy. Why would Brock Lesnar, the WWE champion, be entering the royal rumble at number one? Well it’s really quite simple. Who should be challenging Brock Lesnar right now? Who’s intriguing enough to challenge him right now?”
Bully Ray then made the point to co-host Dave LeGreca that there’s arguably no one in WWE who is at Brock Lesnar’s level. “Who’s the credible person on the raw roster that you think at this very moment as of late last night could stand in the ring with Brock? Like where you actually think they have a shot at beating him?”
“…We want to see Drew get this push”
In terms of legitimate threats to Brock Lesnar, only one name stood out to Bully Ray. “Drew [McIntyre] looks the part,” he said. “We want to see Drew get this push and for them do more with Drew. But they’re in a transitional stage with Drew, they’re turning Drew babyface little by little. That ‘three two one’ gimmick, that stiff kick to the face…he’s going to get that over. He should be doing that ‘three two one’ every single time he does the claymore kick.”
“We’re not going to take the punk ass route and hope we get number thirty.”
Bully also talked about how the story was legimatised from a storyline perspective. “Say you’re looking this from a storyline point of view. I’m the WWE champion, just as Paul said in the promo there are no challengers, or no credible challengers. So if we have no credible challengers we’re going to try to do the most credible thing we could possibly do.”
He continued, “We’re going to win the Royal Rumble; as the WWE champion and oh by the way we’re not going to take the punk ass route and hope we get number thirty. We’re going to take the warrior route and enter ourselves at number one. And I’m going to eliminate every single person that comes in that ring. And I’m going to win the Royal Rumble.”
“…whoever 30 is, is probably going to be a big surprise and most likely will eliminate Brock Lesnar and set up your match for WrestleMania 36”
Ray also talked about a potential main event for WrestleMania stemming from the Rumble match that would mean that Brock gets eliminated.
“What do you think is going to happen especially if number thirty is a massive surprise?,” he asked. “What if number thirty eliminates Brock? Well you just set something up that’s, probably, first of all needed for WrestleMania this year; and number two since I kindly answered your question; that there really isn’t anybody on the roster that really gets me excited to face Brock Lesnar here’s your answer. I think you hold the key right there. Whoever thirty is. Is probably going to be a big surprise and most likely will eliminate Brock Lesnar and set up your match for WrestleMania 36.”
The playing field for the main event of WrestleMania is wide open, at this stage. The 30th entrant eliminating Brock Lesnar might just be the rocket fuel WWE needs to jumpstart WrestleMania season and set up a match fans actually want to see.
WWE Hall of Famer and Busted Open Radio co-host Bully Ray had some interesting comments regarding Chris Jericho and his appearance at New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 this past weekend.
There had been speculation that AEW and NJPW had worked together in some form before the show. As Tanahashi claimed that he would “open the forbidden door.” And challenge for an AEW Championship shot if he beat ‘The Painmaker’ Jericho. ‘Le Champion’ responded to the challenge; stating that he would take on Tanahashi for the AEW title if he were to beat him at Wrestle Kingdom. Interestingly NJPW mentioned AEW several times during the Wrestle Kingdom broadcast, and Jericho appeared wearing the AEW Championship.
“…it will probably based around Chris Jericho’s comments of him trying to bridge the gap between AEW and New Japan”
Bully Ray and Busted Open co-host Dave LeGreca were discussing the Wrestle Kingdom event and how AEW/Jericho fit into the equation. “If AEW does come into the conversation today it will probably based around Jericho’s comments of him trying to bridge the gap between AEW and New Japan,” Bully began.
“Trying to get them on the same page, see if they can get a working relationship. I like what Jericho was trying to do by saying ‘hey Tanahashi if you beat me you know you can get a shot at the [AEW] championship.”
“…Chris Jericho talking about how he’d love to see bad feelings and egos put aside”
AEW World Champion Chris Jericho
Bully continued, saying “they took us down one road thinking ‘well maybe Tanahashi gets a shot’ but [in the end] Jericho goes over. But now they’re saying the [forbidden] door is closed.”
Ray also talked about Jericho’s press conference following Wrestle Kingdom, where the former WWE Superstar stated that he wants to see ‘egos put aside’ so that AEW and New Japan can work together. “Chris Jericho does the press conference talking about how he’d love to see bad feelings and egos; all this stuff get put aside and try to bring them together.”
