Anything can happen in WWE, and tonight (Thurs. September 6, 2018) was a perfect example.
SmackDown Live star Luke Harper appeared at the NXT live event in Buffalo, New York. He challenged NXT North American Champion Ricochet for his title. Check out a video of Harper making his surprise entrance here:
Harper needs to keep busy after his tag team partner, Erick Rowan, suffered an injury that will keep him shelved for some time. The pair were forced to drop the SDL Tag Team Titles to The New Day a few weeks ago due to Harper’s injury.
As for Ricochet, he’s enjoying his reign as NXT North American Champion. He defeated Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 to capture the title in an amazing bout. He’s definitely someone to keep your eye on when he eventually comes to the main roster.
Discussion: What do you think of main roster talents making surprise appearances at NXT shows? Let us know in the comments section below!
On Thursday, Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds passed away at the age of 82-years-old. Reynolds served as the guest ring announcer for the main event of WrestleMania X back in 1994, which saw Bret Hart defeat Yokozuna for the WWE Championship.
Reynolds co-starred in the the remake of the 2005 movie The Longest Yard. That movie featured cameos from many professional wrestlers, including Steve Austin, Kevin Nash Goldberg and The Great Khali.
WWE issued a statement on the passing of Reynolds; extending their condolences to his family, friends, and fans:
“WWE is saddened to learn that Academy Award-nominated actor and Hollywood icon Burt Reynolds has passed away at the age of 82.
“The star of more than 50 feature films, including “The Longest Yard,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “The Cannonball Run” and “Boogie Nights” (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), Reynolds was a special celebrity guest at WrestleMania X, serving as ring announcer for the main event WWE Championship Match pitting Bret Hart against Yokozuna.
“WWE extends its condolences to Reynolds’ family, friends and fans.”
WWE Superstar The Big Show was recently interviewed by CBS San Francisco to discuss several professional wrestling topics.
Firstly, “The World’s Largest Athlete” talked about his recent physique change. There was a point in his career that he believed he needed to be 500 pounds to truly be “The Big Show.” He soon realized, however, that wasn’t the case at all:
“As my career started winding down, so to speak, I realized I didn’t need that anymore. I didn’t need that to be successful,” Big Show said. “I needed to be lighter, I needed to be in better shape. And it was just a personal challenge.”
It’s John Cena’s Fault
The Big Show credits John Cena and a conversation they had backstage at a show one night as a big motivator for him. Cena sort of challenged Show to become a “giant with abs.” One year later, Big Show was 90 pounds lighter:
“The whole thing is John Cena’s fault,” said Big Show. “John Cena and I were watching the show in a monitor. Usually, if you go to our shows, if John and I aren’t working, we’re sitting there watching the show together.
“John and I were just cracking jokes on each other, and I made the comment about a giant with abs, who’d want to see that? And John Cena looked me square in the eye and said, ‘Yeah, a giant with abs. Who would want to see that?’
“And he walked off. But the way he said it, he challenged me that I couldn’t do it. And it really upset me so bad that I got my act together that week and started in. It took me a little over a year and I dropped 90 pounds.”
Discussion: What do you think about John Cena motivating Big Show to get in better shape? Let us know in the comments below!
Big Cass recently joined WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T’s podcast, Heated Conversations. Cass was released from WWE in June. He lost back-to-back pay-per-view (PPV) matches against Daniel Bryan.
After the Money In The Bank (MITB) PPV, Cass was released from WWE. It was reported that Cass was let go due to behavioral issues and disobeying direct orders from Vince McMahon. Since his release, Cass says he hasn’t watched WWE programming:
“One-hundred percent. I haven’t watched SmackDown, Raw, PPV, I haven’t watched anything wrestling since I got released. I’ve just been doing my thing, working out, and eating right.
“Binge watching my favorite television shows that I’m trying to catch up on. I have not watched a single second of wrestling since I got released. I don’t even know who the champions are these days.”
Just cause Cass is gone from WWE doesn’t mean he doesn’t keep in touch with his old coworkers. Cass says he still keeps in contact with Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan:
“I talk to my buddies from WWE still, like Kevin Owens, or Daniel Bryan who has helped me in more ways than one. They just say the work outside WWE is incredible compared to what it was when they were just working independents.”
Discussion: What do you think about Cass not watching WWE TV since being fired? Sound off in the comments section below!
The WWE Hall Of Famer first talked about his transition into the “Crow” character and why he never went back to his old blonde look:
“The Crow character by the time it came alive and hit the scene and evolved to what it turned into, it would’ve never made sense to go back to the blonde flat-top haircut,” Sting said.
