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Impact Wrestling Announces Rules For “Concrete Jungle Deathmatch”

Chris Stephens
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1

Tonight’s Concrete Jungle Deathmatch at Bound For Glory will be contested between Konnan and LAX against King and the OGZ. Impact Wrestling recently unveiled the unique set of rules for the match.

The ring mat will be gone, exposing just the boards underneath. Also gone will be the turnbuckle coverings. Josh Mathews goes into greater detail regarding the stipulations in the video below.

Concrete Jungle Deathmatch

The unique gimmick match comes by way of an order from a crime boss. King would later admit he put a hit out on Konnan and that he feels Konnan leaches off of the talent he represents.

Konnan recently returned to the ring for Major League Wrestling in their Battle Riot event. This will be the first non-battle royal match for Konnan in over 5 years, however.

Bound For Glory Lineup

  1. Impact World Championship
    Austin Aries (c) vs Johnny Impact
  2. Knockouts Championship
    Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
  3. Eddie Edwards vs Moose
  4. Sami Callihan & oVe vs Brian Cage & the Lucha Brothers
  5. Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
    LAX & Konnan vs OGZ & King
  6. Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs Ethan Page and Matt Sydal
  7. Eli Drake Open Challenge
  8. Allie Travels To the Underworld

The event takes place at 8 PM inside the Melrose Ballroom in NYC.

WWE Announces World Cup Qualifying Matches For Raw

Chris Stephens
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WWE has confirmed that two World Cup Qualifying matches will take place on Raw Monday night. The World Cup is currently scheduled for Crown Jewel on November 2nd in Saudi Arabia.

Seth Rollins will face Drew McIntyre and Dean Ambrose will take on Dolph Ziggler on Monday in the two qualification matches. So far, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton have qualified for the tournament. Rey Mysterio will face Shinsuke Nakamura at Smackdown 1000 in another qualifying match.

Tomorrow night’s edition of Raw will take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

WWE World Cup At Crown Jewel

Kurt Angle earned his qualification into the tournament in unique fashion. Angle won a battle royal last week organized by Constable Corbin while dressed as the Conquistador. He’d previously be on vacation at the advice of Stephanie McMahon.

Randy Orton qualified for the tournament by defeating Big Show Tuesday on Smackdown. Jeff Hardy qualified for the tournament by defeating Samoa Joe via referee stoppage Tuesday night as well. John Cena was just announced as being in the tournament rather than having to qualify.

As of this writing, the Crown Jewel event is still scheduled to go ahead as planned on November 2nd in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 4 Superstars from Raw and 4 from Smackdown will take place in the 8-person one-night tournament.

New NXT UK Tag Team Championships Unveiled

Chris Stephens
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2

The NXT UK brand spent this weekend filming episodes for their new weekly show on the WWE Network. The brand debuts their first weekly show this Wednesday at 3 PM EST. During the tapings, Triple H and NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint unveiled the new NXT UK Tag Team Championships.

NXT United Kingdom

Triple H recently spoke to the media in the UK about his goals for the brand.

“My goal long-term would be to make a career choice for people who want to have a career option, for people where they didn’t have to necessarily ever make it to RAW or Smackdown, if you want to look at it from that sense, and be able to have a very viable and lucrative career.”

He also spoke regarding an NXT territory system potentially resembling the old system before wrestling promotions went national.

“Whether you could be a part of the NXT system globally and over the course of a 10-year career, 15-year career go through multiple territories and get the wide range of experience and have a very meaningful career.”

Chris Jericho Teases Appearing At Bound For Glory Tonight

Chris Stephens
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4

There is growing speculation Chris Jericho could make an appearance at tonight’s Bound For Glory event in New York City. Jericho was asked on Twitter if he might be at the event and he didn’t deny it was possible.

He then responded to another fan who feels this would be a terrific birthday gift for Jericho’s longtime friend and Impact Vice President, Don Callis.

Chris Jericho Bound For Glory?

Jericho’s band Fozzy isn’t on tour at the moment. A Fozzy tour didn’t stop him from appearing at All In last month, however.

Rumors regarding Jericho’s involvement with Impact Wrestling began shortly after Don Callis was named to the promotion’s management team. Callis told me this spring he was interested in bringing both Jericho and Kenny Omega into the promotion.

One possible way for Jericho to appear on tonight’s PPV is if he was to answer Eli Drake’s Open Challenge. On the most recent episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake said he was bringing his Open Challenge to New York. He added the stipulation, however, that the person who answers his Open Challenge at Bound For Glory has to be from New York. Chris Jericho was born in New York in 1970.

Bound For Glory takes place tonight at 8 PM from the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. It will be available for purchase via the FITE app. The Chris Jericho Rock N Rager at Sea sets sail on October 27th as well.