“Super Alliance”
Ray also talked about how the likes of Jericho and even CM Punk wrestling outside of WWE is such a big deal to the industry as a whole.
“Do you remember how we talked probably about a year ago? When we were talking about guys like CM Punk coming back wresting? How Jericho came back wrestling? About how it’s bigger for these guys to come back and go work for other companies other than the WWE? Because what it means to the business on the whole. Globally. Big picture wise I think what Jericho is trying to do is like what we talked about a year ago. Jericho is trying to bring the biggest Japanese pro wrestling company; and the hottest wrestling company right now in America together to maybe form a super alliance.”
Last night on WWE RAW, Big Show made his return to the ring for the first time in over a year. Show wrestled in the 6-man tag team main event last night along with Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe against Seth Rollins and the AOP. It was Show’s first match since November 20th, 2018. On that show, he teamed with the Bar to take on all 3 members of New Day on Smackdown.
WWE.com correspondents caught up with Big Show backstage from RAW last night.
“Tonight was amazing,” Show said backstage. “After going through 5 hip surgeries in a year and a half, to be able to take a phone call from a friend, a peer in the business, to come out in front of this incredible crowd tonight and get back in the ring after almost a year and a half and be competitive, I’m just extremely humbled and grateful.”
Show continued to say he’s been tested in the last year and a half like he’s never been tested before.
“They say what doesn’t break you makes you stronger,” Show continued. “I think my faith in my career, my faith in myself, and faith in this business was tested these last 2 years like it’s never been tested before. I’m just extremely grateful for the fans and we’ll see what happens next week.”
Big Show’s comments can be heard in the player below:
Ruby Riott hasn’t appeared on WWE programming since April and hasn’t wrestled a match since a house show in Cardiff, Wales back in May. The 28-year-old has been on the shelf ever since undergoing shoulder surgery on both her left and right shoulders.
According to a recent report from PW Insider, however, Ruby was spotted at the WWE Performance Center recently. It is believed Ruby was at the center in order for WWE doctors to monitor her progress.
Upon undergoing the two shoulder surgeries this spring, it was initially reported Ruby could be back by early 2020 but there is no update on how she is progressing.
Since she has been on the shelf, WWE has split up the Riott squad with Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan’s storylines not intersecting on Raw. This week on the show, Logan antagonized Charlotte Flair before a match between the two could begin. Logan attacked Flair before the bell and threw her robe on the ground.
The other Riott Squad member Liv Morgan interrupted the rather eventful wedding between Bobby Lashley and Lana last week. Morgan is scheduled to be in Rusev’s corner for a singles match against Bobby Lashley next week.
UFC President Dana White once famously said fans would never see women in the UFC. Then Ronda Rousey changed everything. Rousey recently published a video on her YouTube channel of her telling D-Von Dudley just how WWE influenced her during her UFC career.
“I wanted to make women’s MMA take off and I was looking at what the women’s fights didn’t have that the men’s had,” Rousey said in the video. “Because women could have exciting fights but nobody gave a s**t and I was trying to figure out why nobody gave a s**t.”
Rousey then used pro-wrestling terminology to illustrate why she felt nobody cared about women’s MMA at the time.
“It was because everyone was babyface,” Rousey said. “And there was no story and so I was like ‘all these girls need is a real heel.'”
D-Von then asked Rousey if the persona she was portraying at the time was influenced by pro-wrestling.
“100%,” Rousey said. “I was basically doing an impression of Roddy Piper with an impression of the Diaz brothers.”
D-Von then asked Rousey if not shaking Meisha Tate’s hand after their second fight was part of her building storylines in women’s MMA.
“No,” Rousey responded. “I started it just as a persona then she started making it personal so I was like ‘f**k that b**ch.'”
Rousey’s latest video can be viewed in the player below:
Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks recently took part in an interview with The Commercial Appeal and spoke about AEW’s approach to long-term booking. During the interview, it was stressed that AEW’s success shouldn’t be measured on a week-to-week basis.
“We want long-term, nuanced stories, and sometimes you have to struggle and suffer a little bit to get to the climax of the story,” Matt Jackson said. “Wrestling fans are just so used to getting exactly what they need at the snap of a finger now.”
The brothers also spoke about their run in TNA Wrestling during the interview.