“Even if I wanted to, there’s not enough hair on my head to do that anymore. So I just couldn’t pull it off. But let me tell you something, if I thought I could pull it off, I would’ve attempted it in these later years.
“Because so many people talked about it and they’re so nostalgic about it. And WrestleMania 31 is a big example of that with DX and nWo and people just freaked out over that.”
Who’s Idea Was It?
Upon transitioning to the “Crow” character, Sting implemented face paint into his look. Sting revealed which fellow Hall Of Famer came up with the idea to use face paint:
“They put Ric (Flair) with Ricky Morton, and Ricky gets hurt,” said Sting. “So Dusty says, ‘Stinger baby, I want to put some color on your face, color on your tights and color on your boots. And I want to put you with Ric.’
“So we did a little story line with JJ Dillion and the Four Horseman and Ric Flair in Raleigh, North Carolina for a TV taping. It was no real heat angle, we just kind of did our thing and it took off. So Dusty is the real reason why the color started to begin with.”
Discussion: Which of Sting’s gimmicks did you prefer? Let us know in the comments section below!
Don Callis offered his thoughts on All In weekend in the latest episode of his podcast, Killing The Town. Callis is the executive vice president for IMPACT Wrestling and a commentator for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
Callis served as a commentator for the All In pay-per-view (PPV) this past Saturday. He revealed The Young Bucks asked him to do so back at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka, Japan in June. Callis said he enjoyed All In weekend and visiting with some of his old wrestling buddies.
Stay In Character
He did, however, note one thing he wasn’t too big a fan of. Kayfabe is dead in today’s era of wrestling. However, Callis doesn’t believe “monster heels” should be getting chummy with fans at events such as autograph signings. He’d prefer they stay in character:
“I think there’s too much familiarity, in my opinion, between fans and wrestlers,” said Callis. “But I also see why it’s good for business, so I don’t have a quote-unquote ‘problem’ with it.
“I’ll tell you one of the things I don’t like, and it’s not anyone specifically, but I think there are characters in wrestling.
“Like if you’re a heel, if you’re a strong heel, if you’re a monster heel, like a Su Yung or an Undertaker, or those sorts of characters, I don’t think you should be out selling gimmicks, signing autographs without your gimmick on.
“Your facepaint, or your hair, or whatever you do to yourself to get in this monster heel gimmick, I don’t think you should be out there signing autographs and being nice to the fans.
“Because, I think now the fans will like it, but you’re actually doing them a disservice, because if you’ve protected your gimmick as a heel properly…if you are an actual heel and you have actual heat, why would you want to screw that up by meeting [fans].
“Like if you meet 100 fans over the course of a weekend, why would you want to spoil all the hard work that you’ve done and spoil what the fans have been enjoying about you by being a babyface to them? I just don’t understand that.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross took to his podcast, The Ross Report, to recap All In weekend. All In was a huge success thanks to all the work Cody and The Young Bucks put into it over the months.
The Sears Centre in Chicago was jam-packed for a show that more than lived up to the hype. There were several big events during All In weekend for visiting fans to attend. Most of them were streamed on Fite TV so fans not in the area could enjoy them as well.
Ross revealed that Fite TV did “record business” over All In weekend:
“They set record business,” JR said. “The Fite app is saying that their PPV business is the biggest they’ve ever had and it will easily exceed one million dollars in sales. They just did phenomenal business.
“I talked to Mike Weber and Mike told me that Fite was the number one sports app over the weekend in the land.
“That means that this wrestling event orchestrated by Cody, The Young Bucks and certainly Conrad Thompson, drove more revenue than MLB TV, ESPN, Fubo TV, UFC and even the fantasy football draft. That’s some app business baby.”
Fans Upset CM Punk Wasn’t At All In
Pro Wrestling Tees’ store also reaped the rewards of All In weekend. CM Punk held a massive autograph signing at the store in Chicago. Many fans were hoping for a surprise appearance from Punk on the All In pay-per-view (PPV). That never happened, however, much to the disappointment of fans:
“This kinda bothered me. CM Punk had a great signing that did phenomenal business for him and for Pro Wrestling Tees, Ryan Barkin, all those great people that work there.
“By the way, Pro Wrestling Tees sold about a half-a-million dollars worth of t-shirts over the weekend,” Ross revealed. “Half-a-million dollars worth of t-shirts at this ‘indie wrestling event’. That’s pretty damn special isn’t it?
“Anyway, CM Punk has this successful signing. Punk did not show up at All In and I don’t even think that is the right terminology. I said that he didn’t show up like he was supposed to show up, and then didn’t.
“And that’s not true either. CM Punk was never advertised to be at All In. I was not disappointed watching the replay on Fite that he was not there, because I never expected him to be there.
“I didn’t feel badly by deserting his fans by not going to All In, I just think we all need to move on, really. Let the guy be happy in whatever he wants to do. I enjoyed his work for a long time and if he wants to move on, let him move on.”
Carmella opened up on various topics including WWE dropping the term “Diva” and her dream opponent during a recent interview. The former SmackDown Women’s Champion spoke to The Examiner to promote the WWE live event next Monday at Ford Arena. A few years ago, WWE decided to get rid of the term “Diva” and started calling female talent Superstars just like the male talent. Although some see Diva in a negative way, Carmella disagrees with that mindset.
“I’m not sure why the term diva is considered negative,” she said. “They were only allowed a few minutes for matches on television and didn’t have the TV time like the men did but they made the most of it and it wasn’t their fault.”
She continued by stating that they paved the way for the current roster and be in the position where they are now so she doesn’t think it’s bad to be called a diva. She added that she likes to dress up and is proud of the way she dresses.
Carmella also talked about her dream opponent and who she wants to face at the upcoming at the Evolution pay-per-view event that takes place on Sunday, October 28, 2018 in Long Island, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on the WWE Network. She would’ve liked to work with Trish Stratus but Alexa Bliss took that spot.
“Trish Stratus would be amazing, but honestly, I just so happy to be part of this monumental event. I am having the time of my life and it’s a perfect time to be a woman in the WWE. We are making history left and right.”
Carmella is not scheduled to compete at Hell in a Cell, as of this writing.
Killer Kross recently aligned with Impact World Champion Austin Aries. Moose joined the faction as well last week when he turned on his former ally, Eddie Edwards. The newly formed stable will be featured on tonight’s episode.
“My goals in Impact are very simple,” Kross said on today’s media call. “I want to hurt as many people as humanly possible in an expedited fashion. I’d like to become a household name in this business. I’d like to bring change to Impact Wrestling and as of right now, we are on course to do that.”
Kross was today’s guest on the Impact Wrestling media call. He spoke about his goals in Impact and influences in wrestling.
Killer Kross 2018 Rising Star Award
Kross won the 2018 Cauliflower Alley Club award as Rising Star of the Year. Konnan is a big supporter of his as well. He’s been kept strong in AAA and has gone undefeated over the last two years.
In May, Kross Tweeted out a list of the accolades he’s received already in his short career:
•Awards: Cauliflower Alley Rising Star Award 2018 Breakout Luchador 2017 Favorite Wrestler Of 2016/17 2015/16/17 Wrestler Of The Year Best Promos Of The Year 2014/15/16/17 pic.twitter.com/Wyiqq0DmTS
Kross is now a featured performer for both Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling. He made his debut in LU when it was revealed he is worshipped by the Rabbit Tribe. In Impact, he made his debut by assaulting several people in the backstage area and now aligning with Austin Aries and Moose.
Killer Kross on the 4 Horsemen
As he is now the member of a newly formed faction, I asked Kross about the greatest stables in wrestling history. He made me assure him I did not work in law enforcement before he gave me an answer.
“I really enjoyed the 4 Horseman,” Kross said. “As did everyone. I enjoyed all the different groups of people that were there. It wasn’t necessarily a specific four. I thought Sid and Pillman were awesome. I even enjoyed Paul Roma being there.”
“Just the very concept of what they constructed in that time period was outstanding.”
He would continue to list Raven’s Flock and the Dangerous Alliance as other top factions.
Killer Kross on ECW
When Kross spoke of his influences in wrestling, he spoke fondly of ECW.
“I would say that Extreme Championship Wrestling to me versus other professional wrestling companies felt very organic, very carnal, and very violent,” he said.
Kross continued to say that every wrestler on the ECW roster is an influence of his but he specifically mentioned Brian Pillman, Bam Bam Bigelow, Taz, and Tommy Dreamer.
Kross made it to the semi-finals of House of Hardcore’s Twitch TV title tournament this spring.
“There was something very magnetic about that program which separated itself from the rest of the programs on television” – Killer Kross on ECW
John Cena took to Twitter earlier today to post an inspiring message for fans, which you can see here. Cena made his return to in-ring competition for the WWE at the live event in Shanghai, China at the Mercedes Benz Arena on Saturday, Sept. 1 where he teamed with Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley to beat Baron Corbin, Elias, and Jinder Mahal. He has not been seen on WWE programming since wrestling Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April.
Love what you do. If you don’t, and can’t suddenly quit. Find out what it is that you love and take steps everyday to move towards that. Love what you do. It’s the easiest way to do great work!!