Mark Haskins of PROGRESS/IPW:UK Talks NXT UK, WoS & More (Exclusive)

Jake Skudder
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0

We recently spoke to former PROGRESS World Champion Mark Haskins. The UK star has been a huge part of the revival in the region and recently appeared at PROGRESS ‘Hello Wembley’ against Matt Riddle. Here’s the full interview:

Matt Riddle’s Final Indie Opponent

SEScoops: You recently joined PROGRESS at their biggest ever show in Wembley Arena. You started for PROGRESS way back at the Garage and now you’ve faced Matt Riddle in front of nearly 5,000 fans…did you ever expect that U.K. wrestling would reach these heights again?

Mark Haskins: No. When I broke in the scene was in a completely different place to where it is now and I never expected it to gain the momentum it has in recent years. It’s a testament to a lot of passionate people’s hard work coming together and I hope the scene continues to blossom.

SEScoops: You main evented the first of PROGRESS’ ‘September Supershows’ against Tommy End/Aleister Black and Marty Scurll winning the World Title and had to vacate shortly after. Is the World Title in PROGRESS a belt that you are gunning for in the near future?

Mark Haskins: Yeah, I want my belt back.

Moving Further Afield

SEScoops: You appeared for ROH earlier this year, are there any companies further afield in the States or Japan like NJPW, NOAH or MLW that you’d like to appear for? Maybe a return to IMPACT or Dragon Gate?

Mark Haskins: Who knows what the future holds? I’d love to go back to Japan at some point as I’m a very different performer now to what I was back then. I think that would be a lot of fun.

Vicky Haskins

SEScoops: Your partner Vicky Haskins is an extremely important part of your character’s presentation now. When did the idea come about to have Vicky accompany you to the ring?

Mark Haskins: About 2-3 years ago. I’d been pushing for her to come in to Progress 18 months before it actually happened. I think a lot of people don’t realise she’s been a manager for years, she knows what she’s doing and she got signed to FCW before it became NXT back in 2010. I think it was something that people would only understand once they’d seen it happen, and when it did people realised there was something there.

Dream Indie Opponent

SEScoops: Who would be your current dream opponent on the independent scene?

Mark Haskins: Penta El 0M. Rey Fenix would be another. There’s a lot of talents I want to tear it up with. WALTER also being one of them.

SEScoops: We’ve just had the 10 episode run of WoS and the NXT U.K. division starting next week. The two big names that weren’t part of either show were arguably yourself and Jimmy Havoc. Was it a conscious decision to not take part in either and remain completely independent?

Mark Haskins: Not really, I think both company’s have an idea of what they’re looking for and that’s not us. We live in an age though where you can become a star without having to sign to a major organisation and that’s creatively refreshing. I feel like in a lot of cases Wrestling has become very repetitive and it could open up a new era of fans by doing something genuinely different to the norm. It just needs some one to push boundaries and try something new and everyone would realise they don’t need to get signed to a company to be a success.

You can follow Mark on Twitter @ThisIsHaskins. We’d like to take this time to thank Mark again for his time.

Charlotte Flair Talks WWE Crown Jewel and Liv Morgan Injury

Jake Skudder
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Charlotte Flair recently spoke to the New York Post. The interview covered a variety of topics including WWE’s Crown Jewel and Evolution events.

When asked about the Crown Jewel event Charlotte stated that “We have Evolution to think about, so I’m not really even thinking about the boys traveling overseas because I’m like, ‘I got the first-ever women’s pay-per-view match coming up.‘” It has been well documented that the female talent are not permitted to perform in Saudi Arabia.

Charlotte was also asked about the concussion injury sustained by Liv Morgan on WWE RAW. This occurred following an accidental run of ‘Yes’ kicks from Brie Bella. Flair reportedly stated that “she hadn’t heard the criticism of Brie Bella. Charlotte also added that she “is glad Morgan is OK and said “accidents happen.‘”

Charlotte also discussed the difficultly of playing a ‘babyface’ role in her feud against Becky Lynch. Flair said “because I think the go-to for me [as a heel] is easy that I always just go, ‘People just assume it’s because of my dad and that’s very easy to play off of.” Flair embellished on this by saying “to me that’s the easy way out, but since I’ve come to SmackDown and being in this new role, it’s having to show so many different layers and working from underneath as the bigger guy has been a great opportunity for me to work on things.”

You can read the full interview with the Post here

Former WWE Women’s Champion Not Appearing at Evolution

Jake Skudder
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2

Former WWE Women’s Champion Jazz has confirmed that she won’t be part of the Evolution event on October 28th.