“I think at the time, there was not a big picture plan,” Matt Jackson said. “We really loved wrestling, and we wanted to support ourselves and our families through wrestling. Whether that meant (wrestling in) TNA, Japan or WWE, it didn’t matter.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B68p7HEDBkx/
The Bucks would then stress they knew something good was waiting for them in wrestling if they just stuck with it.
“I knew working hard would get us somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you we’d be doing what we’d be doing now — it’s surreal,” Nick Jackson said.
“If we stay healthy and the company keeps going and going, then it’s a better future for all of wrestling,” Nick Jackson said.
The full interview with the Commercial Appeal can be read here.
King Corbin recently gave an interview to the Kansas City Chiefs website “Chiefs Wire.” During the conversation, Corbin stated that The Undertaker is the WWE legend who has influenced him the most.
“Undertaker is someone I looked up to for his physicality and the mentality, so he’s a guy I grab onto every time he’s around, and he seems very willing to help. And not a lot of guys want to give out secrets, but he helps in how I think about putting things together, and he’s really played a significant role helping me find success and fame,” Corbin said.
Corbin also mentioned Triple H as someone who has had an influence on his career.
“(Triple H) has been hands-on with me since day one, and he’s always interested in what I’m doing and how I’m doing and how I can evolve, so those guys have played major roles in helping me grow.”
King Corbin on Comparisons Between WWE and the NFL
Corbin also stated during the interview that he believes he’s earned all the stripes in WWE and that the next logical step for him is a world championship run.
“I want to get my hands on that WWE championship,” Corbin said. “I think that’s the next step and logical step for me. I’ve earned all these stripes, so it’s time to put some gold around my waist.”
Corbin also spoke about the similarities between trying to crack the WWE roster and trying to crack the roster of an NFL team.
“I think the mentality you get when you try to make the NFL is a long, hard enough road that thousands of college football players are trying to get to the NFL,” Corbin said.
The wedding officiant who presided over Lana and Bobby Lashley’s wedding last week on RAW was back this week as well. Since Rusev interrupted Lana and Lashley’s nuptials last week, the officiant was back to quickly pronounce them man and wife this week. Evidently, nobody informed the security of this.
In between segments, as the officiant entered the ring for the segment security mistook him for an invading fan and tackled him in the ring.
Fans captured the incident and have been posting it online.
Both Lana and Bobby Lashley have spoken out publicly about the angle.
“Don’t assume someone’s sexuality,” Lana wrote on Twitter. “Just because they are not outspoken in the LGTBQ community doesn’t mean that they’re not pansexual, bisexual, gay, transgender or trying to process their sexuality,” she began. “Even if they are married. For many it’s complicated. Please have compassion.”
Lashley spoke with Sports Illustrated about the angle.
“Yes, I’ve experienced a tremendous amount of hate. We as a society come out and we’re anti-bullying, anti-hate, anti-this, anti-that. I think we actually pick and choose who we hate and bully,” Lashley said in the interview.
Kevin Nash has officially confirmed that he is retired from in-ring competition. The former WWE Superstar revealed the news in a Twitter exchange with a fan.
One of the pictures shows Nash holding a microphone looking towards his nWo and Outsiders partner Scott Hall. A fan asked Nash who he wrestled at the event. The 60-year-old legend replied, “Father Time. I’m retired”
Nash followed up with a tweet questioning how anybody could assume he is still actively wrestling.
How after wrestling once in 2 years as a favor is it news I'm retired? I had a knee replacement and stem cell therapy to heal my wounds. Now I'm in the best physical shape as far as function than I've been since 1986 when I destroyed my right knee. I worked 29 years on one leg.
Debuting in WCW in the early ’90s, Nash managed to assert himself a main event talent during his time in the then-WWF as Diesel. After leaving WWF to return to WCW, Nash and Hall would eventually side with Hulk Hogan. The three formed the New World Order, creating one of pro wrestling’s most popular counterculture groups.
He held several championships throughout his extensive career, including the WWE, Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships. He is also a 9-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and a 5-time WCW Champion.