The Rock’s “Ballers” Show Renewed For Fifth Season
On Thursday, HBO announced that the company decided to renew “Ballers” for a fifth season. Former WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a producer and lead actor for the show that is currently in the middle of its fourth season.
The show is about “the glamorous and often cutthroat world of pro football.” The show stars John David Washington, Rob Corddry, Omar Benson Miller, Donovan W. Carter, Troy Garity, London Brown, and Brittany S. Hall also star on the show.
The fourth episode of the fourth season of “Ballers” pulled in an average of 874,000 viewers this week, which is down from the 993,000 viewers that the episode last week pulled in. Here are the viewership numbers for this season:
The roster reveal for the upcoming WWE 2K19 was hosted by Lana and Rusev along with B Team members Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas once again. The game will be released on October 9, 2018 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
As noted, Styles will be on the cover of the game while Rey Mysterio and Ronda Rousey will be featured as the pre-order bonus characters.
The second batch of Superstars have been revealed as playable characters in the upcoming game on Thursday, September 6th, which you can see here:
Second Batch
– AJ Styles – Asuka – The Miz – Lince Dorado – Shinsuke Nakamura – Mandy Rose – Shelton Benjamin – Becky Lynch – Maryse – Andrade “Cien” Almas – Rusev – Luke Gallows – Karl Anderson – Jey Uso – Jimmy Uso – Lana – Harper – Rowan – Peyton Royce – Billie Kay – Big E – Kofi Kingston – Xavier Woods – Samoa Joe – Charlotte Flair – Naomi – Carmella – Ariya Daivari – Sonya Deville – Tony Nese – Drew Gulak – Mustafa Ali – Jeff Hardy – Daniel Bryan – Aiden English – Akira Tozawa – Alexander Wolfe – Cedric Alexander – Cesaro – Chris Jericho – Epico Colon – Eric Young – Gran Metalik – Hideo Itami – Jack Gallagher – John Cena – Kalisto – Killian Dain – Nikki Bella – Noam Dar – Paige – Primo Colon – Randy Orton – R-Truth – Shane McMahon – Sheamus – Sin Cara – Tamina – TJP – Tye Dillinger
The first batch of names for the game was announced last week and you can check them out.
First Batch
– Braun Strowman – Kairi Sane – Adam Cole – Sasha Banks – Pete Dunne – Akam – Aleister Black – Alexa Bliss – Alicia Fox – Angelo Dawkins – Apollo Crews – Baron Corbin – Bayley – Bianca Belair – The Big Show – Bo Dallas – Bobby Fish – Bobby Roode – Bray Wyatt – Brock Lesnar – Chad Gable – Curt Hawkins – Curtis Axel – Dana Brooke – Dash Wilder – Dean Ambrose – Dolph Ziggler – Drew McIntyre – Elias – Ember Moon – Fandango – Finn Bálor – Goldust – Heath Slater – Jason Jordan – Jinder Mahal – Johnny Gargano – Konnor – Kassius Ohno – Kevin Owens – Kyle O’Reilly – Lars Sullivan – Liv Morgan – Matt Hardy – Mickie James – Mojo Rawley – Montez Ford – Natalya – Nia Jax – Nick Miller – No Way Jose – Oney Lorcan – Otis Dozovic – Rezar – Rhyno – Roderick Strong – Roman Reigns – Ronda Rousey (Pre-Order Bonus) – Ruby Riott – Sami Zayn – Sarah Logan – Scott Dawson – Seth Rollins – Shane Thorne – Shayna Baszler – Titus O’Neil – Triple H – Tucker Knight – Tyler Bate – Tyler Breeze – The Velveteen Dream – Viktor – Zack Ryder
EVOLVE returns this weekend with two new shows. EVOLVE 112 is scheduled to take place on Friday in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena and EVOLVE 113 on Saturday in Woodside, NY at the La Boom.
The promotion has stacked the lineups for these upcoming events. The main event for Friday’s show features Joey Janela with Penelope Ford vs. AR Fox with The Skulk
For the WWN Title while Saturday’s event will have EVOLVE Champion Shane Strickland defend against Tracy Williams. NXT Superstar The Velveteen Dream will wrestle in dark matches at both shows.
EVOLVE 112
The Velveteen Dream vs. Austin Theory with Priscilla Kelly (Dark Match)
WWN Championship Match: Joey Janela with Penelope Ford vs. AR Fox with The Skulk
EVOLVE Tag Team Champion Chris Dickinson vs. Josh Briggs
EVOLVE Tag Team Champion Jaka vs. Leon Ruff of The Skulk
Priscilla Kelly vs. Kiera Hogan vs. Dementia D’Rose vs. Aja Perera
Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry
JD Drake vs. Harlem Bravado
Tracy Williams vs. Jon Davis
Jason Kincaid & Facade vs. WWN Seminar/Tryout Winners
EVOLVE 113
The Velveteen Dream vs. Darby Allin (Dark Match)
EVOLVE Championship Match: Shane Strickland defends against Tracy Williams
EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match: Chris Dickinson & Jaka defend against The Skulk
AR Fox with The Skulk vs. Austin Theory with Priscilla Kelly
WWN Champion Joey Janela with Penelope Ford vs. JD Drake
Impact Wrestling is back tonight with a show featuring matches taped on the final night of the Toronto tapings. It was the fifth show Impact held in Toronto over a 22-day period. The matches taped for tonight’s episode were held on the 13th inside Rebel Nightclub.
After tonight, Impact has a live Twitch show on Sunday from Manchester. Impact then travels to Mexico City for two nights of tapings from September 13th to 14th.
Impact Wrestling 8/6 Preview
Knockouts Championship Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Su Yung
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm3HFVISlkQ
Tessa Blanchard is the new Knockouts Champion but Su Yung will cash in her rematch clause on tonight’s show.
It’s been a huge week for Blanchard who was just announced as the newest signee and trainer for Women of Wrestling. Blanchard praised Impact and WOW to work together and allow her to work for both promotions.
Blanchard will need to defeat the former champion to prove she’s the top competitor in the division. Allie will likely be watching this match closely.
Moose Explains His Actions From Last Week
Last week, Moose turned on his longtime ally, Eddie Edwards. Moose joined with Austin Aries and Killer Kross. Now, the Impact World Champion has two of the biggest wrestlers on the roster watching his back.
Tonight, Moose will explain his actions from last week.
Who Called King and Konnan?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pcOBq8wpW4&t=13s
Both King and Konnan received mysterious phone calls turning their scenes last week. In each case it caused them to drop what they were doing and leave.
Tonight, we will find out who was the person who made those mysterious phone calls and we might find out more about what they said to both King and Konnan.
Rich Swann vs Petey Williams II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXz9vOV8DOg
Rich Swann defeated Petey Williams with a standing shooting star press. The two X-Division athletes had exchanged pinning combinations leading up to the end.
Swann has been saying as of late it is his dream to go after the X-Division Championship. Former X-Division Champion, Matt Sydal, offered to mentor Swann last week but it does not appear as though Swann is interested.
Tonight, a rematch between Swann and Petey Williams will take place.
Sami Callihan & OVE vs Ace Austin, Zach Wentz & Trey Miguel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owg_l5TZH_Q
Sami Callihan and his minions from Ohio will take on 3 young prospects looking to get noticed. Wentz lost to Matt Sydal on a recent episode of Impact.
Callihan and OVE still have Pentagon and Fenix in their sights but after last week, they might have added Brian Cage to their target list. Last week, Cage broke up a 3-on-2 assault by Callihan and OVE against the Lucha Brothers.
Eli Drake Open Challenge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec_8g5a2yOE&t=4s
Eli Drake will hold an open challenge tonight. Somebody will get the chance to take on a former Impact World Champion, all they have to do is answer the call.
Joe Hendry & Grado vs the Desi Hit Squad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC1ssMng-3w&t=9s
Hendry and Grado paid a visit to Scarlett Bordeaux recently and they are likely hoping it works out in the favor as it did for KM and Fallah Bah.
This week, Hendry and Grado will take on the Great Gama Sing’s Desi Hit Squad.
After months of deliberations, Daniel Bryan has signed a new contract with WWE, according to this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The length of the deal is not yet known, but he won’t be wrestling anywhere besides WWE in 2019.
“Bryan just signed his new contract, so they’ve agreed on terms,” Meltzer wrote. “As of 9/3 it was not official since WWE hadn’t signed it, but that’s a formality and it should be official very soon if not this week.”
Visit f4wonline.com for details on how you can subscribe to the Wrestling Observer.
Daniel Bryan in WWE
Bryan’s last contract with WWE was signed in 2012 and was believed to expire sometime this month. WWE contracts often have clauses which extend contracts if a performer is injured for a considerable amount of time, however. Such was the case with Rey Mysterio the last time he was with WWE full-time.
“Daniel Bryan signed his contract in the last couple of days,” Dave Meltzer said last night “As of Monday it was not official because WWE had not yet signed it but that is a formality and it probably will be executed, if it isn’t already, any day now. Yeah, he’s signed. It’s been a given for a while.”