Jazz responded to a fan question on Twitter where she outright stated “Not Happening!! Sorry.” The fan’s tweet was in response to Jazz confirming that Sasha Banks would be her “perfect” opponent for a WWE return.

Jazz is currently the NWA Women’s Champion and is scheduled to defend the title on October 21st. The former WWE Superstar will be facing Penelope Ford. The bout will be taking place at the NWA 70th Anniversary show in Nashville, Tennessee.

Jazz had her big start in ECW back 1999/2000. She was part of the Impact Players stable alongside Jason Knight, Lance Storm, and Justin Credible. Following ECW’s closure Jazz signed with WWE and move to OVW to train for 6 months in 2001. Jazz remained in WWE up until late 2004 and began her career on the independent scene in 2005.

ICW Announce James Storm vs Grado for Fear & Loathing XI

Jake Skudder
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0

Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has announced a huge International match for their Fear & Loathing XI event. Former TNA World Champion James Storm will be taking on Grado.

Insane Championship Wrestling has also announced that British Strong Style will be heading to ‘Fear & Loathing XII.’ This will be first time that the BSS stable has appeared as a unit in ICW. Trent Seven is a former ICW World Champion. More interesting is that Pete Dunne actually defended his WWE United Kingdom Championship in the company previously. British Strong Style are arguably the most popular stars from the thriving UK scene. All three are featured heavily on the WWE UK brands and NXT television.

Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has also announced a huge Women’s Championship match for their Fear & Loathing XI event. Women’s Champion Viper will be facing challenger Kay Lee Ray. Both stars are considered to be amongst the World’s best and have been a featured part of the weekly WoS programme on ITV/STV.

Fear & Loathing XII will be taking place on December 2nd at the SSE Hydro. If you’re an ICW fan you know that the ‘Loathing event is ICW’s biggest in the calendar year and last year’s iteration featured Rey Mysterio, Kevin Nash and Rob Van Dam amongst the homegrown talent.

Tickets are available to purchase via Ticketmaster now.

https://twitter.com/InsaneChampWres/status/1051398542852587521

Kurt Angle Answers Fan Questions on His WWE Return and Wrestling Vince McMahon

Jake Skudder
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0

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently took part in a Facebook Q&A. The Olympic Gold Medallist answered questions on his most iconic catchphrase, how he broke his neck in 1996, his craziest Vince McMahon story and more.

“It’s True, It’s True”

When asked about his “it’s true, it’s true” catchphrase Angle stated that “I came up with ‘it’s true it’s true’ when I started in the business and I would make fun of the city that was hosting our WWE Show. Angle clarified further by saying that “I would say something bad about their sports teams. It was always negative but it was also true because the teams would be struggling at that time. So when the crowd would respond to me with “Booooos”. I’d say “But it’s true. It’s true.”

Angle also fleshed out the story of when he broke his neck in 1996, saying that “I broke my neck when I was thrown on top of my head during a match. It broke 4 vertebrae. Another time, I broke my neck when I was hit very hard on top of my head with a chair. Brock Lesnar “brought it” pretty hard that night. I don’t wish that on anyone.”

When asked what his craziest Vince McMahon story was Kurt came up with this gem. “When he and I wrestled on a plane during an international flight. I didn’t want to do it, but Vince was in a crazy mood. So we’d wrestle for a while and stop. Then Vince would attack me again. Then he’d stop. Over and over. I just wanted to sleep. The flight attendant told us to stop, but Vince wanted to wrestle, so we wrestled…. for 4 hours. Lol.”

Kurt was also asked about his return to WWE, Angle appeared on RAW in a Conquistador outfit and claimed that “it sucked. I felt like I was squeezed into a big condom…lol, but it was fun.“

Spoilers: WWE NXT UK TV Tapings Results (10/13)

Andrew Ravens
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1

The journey of bringing the WWE NXT UK brand to the WWE Network has continued as the company held TV tapings on Saturday in Plymouth, UK at the Plymouth Pavilions.

As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when these shows will air but WWE has already announced that the show would begin airing on their streaming service, WWE Network, starting next Wednesday. Here are the spoilers:

October 13th Taping

– Fabian Aichner defeated Mark Andrews.

– Isla Dawn defeated Nina Samuels.

– Eddie Dennis defeated Tucker.

– Jordan Devlin defeated Flash’ Morgan Webster

– Joseph Connors defeated Dan Moloney.

– Dave Mastiff defeated Mike Hitchman

– Eddie Ryan defeated Saxton Huxley.

– El Ligero defeated Tyson T. Bone

– NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Candy Floss to retain her title.

– Travis Banks defeated Wolfgang.

– Flash Morgan Webster defeated Fabian Aichner.

– Isla Dawn defeated Killer Kelly to earn a shot at the NXT UK Women’s Title at the Evolution PPV.

– James Drake & Zach Gibson defeated Kenny Williams & Amir Jordan.

– Triple H and Shawn Michaels walk out to the ring to do a promo segment that was decrypted as a DX segment of sorts. It was hyped that they would be appearing at Sunday’s tapings as well.

– Joe Coffey defeated Trent Seven.

New Match Announced For WWE Evolution (Spoiler)

Andrew Ravens
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1

A new match has been announced for the upcoming Evolution PPV. At Saturday’s NXT UK TV tapings, Isla Dawn defeated Killer Kelly to earn a title shot at the NXT UK Women’s Title at Evolution. NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will defend the title at the show.

If you recall, Ripley defeated Toni Storm in an 8-woman tournament to determine the inaugural champion a few months ago. It should be noted that this tournament has yet to air but will do so on the WWE Network.

The Evolution pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, October 28, 2018 in Long Island, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and will air on the WWE Network. WWE is hyping that there will be over 50 women from WWE’s past and present competing in the first-ever WWE Women’s pay-per-view broadcast.

Updated WWE Evolution Card

  • Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Alexa Bliss & Mickie James
  • NXT Women’s Champion Kairi Sane vs. Shayna Baszler
  • WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair – Last Woman Standing Match
  • NXT UK Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Isla Dawn

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

Kenny Omega Comments On ‘Exciting Proposal’ Of Wrestling Seth Rollins

Jon Fuentes
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8

The hype between a potential match-up between Kenny Omega and Seth Rollins has really picked up over the past 24 hours. It all started yesterday when Rollins mentioned the IWGP heavyweight champ during his appearance at the ACE Comic Con in Chicago, Illinois. A fan asked Rollins who he’d like to wrestle with that isn’t currently signed to WWE. “The Architect” named Omega as his desired opponent.

“I would like to face Kenny Omega,” said Rollins. “I am the best wrestler in the world, and would like to prove that.”

This would certainly be a dream match for professional wrestling fans. Omega and Rollins are currently killing it with their respective brands.

On Saturday morning, Omega spotted the headline in which Rollins called him out. He took to Twitter to issue out a response to a potential match with Rollins. Omega seems interested in the “historic clash,” but believes it requires an “appropriate venue” for such a occasion. “An exciting proposal…Now if only there were an appropriate venue for such a historic clash…”

WWE could very well scoop up Omega next year. Omega’s current deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is up in January of 2019. When the Canadian hits the free agency market, it’s expected WWE makes a big push to sign him to their roster.

WWE certainly has the funds, especially after their broadcast deals from earlier this year, and the profits from their Saudi Arabia shows.

What do you think about Omega’s response to Rollins?

Triple H Isn’t Sure Vince McMahon Has Watched Full Episode Of NXT

Jon Fuentes
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2

Since the innovation of WWE NXT, the professional wrestling juggernaut’s developmental system has really thrived. The program has produced several top stars on WWE’s main roster such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, and so many more. Not to mention that WWE continuously scoops up the best talent available from around the world.

WWE COO Triple H is largely credited with the brand’s success, as he calls the shots when it comes to NXT and its programming. His success with the brand has really made professional wrestling fans feel optimistic about the inevitable day when “The Game” will take the creative reigns of WWE. It’s hard not to think that WWE CEO Vince McMahon is just as impressed as anyone else.

During a recent media call in London, however, “The Game” shared a rather interesting bit of information. He said he’s not sure McMahon has ever seen a full episode of NXT from start to finish. “The Chairman Of The Board” may simply be too busy:

“I don’t know that he’s ever even watched a full episode of NXT start to finish. He’s busy.”

After catching wind of this, former WWE writer Tom Casiello took to Twitter to clear things up a bit:

“I know I shouldn’t even respond to this kind of garbage, but I’ve literally been in gorilla with Vince during an NXT show. This is completely false.”

Do you think Vince McMahon has ever seen a full episode of NXT?

Batista On What It’s Like Working With The Undertaker

Jon Fuentes
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0

Former WWE Champion Batista has worked with many legends of the professional wrestling industry during his time. However, nobody has ever seemed to captivate “The Animal” the way he was when he shared the ring with The Undertaker. Batista and “The Deadman” have shared the WWE ring several times before.

In fact, the pair worked together at WrestleMania 23 where Taker defeated Batista for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. To share the ring with The Undertaker is becoming more of a rarity as the years roll on. The 53-year-old is still competing semi-regularly for WWE, however, it’s clear his in-ring career is in its final stages.

Recently, on the heels of SmackDown 1000, WWE released a never before seen interview with Batista. He discussed some of his favorite moments in SmackDown history. During the interview, Batista talked about what it was like working with The Undertaker. Here’s what he had to say:

“When Undertaker decided he wanted to go, there was nobody who could do it better. He would always say for 15 minutes out of the day he was the baddest son of b—- on the planet, and I would back that up 100 percent. I mean, that dude can go.

“He’s very intimidating, you know he’s in charge, but it’s also very comforting because this dude has just seen and done it all. It’s almost like one of those things when you get in [the ring] with him you know you’re going to have a good match.”

What do you make of Batista’s comments about The Undertaker?

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Brock Lesnar Might Not Get UFC Heavyweight Title Fight

Jon Fuentes
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7

UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has remained adamant that he has two fights left in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Brock Lesnar may no longer be a part of those plans. Recently, it was announced Cormier would be headlining the UFC’s upcoming card from Madison Square Garden.

The event goes down next month on November 3rd. Cormier will defend his heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis in the main event. Initially it was expected the final two fights of Cormier’s career would be against Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones. Lesnar confronted Cormier after his UFC 226 win this past summer. Even UFC President Dana White confirmed that was the fight he was attempting to make.

With Lewis fighting Cormier next, however, that means “DC” only has one fight left in him, as he tells ESPN:

“Counting the Lewis fight, I think I’m down to two fights left,” Cormier said.“Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, the fact that I don’t have a crazy, long fight camp to beat myself down.

“That may prolong it for me, but right now, I think I have this one and maybe one more. I can still fight in March and hit my retirement date.”

In regards to fighting either Jones or Lesnar, “DC” admits a fight with Jones would mean more to him:

“The one opponent that would matter to me most is Jones, because he’s beaten me twice.”

What do you think will be Lesnar’s return fight to the UFC?

Kaitlyn Reflects On WWE Comeback In Mae Young Classic, Titus Worldwide Returns

Daniel Pena
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0

– As seen this past Wednesday on the WWE Network, Mia Yim sent Kaitlyn packing from the Mae Young Classic by beating the former Divas Champion in a Second-Round Match. Yim scored the victory by forcing Kaitlyn to submit to the kneebar.

Following the match, Kaitlyn — real name Celeste Bonin — took to Instagram to reflect on her WWE comeback.

“My match with @miayimofficial was one of my favorite of all time. The match itself was so dope and Mia is such a powerful woman in so many ways,” Kaitlyn wrote.

“But For me, it was exceptionally meaningful to come back after so many years and to leave it all out there in the ring and offer my contribution to the evolution of women’s wrestling. The evolution of the division is parallel to my evolution as a person and as a competitor/performer. Man I love wrestling. Congrats to @miayimofficial. She deserves it. Much respect to her.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Boyz2TAlZis/

– Although Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil have not appeared together on television since the night after SummerSlam, they’re still a unit.

Crews and O’Neil teamed up for the first time in four weeks at last night’s WWE live event in Syracuse, New York. Titus Worldwide teamed with Tyler Breeze to beat The Ascension and Mike Kanellis in a Six-Man Tag Team Match.

This was also O’Neil’s first match since September 15 (teaming with Crews at a live event), and Crews’ first since September 24 (beating Breeze in a match taped for WWE Main Event). Crews and O’Neil have not wrestled together on television since losing to AOP on Raw on August 20. It was also their last appearance on Raw.

Diamond Dallas Page Comments On David Arquette’s Return To Wrestling

Chris Stephens
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3

In 2018, David Arquette is a legitimate professional independent wrestler. He’s been competing on episodes of Championship Wrestling From Hollywood and traveling to different territories.

The night after All In, he teamed with RJ City and defeated James Ellsworth and Frank the Clown at WW2 in Chicago. At 47 years of age, he’s actually doing it. TMZ reporters recently caught up with Arquette’s “Ready 2 Rumble” co-star Diamond Dallas Page. The DDPY founder says he gave Arquette some advice before he hit the indy scene.

Diamond Dallas Page On David Arquette

“He came to me, he talked to me about this. He wanted to get at least some respect back so I was like ‘dude, go pay your dues,'” DDP said. “I got him doing my DDP yoga program cause ‘you’re going to need it you’re going to be so beat up!'”

“You want to get respect from our fans?” Page continued. “You gotta put the work in.”

Arquette recently competed in Border City Wrestling for Scott D’Amore’s promotion. The show will debut on the Global Wrestling Network next month.

Page also commented on the decision to make Arquette World Champion in WCW.

“It was stupid to do that (WCW making Arquette World Champ) but the fans reacted in a way where they were friggin furious,” DDP told TMZ. “David [] loves professional wrestling and he gets vilified over the last 20 years, it just never stops because they put the World Title on him. I don’t want to spoil this for anybody but wrestling, sports entertainment, is ‘pre-determined.’ The bottom line is it was a storyline and the fans who were really mad there’s not one of them – if they were given the opportunity – who wouldn’t have done it!”

Arquette donated all of his earnings from his original WCW run to the families of Owen Hart and Brian Pillman.

The Elite Announce Their Final Bullet Club T-Shirts

Chris Stephens
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5

Cody and the Young Bucks have both announced that their newest T-shirts will be their final ones with a Bullet Club theme to them. This comes amid growing speculation that the members of the Elite will drop Bullet Club from their name, leaving it to the NJPW faction.

The Bucks unveiled a golden version of their classic Bullet Club tee:

https://twitter.com/MattJackson13/status/1050802893488570369

Cody then announced his final Bullet Club themed shirt as well:

Is The Elite Leaving Bullet Club?

Members of the Elite are still announced as being from “Bullet Club Elite” during their ring introductions. They are still listed as part of the larger faction. With their contracts coming due at the end of the calendar year, however, it’s possible they want to distance themselves from the group.

Bullet Club’s “Firing Squad” attacked the Elite at the G1 Special in San Fransico this summer. The group became fractured in two. At King of Pro Wrestling last week, “Switchblade” Jay White joined the faction. White had previously rejected a spot in Bullet Club when it was offered by Kenny Omega at New Year’s Dash. Gedo and Jado also joined the new version of Bullet Club, which might not have room in it for the Elite.

New Japan Pro Wrestling will be on tour from now until the Power Struggle event on November 3rd. Live events will focus on the Super Junior Tag Tournament.

Alexa Bliss & Mickie James Promote WWE Evolution At American Music Awards (Video)

Chris Stephens
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0

Alexa Bliss and Mickie James were in Los Angeles for the American Music Awards recently. The event was held at the Microsoft Theatre on October 9th, 2018.

“I don’t know how you feel about Team In-Your-Dreams owning the red carpet here in LA,” Mickie James said. “But somebody’s gotta do it.”

When the topic of Alexa and Mickie James teaming up to take on Lita and Trish Stratus.

“We’re on the red carpet right now and where are they?” Bliss asked. James and Bliss then each answered they were at home.

Mickie James and Alexa Bliss At the American Music Awards

It was originally announced that Bliss would be taking on Trish Stratus and Lita facing Mickie James. This surprised some as older fans may have been looking forward to a possible Mickie James vs Trish Stratus rematch from their classic WrestleMania 22 tilt. James referenced their Mania moment this week on Raw when she mentioned that both her and Trish know “Nothing good happens in Chicago.” WrestleMania 22 was held in Chicago’s Allstate Arena.

It was later reported that the tag match was always what WWE wanted to go with. They only announced the single’s matches as they couldn’t yet announce Nikki Bella vs Ronda Rousey as the main event.

Nikki Bella Says She Wanted AJ Lee At WWE Evolution

Chris Stephens
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7

While they may not have gotten along while they worked together, Nikki Bella says she wanted AJ Lee to be booked for Evolution. WWE is bringing back Trish Stratus and Lita for the event but the rest of the show focusses on currently active WWE Superstars.

Nikki Bella On AJ Lee At WWE Evolution

Nikki made the comments recently in Chicago as part of the ACE Comic Con convention. The twins were taking part in a Q&A session moderated by Lillian Garcia when she made the comments.

“I was actually hoping (AJ Lee) was going to be at Evolution,” Nikki said when AJ’s name was brought up. “She was a huge part of the Women’s division and if she came back, I would totally love to [wrestle her]. We had good chemistry. I really loved when Paige and AJ and Brie and I had a really good story going for a long time. I felt like that really helped with the evolution, [to] where it’s at today. So, it would be so fun.”

Nikki and AJ Lee are the two greatest Divas Champions in WWE history. Aj held the title 3x and held it for a combined 406 days (1st all time). Nikki held the title twice and held it for a combined 307 days (2nd all-time). Her 301-day title reign from 2014-15 was the longest in the title’s lineage.

Just for fun, here is AJ’s infamous pipe-bomb she dropped on the Bellas and other Divas in 2013:

And the Bellas Response:

Bound For Glory Final Card And Preview

Chris Stephens
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2

This Sunday night, Impact Wrestling presents Bound For Glory live on pay-per-view from the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. Let’s take a look at what’s scheduled for the big event.

Impact World Championship
Austin Aries (c) vs Johnny Impact

The main event of Bound For Glory 2018 will feature Johnny Impact taking on Austin Aries for the Impact World Championship. Impact Wrestling is likely hoping Johnny’s exposure in the hit reality show Survivor helps to draw interest in the show’s main event.

Aries has been atop Impact Wrestling for the majority of 2018. He won the title from Eli Drake on January 10th, 2018. Aries would then drop it to Pentagon Jr, however, at the Lucha Underground vs Impact Wrestling show over WrestleMania weekend. He’d win it back at the tapings over the following 2 days, however. Since then, he’s held the belt 172 days and defended it 11x. Johnny Impact might represent the biggest threat to his title reign yet, though.

Knockouts Champion
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie

Tessa Blanchard says she’s cleaned out the entire Knockouts division since debuting with the company this spring. Taya Valkyrie disputes this, saying Blanchard can’t claim to have cleared out the division until she faces her.

Blanchard is 13-2 in Impact Wrestling. Her only losses both came to Madison Rayne, who won by clever pinning combinations each time. She’s defeated Kiera Hogan, Mercedes Martinez, Allie, Rebel, Alisha Edwards, Su Yung, Gisele Shaw, Faby Apache, and Keyra. Blanchard hasn’t defeated, or faced, Taya Valkyrie yet, however.

Sami Callihan & oVe vs Brian Cage & the Lucha Brothers

Brian Cage won’t defend his X-Division Championship at Bound For Glory. Instead, he accepted the offer by the Lucha Brothers to join them in their rivalry with OVE. Callihan and his cronies claim they are the best trio out there but Fenix, Pentagon, and Brian Cage will have something to say about that at Bound For Glory.

Eddie Edwards vs Moose

Moose main event’ed the last PPV against Austin Aries. Now, Moose is aligned with the Impact World Champion and taking on his former friend Eddie Edwards. According to Moose, Aries was the only one who called him while he was in the hospital post-Slammiversary. He then cost Edwards a shot at the Impact World Championship during the Toronto tapings this summer. Edwards will be out for revenge tonight.

Concrete Jungle Deathmatch
LAX & Konnan vs OGZ & King

A ceasefire was ordered in this storyline after King ran over a child with his car. LAX and the OGZ were not permitted to get physical with each other until the PPV in NYC. Konnan brought the ceasefire to a premature end Thursday night, however.

This is likely the blow-off to this feud which has been building for 8 months.

Rich Swann & Willie Mack vs Ethan Page & Matt Sydal

After losing the X-Division title to Brian Cage, Sydal began pitching Swann about being his mentor. Swann isn’t into yoga and spirituality, however, so he rebuffed Sydal’s offer. They would then meet in single’s action in Mexico City. Sydal won after interference from his newest protege, Ethan Page. The team of Page and Sydal challenged Swann to find a partner for Bound For Glory. This week on Impact, Swann announced Willie Mack will be his partner and make his Impact debut on Sunday.

Allie Travels To the Undead Realm

2 weeks ago Su Yung locked Kiera Hogan in a coffin. Allie had promised that she would stop Yung from ever doing that to anyone ever again. This week on Impact, Allie enlisted the help of Father James Mitchell, who promised her safe passage to the Undead Realm at Bound For Glory. Allie looks to be traveling to the land of the dead to rescue Kiera Hogan from Yung this Sunday in what might be a Final Deletion style segment.

Eli Drake Open Challenge (NYC Wrestlers Only)

The last time Eli Drake did an open challenge it was answered by La Parka in Mexico City. Drake opted to leave the match and get counted-out rather than face the legend. Although now Drake is claiming La Parka should have been DQ’ed for that match.

Drake said he’s bringing his open challenge to Bound For Glory but that only wrestlers from New York City are eligible to answer. That surprise will only be revealed at the PPV.

Join us here this Sunday for Bound For Glory Results & Live Coverage. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5TZWLjMJZ4

NJPW Releases Classic Matches With English Commentary

Chris Stephens
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New Japan Pro Wrestling is increasing the amount of English content on their streaming service, NJPWWorld.com. The promotion recently announced they have recorded English commentary over several classic matches.

NJPW English Commentary On Classic Matches

Here is the lineup of classic NJPW matches now available with English commentary from Kevin Kelly.

  • Andre the Giant vs Antonio Inoki (October 7th, 1976)
  • Andre the Giant vs Stan Hansen (May 18th, 1979)
  • Andre the Giant vs Stan Hansen (June 5th, 1980)
  • Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant (May 27th, 1983)
  • Cobra vs Davey Boy Smith (May 11th 1983)
  • Seiji Sakaguchi & Kengo Kimura vs Dick Murdoch & Ed Leslie (March 16th, 1984)
  • Antonio Inoki vs Big Van Vader (February 7th, 1988)
  • Black Tiger vs Owen Hart (January 25th, 1990)
  • Keiji Mutoh & Masahiro Chono vs the Road Warriors (July 22nd, 1990)
  • Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs Dave Finlay (February 5th, 1991)
  • The Great Oz (Kevin Nash) vs Hashimoto Shinya (May 17th, 1992)
  • Masahiro Chono vs Rick Rude (August 12th, 1992)
  • The Road Warriors vs The Steiner Brothers (January 4th, 1993)
  • Hulk Hogan & the Great Muta vs The Hellraisers (September 23rd, 1993)
  • Antonio Inoki vs Sting (January 4th, 1995)
  • Keiji Mutoh vs Ric Flair (August 13th, 1995)
  • Jushin Liger & El Samurai vs Koji Kanemoto & Chris Jericho (January 29th, 1997)
  • El Samurai & Scotty Riggs vs Marcus Bagwell & Hiro Saito (February 9th, 1997)
  • El Samurai vs Chris Jericho (May 25th, 1997)

Ace Romero To Debut At MLW FIGHTLAND (11/8)

Staff
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Popular independent wrestler Ace Romero is coming to Major League Wrestling. On this week’s episode of MLW Fusion, it was announced the big man will debut at MLW FIGHTLAND, which takes place on November 8th from Chicago, IL.

https://twitter.com/TheAceyBaby/status/1050914229803540481

Ace Romero is best known for his size and agility. This year, he’s wrestled for Rockstar Pro, CZW, House of Hardcore, AAW and more. You can follow him on Twitter at @TheAceybaby. Some fans will recognize Romero from this crazy ‘pounce’ video that went viral earlier this summer.

MLW FIGHTLAND

The main event for MLW FIGHTLAND on 11/8 will be a World Tag Team championship match. The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix) cornered by Konnan will defend against LA Park & Hijo de LA Park, presented by Salina de la Renta.

Other top stars signed to appear include MLW World Heavyweight Champion Low Ki, Sami Callihan, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, World Middleweight Champion MJF with Aria Blake, Shane “Swerve” Strickland and more.

WWE To Release Eddie Guerrero Documentary On YouTube

Chris Stephens
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1

WWE will premiere the first episode in a new documentary series on Sunday. The company announced the debut episode of WWE Untold will premiere on their YouTube channel at 1 PM.

The first episode will focus on the life and career of Eddie Guerrero.

Eddie Guerrero Documentary

“Eddie Guerrero was one of the most beloved Superstars in WWE history,” A WWE press release reads. “He played a huge role in defining SmackDown as a brand. The newest edition of the documentary series ‘WWE Untold’ explores Guerrero’s effect on the blue brand as it approaches its 1000th episode, and will stream live on WWE’s YouTube channel this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT.”

The documentary will come just two days before Smackdown’s 1000th episode is scheduled to air.

“Featuring exclusive interviews with John Cena, Batista, Kurt Angle, JBL, Paul Heyman, Sasha Banks, Aiden English and Vickie Guerrero, this edition of “WWE Untold” will examine how Guerrero emerged as a leader on SmackDown in the early days of the 2002 brand split.”

Guerrero was the Smackdown brand champion in early 2004. He defeated Brock Lesnar at No Way Out and held the belt for 133 days. Guerrero would drop the title to JBL at the Great American Bash that year.

“Before SmackDown’s historic 1000th episode, take an incredible behind-the-scenes look at one of the blue brand’s greatest Superstars in an all-new edition of “WWE Untold,” streaming live on WWE’s YouTube channel this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT!”

WWE Working On Backup Plans Should Crown Jewel Be Cancelled

Chris Stephens
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There is mounting political pressure for WWE to “pause” or cancel their upcoming show in Saudi Arabia. Senators are now calling on WWE to not go through with the event.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, backup plans are being developed in case the show does not take place.

Linda McMahon’s role in the Trump administration is playing a role in the pressure the Senators are putting on WWE.

“Private enterprise is private enterprise, different than a governmental entity,” Sen. Bob Menendez said to the media. “but because [Linda McMahon] is part of the president’s cabinet, it falls into the grey area where the administration really should give it some thought and maybe even prevail upon them not doing it.”

Several media outlets have also pulled out of an upcoming Business conference in Saudi Arabia.

Why Is There Political Pressure To Cancel Crown Jewel?

Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is missing and presumed dead. He entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey on October 2nd, 2018 and has never been seen again. US spies are saying they have proof he was assassinated on the order of the Saudi Royal Family, a charge they are denying.

Furthermore, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau angered the Saudi Royal family recently as well. Trudeau called for the KSA to release journalists being held prisoner in the country and scheduled for beheadings. Following Trudeau’s comments, the KSA expelled Canadian diplomats from the country. They also pulled home Saudi Arabian students who had been studying abroad in Canada. As of this writing, no Canadians are scheduled for Crown Jewel.

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