2-Time WWE Hall Of Famer
It was recently announced that Kevin Nash would be joining his fellow nWo members Hall, Hogan and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman for this year’s WWE Hall of Fame. They join Dave “The Animal” Batista as the first names announced for the award, which takes place during WrestleMania week. This marks the second time Kevin Nash will have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Hogan commented on the induction announcement, writing on Twitter:
“Very grateful that the four original nWo members HollyWood, Big Kev,X and Scott are getting inducted to the WWE HOF. We are not coming back to take over and change the business again,we are just coming back to celebrate our run ,get inducted and party NWO style at Wrestlemania.HH”
All Elite Wrestling’s Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho have both made efforts to help the firefighting effort in Australia as bushfires rage through the country.
Cody took to Twitter to share a new t-shirt that sports a retro design of his name. He wrote how it was an unused concept, but wanted to put it online to help the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. 100 percent of profits will go towards helping Australian fire services.
“I had an unused retro shirt design, I’ve decided to put it online! [100 emoji] % of the profits go to THE NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE to help provide support to those affected by the catastrophic fires spreading across Australia.”
If you are interested in purchasing a t-shirt, you can do so at ProWrestlingTees.
I had an unused retro shirt design, I’ve decided to put it online!
?% of the profits go to THE NSW RURAL FIRE SERVICE to help provide support to those affected by the catastrophic fires spreading across Australia. ?? ?? https://t.co/vJblwkh5jKpic.twitter.com/Vjxbvgu975
“Le Champion” had a similar idea in helping out. After speaking with New Japan Pro-Wrestling English commentator, Gino Gambino, and Robbie Eagles, Jericho donated the ring worn shirt he wore at Wrestle Kingdom 14. Gamino uploaded a photo of Jericho holding up the shirt. He highlighted how “ALL of the money will be donated.”
At the time of writing, the eBay bid is currently at $5,100 Australian dollars.
“Today @IAmJericho spoke to myself and @RobbieEagles_ about the devastating fires . Chris really wanted to help out all his fans in #Australia affected by these events, and has dontanted his WK14 ring worn T-shirt. ALL of the money will be donated”
If you are interested in bidding on the t-shirt, you can do so here.
Chris Jericho recently competed against NJPW’s Hiroshi Tanahashi. He managed to defeat “The Ace” during Night Two of Wrestle Kingdom 14. Despite the AEW World Champion competing against one of New Japan’s top talents, the relationship between the two companies is reportedly “worse than previously thought.”
During the most recent episode of The New Day’s podcast, Feel The Power, the three WWE Superstars reminisced on the creation of Xavier Woods’ beloved trombone, Francesca.
Francesca made her debut on the Monday Night RAW following SummerSlam 2015. Turns out that Woods had to learn how to play the trombone “by ear” on the night, having had no previous experience.
“So the next night, we were in Brooklyn is when we introduced “Francesca” because I remember we had the match, we were feeling good and so ‘Oh, maybe tomorrow night on RAW you guys do something with the song ‘New York, New York” and this is when we were starting to get like, ‘Okay, they’re kind of trusting us to do whatever, we’re asking for stuff and they’re kind just like letting it slide, but let’s see how far we can go.’”
He continued, “At this point in our career we were trying to see if we can get into trouble. And so I remember texting back, I was like, ‘Oh, instead of like singing it, can you get me trombone because I could like play it, just by ear?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, sure well I’ll ask.’ And we were kind of joking about it like in the hotel or like wherever we were and then a few minutes later gets a text back., ‘Yeah, yeah. We can get a trombone.’ And all three of us were (gasp) ‘What?’ So we were like, ‘How do we use this trombone?’ And so I learned how to play ‘Da da da dada duh.’”
Xavier Woods Remembers Vince McMahon’s Reaction
Woods then recalled how he was meant to return the trombone to a WWE props worker. At the moment, however, he decided to keep it and play it through the match. During a commercial break, one of the cameramen told him how Vince McMahon was “laughing his ass off” backstage and instructed him to keep playing. Upon getting to the back after the match, he remembered Vince laughing, telling them how they will “always have this trombone now. She’s part of the group!’”
Woods is currently recovering from an unfortunate injury suffered during a WWE Live Event—an injury that shook him to his core.
RAW Superstar Matt Hardy has uploaded a new episode of his YouTube series, Thoughts from the Throne. During the show, Hardy addressed the fanbase he has accumulated with his other series, Free the Delete.
“I have been doing them in a very specific way where I think in the professional wrestling business now, if you’re a performer or especially if you’re a promoter, and you’re putting together the events, we serve two masters,” Hardy explained.