The first episode of the second Mae Young Classic aired last night on the WWE Network. This year the tournament will be released every Wednesday night following NXT.
Mae Young Classic 9/5 Results
Tegan Nox defeated Zatara
Before the match, a video was shown of Nox talking about the heartbreak of missing last year’s tournament with an ACL injury. There were concerns a slight tear in her MCL could have prevented her from making the tournament again this year.
She started off this year’s tournament by pinning Zatara after a shining wizard. Unfortunately, Zatara targetted Nox’s surgically repaired knee for most of the match which could be a factor later in the tournament for Nox.
Rhea Ripley defeated MJ Jenkins
Before the match, a promo video featuring Rhea Ripley showcased how much stronger she has become in the last year. Ripley’s shoulders have filled out considerably. She’s still only 21 years old. The Australian referred to herself as a new and darker Rhea Ripley.
Ripley countered a head-kick into a pump-handle powerbomb for the win.
Lacey Lane defeated Vanessa Kraven
Lacey Lane just signed with WWE and is a hometown favorite hailing from Winter Park, Florida. Kraven is from Montreal and has competed for promotions such as Smash Wrestling in Toronto. She’s scheduled to face Tessa Blanchard on an upcoming episode of Smash Wrestling on the Fight Network and Global Wrestling Network.
Lane pulled off the David vs Goliath upset here when she pinned Kraven with a crucifix-bomb.
Meiko Satomura defeated Killer Kelly
Before the match, a video featuring Meiko Satomura performing on WCW Nitro was shown. She talked about how she was a rookie then and she always dreamed of returning as an accomplished top wrestler.
Satomura finished off Kelly with a Pele kick and a Death Valley Driver.
PROGRESS Wrestling’s ‘Hello Wembley’ takes place at the end of this month, September 30th in front of the largest audience PROGRESS have ever had.
Headlining the card in the main event will be the current PROGRESS Wrestling World Champion, WALTER, going up against number one contender and inaugural WWE UK Champion, Tyler Bate.
Speaking to DailyStar.co.uk, WALTER had some firm words for his opponent:
“Tyler is a phenomenal athlete and pro wrestler. He is only 21-years-old and we all can only imagine what the future will have in store for him,” he praised, before pressing on.
“I also respect his high ‘Pro Wrestling IQ.’ That being said, even though he is more mature than his age in the ring, I don’t think he is outside of it.”
The PROGRESS World Champion would continue, saying, “He [Bate] portrays himself in a way that I cannot respect because I think he does not take it seriously enough at times. His time will come, but it won’t be at Wembley.”
Tyler Bate was successful in the recent ‘3 And In’ series that PROGRESS organised since losing their Super Strong Style 16 winner Zack Sabre Jr. to contractual obligations to NJPW.
Hello Wembley
Tickets are still available to purchase via AXS. This will be the biggest English Independent show in years. The event is also the final indie appearance of former UFC fighter, Matt Riddle, before he heads to NXT.
Eddie Dennis vs Mark Andrews
Jimmy Havoc vs Paul Robinson
Thunderb*stard Tag Team Title Match
Ilja Dragunov vs Pete Dunne
PROGRESS Women’s Title Match – Jinny (c) vs Millie McKenzie
PROGRESS World Championship Match – WALTER (c) vs Tyler Bate
Wrestling Weekender
PROGRESS has also announced a ‘warm-up’ show on Saturday 29th featuring the following live shows:
NEVER MIND THE WRISTLOCKS
Doors 12.30pm; show 1-2.30pm
TUESDAY NIGHT JAW LIVE
Doors 3pm; show 3.30-5pm
JIM SMALLMAN – I’M SORRY, I LOVE YOU
Doors 5.30pm; show 6-7.30pm
Tickets are available now, and the event itself will take place out of The Phoenix, London.
Bray Wyatt does not appear to be happy with a recent article on WWE.com. The website posted a piece on the 10 Best Factions in WWE history. While it is not clear what criteria the ranking system was working with, Wyatt seems upset his Wyatt Family didn’t make the list.
WWE.com ranked the best factions in WWE history as:
10. Undisputed Era
9. Freebirds
8. Nexus
7. Hart Foundation
6. The New Day
5. Evolution
4. nWo
3. DX
2. Four Horsemen
1. Shield
What’s Next For Bray Wyatt?
Bray Wyatt’s next steps are somewhat in limbo at the moment. The former WWE Champion was part of a tag-team with Matt Hardy but with injuries to Hardy, Wyatt is in need of a new direction.
Two days ago Wyatt shared a similarly cryptic Tweet.
The Wyatt Family stable first debuted on WWE programming in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2012. They would continue the gimmick in NXT the following year. The other members of the stable have all been successful in 2018. Braun Strowman is the current Money in the Bank briefcase holder and has been in the main event picture on Raw all year.
Harper and Rowen have re-branded as the Bludgeon Brothers and held the Smackdown tag-team championships up until dropping the belts to the New Day recently.
On Monday’s RAW, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels spoke candidly about the possibility of coming out of retirement. Michaels said every time he is in a WWE arena, the crowds chant for, “one more match.” He has resisted those calls out of respect to The Undertaker, but the Dead Man implied that if Michaels does wrestle again, it should be against him.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is more to this situation than meets the eye. Dave Meltzer writes, “The working idea internally right now is that Michaels is coming out of retirement. Right now it is not for a singles match, and it is targeted, if not scheduled, for Saudi Arabia on 11/2.”
HBK’s Retirement
Shawn Michaels has been retired from in-ring competition for the better part of eight years after losing to The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXVI.
The added stipulation to their clash was that if Michaels were to lose to The Undertaker, he would have to retire from wrestling.
HBK accepted the challenge, stating with confidence that if he could not end the streak, there was no reason why his career should continue.
Undertaker’s Raw Return
Michaels has always been vocal about staying retired, but this past Monday night on Raw, he found himself standing opposite his old foe, The Undertaker.
There to give his support for his best friend Triple H, HBK warned ‘Taker that Triple H was still the “Cerebral Assassin,” and that this upcoming matchup at Super Showdown was a bad matchup for the Dead Man.
During this confrontation, The Undertaker had some critical words for HBK. “You chose Triple H because I took the one thing from you that was most important: your career.”
Michaels fired back, stating, “I have stayed away and stayed true to my retirement because I am a man of my word. Because I am a man of honour. A man of integrity. I have stayed away and stayed retired out of respect for the system, out of respect for them [the fans], and most importantly, I have stayed retired out of respect for you. Out of respect. Respect for The Undertaker.”
The Undertaker took this opportunity to get underneath Michaels’ skin by asking if it was fear that kept him away from the ring, before declaring that, if it came to it, he would put HBK down “all over again.”
The prospect of Michaels coming out of retirement is bound to leave fans with mixed feelings. His was an exit that appeared final, given the numerous opportunities HBK has had in the past to return that he declined. WWE Super Show-Down takes place in Melbourne Australia on October 6th 2018.
What do you think? Do you want to see HBK up against The Undertaker, one last time?
Taken from the September 10th edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, here are the financial numbers from All In, as per Dave Meltzer:
Live Gate: $458,525
Merchandise: Every item sold out, no finite numbers from this
FITE: Grossed more than $1 Million between Starrcast and ALL IN iPPV sales.
Starrcast sold 11,000 tickets
Pro Wrestling Tees did just under $500k of t-shirt sales (which SEScoops reported here)
Highspots had it’s biggest merchandise day ever at the convention
PPV Numbers: Not out yet and impossible to predict due to no prior reference point.
Google Trends showed that this didn’t have mainstream steam, but no wrestling show outside of WWE has shown that in recent memory.
WGN Zero Hour: 196k Viewers. In line with station’s top-rated prime-time shows, even on worst week of the night for TV and not in prime-time.
Overall financial verdict: Grand Slam home run
The total attendance number for the event, which went down September 1st in Chicago, was a phenomenal 11,263 – a figure that they have since commemorated with a t-shirt featuring the number emblazoned front and center.
With the wrestling world still awash in the afterglow of All In, and the numbers speaking for themselves, it’s unsurprising that Cody has been openly teasing the possibility of an All In II.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has posted a new video to their YouTube channel.
Documenting “The Wrestler” Katsuyori Shibata’s journey segueing into his new role as NJPW LA Dojo’s head coach, it is the first of a two part series and features English subtitles, running for just over 21 minutes.
NJPW visited the LA Dojo in July to cover the wrestling camps taking place during that time. They state that “the footage reveals the inner workings of their Dojo system.”
Sakura Genesis
Shibata has been away from in-ring action since his brutal match up against “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis 2017. The men would wrestle for an astounding 38 minutes before Okada finally defeated Shibata.
The aftermath of the match, however, left a lot of people concerned over Shibata’s well being. During the match itself, Shibata delivered a headbutt to Okada that split him open. Shibata subsequently collapsed backstage and was rushed to a hospital, where it was discovered that he had a subdural hematoma and required emergency surgery.
On April 13th, Dave Meltzer reported that Shibata would probably never be cleared to wrestle again.
Come August 13th, at the 2017 G1 Climax Finals, Shibata made a surprise appearance, simply expressing, “I am alive. That is all.”
NJPW note that the second part of this documentary will be aired soon, so be sure to catch up on Part 1 before it does!
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin took to his podcast recently to discuss his opinion on the rumoured Wrestlemania 35 match between Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey.
When contemplating Charlotte Flair’s character work as a compelling heel, Austin first juxtaposed her with her father, Ric:
“I loved [Ric] Flair as a heel. He’s the greatest [pro] wrestler of all time, but his heel work was outstanding. His baby work, eh, he’s still Ric Flair, but I like Ric Flair as a heel,” he observed.
“For me, Charlotte is a defined heel. We know she’s a heel. We’re pushing her as a heel. We’re booking her as a heel. Yeah, to me, she has a defined role. She’s totally confident in either one, but I think she’s more comfortable as a heel,” Austin said, before continuing, “And that’s not from me talking to her. That’s from me guessing that she’s more comfortable as a heel, but she’s going to do whatever they [the WWE] ask of her.”
With that in mind, Austin’s thoughts then turned to the rumoured match up that could take place next April.
“Boy, that has the potential to be a hell of a main event, but then you’ve got two babies. Would you go two babies or would you make sure Charlotte’s a heel because Ronda needs to be the baby?”
RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey (Photo: Scott Lesh)
Austin’s insight on this is timely, given the recent debate over the current Smackdown feud between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, who many have compared to “Stone Cold” in her recent antihero/heel turn.
Thanks to WrestlingInc.com for the transcription.
So, if the match were to go down at Mania, who would you prefer to go in as the face/heel of their showdown? Charlotte Flair or Ronda Rousey?
We noted before how it was rumored that Shawn Michaels would not only appear at the upcoming Super Showdown from Australia, but he will also play a role in the announced Triple H vs. Undertaker match at the show.
Now Wrestling Observer Live has confirmed these reports, and it reveals that Michaels is actually being advertised as the special guest referee for this bout locally.
It’s worth mentioning here that Shawn Michaels made his WWE return during the latest episode of Monday Night Raw where he was expected to hype up the upcoming bout between the two WWE legends.
However, Undertaker also showed up during the segment, and the Dead Man went on to talk about how he defeated Shawn and ended his career at WrestleMania 26.
After this segment, a lot of people have been wondering what it could mean, and some like Sean Waltman believe that the company was planting seeds for a future match between these two.
With The Heartbreak Kid expected to play a part in Taker’s upcoming match, the big question is if he can get involved in the bout in a way which sets him up for a future match with the Phenom.
Would you like to see Shawn Michaels coming out of retirement and facing Undertaker in a bout? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks made history this past Saturday Night when they filled the 10,000 seat arena in Chicago and presented the All In event.
The whole show has generally been praised by the fans and now as the dust of the event is settling, the big question is if we’ll see more from the production of this trio.
Impact backstage interviewer Alicia Atout recently talked to Cody after the event and she asked the new NWA Worlds Champion how he is feeling about everything after the show.
Answering the question the former WWE Star claimed that the 10,000 plus people in the arena felt like 100,000 plus and said that while he doesn’t want to jump and say ‘I am ready to do it again’ there is definitely a thirst for what they are offering.
Continuing on the topic, Rhodes also talked about his Championship victory during the event and said that the NWA title he is holding really feels like it weighs 10 pounds.
This is not the only tease for a second All In event. As noted before, the trio talked about a possible All In II after their show in Chicago went off air and the latest episode of Being The Elite also teases the same.
The big question now is if all three of the show’s promoters are in favor of another such event and if they are then when can we expect to see it.
You can check out the interview of Cody Rhodes in the video below:
A lot of people would think that being the Rock’s cousin would have helped Nia Jax to get into WWE but if we believe the WWE Star then it wasn’t the case, and she had asked his brother not to disclose their relation to anyone in the company.
Nia recently had an interview with Yahoo where she talked about how sports has helped her in loving her body, living her dream in WWE and more.
While talking about her WWE tryouts, the former Raw Women’s Champion revealed that she had asked the Rock to make sure nobody knew they were related because she wanted to have a fair shot:
“I specifically asked him, ‘Please make sure that nobody knows we’re related.’ I wanted to go in and have a fair shot. [when she got there] Every girl had makeup, hair done. I was like, Oh my gosh, I’m not going to get signed. I thought for sure they’d laugh me out of the building.”
Continuing on the topic, Nia Jax also recalled how WWE coaches told her that she was their top priority after the tryouts, and how she was not able to believe it.
As noted before, there were a lot of rumors about Nia’s recent absence from WWE programming but a recent report revealed that she is dealing with a leg injury.