He extrapolated his comment, saying:
“I think there is the diehard fan that knows the deal and knows what’s going on, and I think that fanbase is growing exponentially, and is getting larger every single day. That’s one audience that we definitely have to take care of and we have to cater to them. The other audience is the casual fans and there are casual fans out there that just love the casual concept of wrestling, and there’s this larger than life story – a good guy vs. a bad guy, and they wanna see a story happen, that culminates in a match, and there’s trainwrecks on the way.”
Matt Hardy’s Two Masters: Diehard & Casual
Hardy then pointed to the recent Lana, Bobby Lashley and Rusev angle. He highlighted how the segments “did a big number,” despite the diehard fans hating it.
“[…] obviously there’s casual fans that are interested in it because people keep watching it online. So, there are two masters we are serving, and the point of what I was saying was in ‘Free The Delete’ I am trying to cater to both of those.”
Hardy shared that this is the style he is trying to capture for the modern product, creating interesting, entertaining segments and videos that appeal to both. He stressed that when it comes to Free the Delete, if fans see something that stands out and possibly means something, that is an intentional creative choice, not just coincidence.
The current WWE United States Champion, Andrade, has declared his intentions to become the “new face” for Latinos in the company. Speaking with The New York Post, Andrade addressed his ambitions and his commitment to learning English. He also broached whether he wants to be involved in a storyline with his fiancee, Charlotte Flair.
“Always Rey Mysterio was the face of Latinos [and] in the past Eddie Guerrero,” Andrade said. “Now is my moment to be the face of the Latinos in WWE. It looks strong to win the title, no? I’m more strong with more opportunities and focused on the next title. This is why I’m preparing and I’m working hard, so maybe in one year no more Rey Mysterio. I’m the new face and my legacy starts.”
Learning English
Regarding his goals to further learning English, Andrade revealed how he practices whenever he can. The champion shared how he and Charlotte Flair will work on his language skills on “every drive, on the side, when we’re home” in his efforts to get better.
“I am trying to practice for the future [for] great promos in English and a little Spanish, you know the promos before with Rey Mysterio and, in the past, Eddie Guerrero,” Andrade divulged.
Andrade And Charlotte Flair
With Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch having recently been involved in an on-air WWE storyline, fans may wonder whether the same could happen for Andrade and Charlotte Flair. When asked, Andrade was coy with his response, replying “Maybe in the future, but now she’s focused on her work. I’m focused on my work. Now Zelina’s in my corner. Maybe in the future, but not for now.”
He shared how he would love to have feuds with notable WWE Superstars. Andrade named Triple H and Roman Reigns as top-level Superstars he’d love to wrestle. His goal, however, remains unchanged: to become WWE’s next big Latino star.
Although respectful of his connection to those who have come before him, Andrade stressed that he is not the same as Eddie Guerrero or Rey Mysterio and that he is “working for my legacy.”
WWE Superstar Bobby Lashey recently reflected on the beginning of his pro wrestling career during an interview with Sports Illustrated. Looking back at his time in WWE’s developmental promotion OVW back in 2004, Lashley recalled how he was once pitched with a Mr. T gimmick.
“I didn’t know this at the time, but Paul [Heyman] saw me–this big, jacked up dude–and didn’t know me. And none of the other writers knew who I was,” Lashley said. “They were just writing on what they thought they knew of me–that I should be like Mr. T and run around like, ‘I pity the fool!’ But that’s not me.”
Lashley revealed that it was Paul Heyman that took an interest in him during the early days of his WWE career. He continued, “and that’s why Paul wanted to sit down and talk. He knew he needed to write for this guy, but he didn’t know who I was, and he wasn’t going to just guess. So we just sat and talked forever, and he said, ‘I get this guy.’ And he got me over in a short amount of time.”
Bobby Lashley’s Background
Lashley highlighted his background, noting how he is a “subtle” person. He referred to his background as one where you “shut up, you train, and you compete.”
“That’s what Paul saw, and everything he did from then on was highlighting who I was, not trying to put me in a box that didn’t fit. That’s why I was so excited when he came [as the Executive Director of Monday Night Raw], because I knew he gets me, could write for me, and put me in the right position and place on the show.”
During last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW, Bobby Lashley and Lana were finally able to tie the knot after last week’s interruption. It wasn’t long, however, until Lana’s former partner Rusev got involved, which you can see below:
