WWE SmackDown General Manager Paige decided to make a change to her look and show it off in a recent photo that she shared on her official Instagram account.
In the caption of the post, she thanked her stylist by writing the following, “Thank you Wayne Tuggle Hair for absolutely KILLING the hair game. Amazing friend and amazing stylist.” You can see the photo here:
Although she is no longer allowed to compete in the ring, she has made a great transition from being an active wrestler to being an authority figure on weekly WWE television.
She was in a six-woman tag match back in late December at a live event that needed to be called off after she took a hard kick to the back from Sasha Banks that she wasn’t ready for and it stunned her. The early belief was it was just a mild stinger, leading to her losing feeling in her extremities.
WWE pulled her from the ring and set up further testing that led to the call being made that she would not be cleared by WWE doctors to wrestle again. It was a situation described as similar to Edge’s medical disqualification from competing in the ring.
We noted earlier this week that 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.
Rock took to his official Instagram account to react to the news by writing the following:
“HBO’s #1 highest rated show (30min) for years now is officially back – for SEASON 5. Thank you to my great partners at @HBO for circling up our wagons one more time and renewing @ballershbo for a 5th straight season. Most importantly, THANK YOU FANS worldwide for rockin’ with us and being the driving force behind our success. Besides us being HBO’s highest rated show – I also feel my character’s ambition, drive & demons is an extension of our loyal fans who watch – and we’ll continue to go hard and rock this motherf*cker til’ the wheels fall off. Our next season will be our best yet. Let’s roll.”
The WWE Network has updated its schedule for this coming week where it was revealed that the streaming service of the WWE will be airing a new episode of Story Time after this Monday’s episode of RAW. Here is the synopsis for the show:
“This collection of stories includes WWE Superstars and Legends recalling their first step into unchartered waters, including Dolph Ziggler’s early character struggles, Jake Roberts’ problems with nationally televised broadcasts, and Cesaro’s debut in a dive bar. These tales shed some light on rough first days and not-so-nice new beginnings, from Chris Jericho’s first night in Madison Square Garden, to Paul Heyman’s early days riding with Rick Rude!”
PROGRESS are in the midst of the biggest show in company history. The UK based promotion will be heading to Wembley Arena on Sunday September 30th for the biggest British wrestling show in decades. Some of Europe’s biggest stars will be on hand as well as the likes of NXT’s Matt Riddle.
In celebration of this historic night the company has released Chapter 36 for free on YouTube. ‘We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again’ took place in September 2016 and features an incredible roster of talents, including the current reigning NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, NXT’s Nixon Newell, Aleister Black, 205 Live’s Jack Gallagher and NJPW’s Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr.
Here’s the full card for the event and the show is available at the bottom of the page:
ATLAS Tournament Final – Rampage Brown vs Joe Coffey
Jinny, Alex Windsor & Dahlia Black vs Pollyanna, Laura Di Matteo & Nixon Newell
PROGRESS Tag Team Titles Match – London Riots (c) vs British Strong Style
Tommaso Ciampa vs Zack Sabre Jr – 2/3 Falls
The Origin vs F.S.U., Jack Gallagher & Damon Moser
PROGRESS Title Match – Marty Scurll (c) vs Mark Haskins vs Tommy End
Tetsuya Naito is set to face Minoru Suzuki September 17th in the main event of Destruction in Beppu. Interestingly, the leader of the Los Ingobernables de Japon stable has decided to call out the devastating Suzuki…even calling him a hypocrite of sorts.
Naito appeared on camera following his ‘Road To’ bout against the Suzuki-Gun stable alongside his Ingobernables team. Naito made the following comments; “2018…back on March 6th. After the match in Ota City Gymnasium. You still do remember what you said backstage don’t you? We fought for the Intercontinental Title in the semi-main event. The main event was a special singles match between Okada and Ospreay. On that day you were very upset, weren’t you? But in a couple of weeks, on September 17th in Beppu Plaza…there will be a title match that will once again be the semi-main event. The main event will be a special singles match. The NEVER title, which you once said was your treasure, is in the semi-main event. And the special singles match, which the King (Suzuki) will be featured in, is the main event.”
Naito went on to state: “Don’t you have anything to say about this? 6 months ago you were furious. Will you just stay silent because now you are in the main event? You only speak when it benefits you huh?”
Hiroshi Tanahashi will be putting his Wrestle Kingdom title match in jeopardy on Sunday September 23rd. The ‘Ace’ of New Japan will step in the ring with Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP January 4th Challenge Rights match for the Destruction in Kobe show.
Traditionally the winner of the G1 tournament is expected to defend his title shot. Well, the G1 winner should defend against the competitors who beat him during the tournament. Interestingly Tanahashi announced that he would defend the rights against Okada even though their epic bout went to a time limit draw during this year’s G1.
Tanahashi spoke on camera following his bout at the ‘Road To’ event last night. The ‘Ace’ stated that “I know Okada far too well. Please show me the part of you that I’ve never seen before. But..just winning is not enough, because I’ve already lost and drew to him. It won’t satisfy me. Then what should I do? I’m looking for something more.”
Kazuchika Okada also appeared in a backstage interview segment, the former IWGP Heavyweight made the following comments: “It’s obvious isn’t it? Tokyo Dome and the IWGP Title…they need me. The answer is there. That’s why Tanahashi wants to beat me isn’t it? He needs to beat me in order to get to the Tokyo Dome. You’re being naive aren’t you? But the IWGP Title…The main event at Tokyo Dome is not your place. Well…we’re just getting started. There will be more preview matches. I will get everything out of Tanahashi and I will finish him in Kobe.”
The New Japan Pro Wrestling ‘Road to’ Destruction shows are in full swing. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and his ‘Golden Lovers’ tag partner Kota Ibushi faced CHAOS rivals Tomohiro Ishii and Will Ospreay at last night’s Korakuen Hall event.
The bout was stellar and was unexpectedly so for what is traditionally a ‘lesser’ show in NJPW’s scheduling. The ‘Road To’ shows tend to act as a series to build to the bigger events such as Destruction later this month. The company may be looking to up the ante with the expected drive in ALL IN subscribers getting the megashow at a heavily discounted price.
Omega took to the mic following the bout to discuss his upcoming IWGP Heavyweight Title bout. Kenny will be facing Tomohiro Ishii at Destruction in Hiroshima September 15th. Ishii earned the bout by defeating Omega in their G1 Climax tournament bout. Omega stated (in Japanese) that “My next defence will be against Ishii. Many American fans say that our G1 match was epic, the best bout from G1. My personal opinion…the best matches were all of Ibushi-san’s. Don’t you agree Ibushi-san?”
Chelsea Green turned a lot of heads at All In last weekend. The “Hot Mess” participated in the well-reviewed fatal 4-way match along with Tessa Blanchard, Madison Rayne, and the fastest rising dentist on the independent scene, Dr. Britt Baker DMD.
Now 4 years into her pro-career, Green is a former Knockouts Champion and was ranked #26 in the PWI Female 50 rankings last year. Her career in wrestling began in rather unique fashion, however. Just months into her pro-career, Green was admitting to having an affair with Daniel Bryan live on Monday Night Raw.
Green was a guest on the most recent edition of Edge and Christian’s podcast and told the story of how she was given the role of Megan Miller on WWE programming. Miller was Daniel Bryan’s storyline physiotherapist in the summer of 2014.
Chelsea Green On Role As Daniel Bryan’s Physiotherapist
Green is from Victoria, British Columbia. The coastal city is also where Taya Valkyrie is from. As Taya would years earlier, Green also decided to train at the Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary. Storm’s school has an excellent reputation and as such WWE will reach out periodically for his students if they need extra performers.
“I started in January and by August I was already cutting a promo on Raw,” Green said.
Green was touring through Canada and got a call to be a “Rosebud”. Green dropped what she was doing and joined WWE at their house show in Vancouver. In the back that night, she overheard WWE offer another indy wrestler a larger role on Raw. Green knew this Canadian indy wrestler didn’t have a passport and wouldn’t be able to work the show, however.
“What she didn’t tell WWE is that she didn’t have a passport. So she said ‘yeah’ but I’m standing beside her and I know she doesn’t have a passport,” Green said.
Eventually, Green was given a call and offered the spot. She was called into an office with Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Stephanie to talk about the role of Daniel Bryan’s physical therapist. She admitted that she would likely feel more pressure if she met the same three today.
“If I met them now my knees would be shaking,” Green said. At the time, she says, she was just trying to be professional.
Chelsea says her performance on the August 11th, 2014 Raw was the first of her sports entertainment career. It can be viewed below:
Wrestling MediaCon will host a historic match tomorrow evening. Former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis will be facing Doug Williams to determine the Number 1 contender to current Champion Cody Rhodes.
Williams appeared during a ‘Ten Pounds of Gold’ panel featuring Aldis and challenged him to a bout. It was soon confirmed that the Number 1 Contender stipulation would be added. The winner of the bout will go on to face Cody Rhodes in Nashville at the NWA 70th Anniversary show.
This will be an interesting bout for longtime fans of the TNA promotion. Both men were part of the British Invasion stable alongside Rob Terry. The team held the New Japan IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and TNA World Tag Team Championship. Doug Williams was also a 1 time X Division Champion in the promotion.
Aldis lost the NWA belt at last weekend’s huge ALL IN event. The bout is available to view via FITE, Ring of Honor’s Honor Club service or New Japan’s NJPWWorld streaming platform. The NJPW option is the cheapest if you have not yet seen the event and you get an entire month of NJPW content in the mix, including the Destruction shows.
The 70th anniversary show will be available to view on FITE for $24.99 on Sunday October 21st.
Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) started their British J Cup tournament this evening. Wrestling MediaCon in Manchester will host the 2 day event, the Convention is available on FITE.tv for $29.99.
This will be the second iteration of the tournament, the debut field in 2017 included Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Kushida, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Kyle O’Reilly, Josh Bodom, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask IV. This year’s tournament will be taking place from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England on September 8th and 9th.
Liger won the inaugural tournament and he will now defend his title against the following stars: Rocky Romero, Chris Ridgeway, El Phantasmo, Rich Swann, Tiger Mack IV, Bandido, Dean Allmark, Flamita, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, David Starr, Kurtis Chapman, Sho, Yoh and Kyle Fletcher.
Here’s the results from Day 1:
Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger b. Kyle Fletcher – Liger took the win with a Shotei Palm Strike followed by a Brainbuster
El Phantasmo b. Bandido – Phantasmo took the win with a Senton followed by a Moonsault from the opposite corner
Rocky Romero b. Kip Sabian – Romero took the win with a standing Sliced Bread
SHO b. Dean Allmark – SHO took the win with a Package Piledriver to advance in the Cup
The Great-O-Kharn b. Mark Davis – O-Kharn took the win after hitting a Claw Slam in a non-tournament bout
David Starr b. Tiger Mask – Starr took the win via roll up after removing Tiger’s Mask
KUSHIDA b. Chris Ridgeway – KUSHIDA took the win via the Back to The Future
YOH b. Taguchi – YOH took the win via count out, this was an odd bout to say the least
Rich Swann b. Flamita – Swann took the win after hitting a 450 from the second rope
Hanson and Raymond Rowe are now known as the War Raiders in NXT. The team formerly known as War Machine were a successful team in New Japan Pro Wrestling before signing with WWE, however.
The pair recently Tweeted out praise for some of their mentors from NJPW.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima are one of the most successful tag-teams in NJPW history. As Tencozy, Kojima and Tenzan are 6x IWGP Tag-Team Champions. They also won the Wrestling Observer award for Tag-Team of the Year in 2001. Tokyo Sports gave them the same award the following year.
War Raiders In NXT
At Takeover: Brooklyn IV, War Raiders inserted themselves into the NXT Tag-Team Championship picture. The pair attacked the Undisputed Era after the current champions had disposed of Moustache Mountain.
Hanson and Rowe reported to the WWE Performance Center in January. Candice LeRae and fellow NJPW alumni, Ricochet, are also in their class of trainees. Triple H had the following to say on the class back in April:
“I mean the talent level, the amount of people, the amount of amazing athletes that want to come here, that want to be a part of NXT, that want that opportunity like there was tonight to stamp their place in history and immortality and become those icons…this is the place to do it.”
Charlotte Flair is currently part of one of the most talked about angles in WWE. The supposed Becky Lynch heel turn has left many fans unsure who to cheer for.
Flair won the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Summerslam. She pinned Lynch in a triple threat match which also involved then-champion Carmella.
Smackdown General Manager Paige has announced Charlotte Flair will be in single’s action on Tuesday. She’ll face Paige’s former Absolution protege, Sonya Deville.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Deville and Charlotte. They have been on opposing tag-teams at live events but have never faced each other on WWE programming or in single’s action.
Under the often-disputed WWE rule that a non-champion beating a champion in a non-title match leads to a future title match, this is a big opportunity for Deville. This same rule allowed Flair to be added to the Summerslam title match. Flair had defeated then-champion Carmella in a single’s match on Smackdown.
It is also the same rule which R-Truth has been comically misunderstanding for the last few weeks.
Based on what has been established on Smackdown recently, however, if Deville beats Charlotte she should be added to the match between Lynch and Flair at Hell in a Cell.
Matt Riddle was fired from the UFC while on a 4-fight win streak. The issue was that he had two of those victories overturned due to failing drug tests for marijuana.
UFC President Dana White took Matt Riddle to task in 2013 for failing another marijuana test. White fired Riddle and called him a “weak-minded dummy” for his failure to abstain from marijuana. What new evidence is showing, however, is that Riddle could have abstained from marijuana for months and still flunked those tests.
With his NXT debut pending, Riddle took an opportunity to take a shot at his former employer.
“You have to go to work three times a year, and you couldn’t pass a drug test?” Dana White asked of Riddle in 2013. “You’re so weak-minded and so addicted to marijuana, that you couldn’t stay off it enough to pass a drug test three times a year. Well, guess what dummy, they drug test in the real world, too!”
Science Now Unsure About Cannabis Test Matt Riddle Failed
The tests used to determine that Riddle had consumed cannabis not long before his UFC fights have recently been shown to be based on disputed-science, however. The latest research in this area is stating such tests are flawed and lead to false-positives for medical or frequent cannabis users.
Studies out of Norway in 2014 have shown that THC does not leave the body in a time-determined manner. Thus previous claims by medical testing companies that their devices only test for “recent cannabis use” have been misguided. This includes the testing used by the UFC prior to the advent of USADA. This is a controversial issue, however, and several medical testing companies still claim otherwise.
Based on the new research though, Riddle could have abstained for months from marijuana before his fights and still failed the tests he was given. Don’t cry for Matt Riddle, though, he seems to be doing just fine.
The above image is not of Lana in a match, however. The image is from a WWE photoshoot from earlier this year. The photoshoot involved Superstars recreating current movie posters. Lana was portraying the lead role of “I, Tonya”.
UPDATE: It now appears Lana is aware of the “I, Tonya” photo 2K used. She responded with the following:
Things are going slightly better on Smackdown for Rusev Day. The team of Aiden English and Rusev will face the Bar on Tuesday night with the winner earning a tag-team title opportunity.
Lana and Rusev are also once again entered into the WWE Mixed Match Challenge. In the inaugural tournament, Lana was able to score the first victory of her career on the WWE main roster.
A new post from Pentagon Jr.’s official Facebook page is fueling speculation that he and Rey Fenix are in fact headed to WWE/NXT:
“According to multiple sources, WWE is interested in signing both Penta the zero fear and King Phoenix. The Company’s plan is to push them both as individual competitors in nxt and not as a couple. This way, pushing the Latin American market to see the product of the yellow brand. Should WWE send Penta and Fenix to NXt or should they send them straight to the main roster?”
Evidence Pentagon and Fenix Could Be WWE Bound
WWE generally does not permit new signees from publicizing their signing. If the rumors concerning the brothers are true, it’s likely they are unable to speak publicly about it. The evidence the pair are WWE bound is mounting, however.
Earlier this summer, the brothers told promoters dates they’d booked for 2019 are now questionable. They’ve also stopped accepting bookings for next year.
“The main thing is that both are not taking any dates in 2019,” wrote Dave Meltzer in mid-August. “Which is usually a sign of going to WWE.”
MLW also threw some shade on the ongoing rumors in a recent social media post:
Pentagon Jr. has accomplished a lot on the independent scene. He has won the AAW Heavyweight Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and Impact World Championship.
Fenix accomplishments include the AAW Heavyweight Championship and currently, he is the AAA Mega Champion.
The Lucha Bros. currently hold the MLW World Tag Team Championship for Major League Wrestling.
This past Monday on Raw saw Seth Rollins take a nasty hit when he was thrown to the police van window. The hit itself left nasty gashes and scarring on his left arm.
While it was thought that the injury would take Rollins off of live events, it seems this is not the case as Rollins is still advertised for the Alabama and Texas live events for this weekend. It looks as though the Architect will power through the arm injury and continue working the WWE events.
On a recent interview with Yahoo! Finance, Nikki Bella took the time to promote the Birdie Bee brand along with the Belle Radici wine label. Nikki mentioned in the conversation that she is always being compared to her sister, Brie, but was once called the “fat” twin.
“I’ve been compared my whole life. I’ve been the bigger twin,” Nikki said. “When I got on TV 10 years ago, immediately everyone called me ‘the fat twin.’ I had always looked at myself as someone who was just healthy and I loved who I was, but there was a period of time when it really got to me.”
Brock Lesnar’s WWE run is no more and the Beast Incarnate has his sights set for a UFC return.
It was last month that Lesnar was sporting a new physique as he lost a lot of weight. Lesnar dropped the Universal title to Roman Reigns and is now focused on making his MMA return. While it’s been speculated that Lesnar will face Daniel Cormier in the near future no paperwork has been signed making the fight official.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the Lesnar and Cormier fight has not been made official yet. Lesnar is preparing to face Cormier in the year to come but the bout will not be Cormier’s next fight. Cormier is expected to defend the UFC Light Heavyweight championship before facing Lesnar.
Speculated Fight Date
While it is too early to predict when Lesnar vs. Cormier will take place, there has been speculation that the bout will take place during NFL Superbowl weekend, Saturday, February 2nd.
Another factor that could stop the fight from happening altogether is that Lesnar is still apart of the USADA drug testing pool and must pass all mandatory drug tests in order to be eligible to fight Cormier. Not to mention that Lesnar still has a little over four months left of his suspension remaining.
WWE Ties
Dropping the title to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam this year was Lesnar’s final contractual obligation to the WWE. It’s been stated that the door is open for Lesnar in making a return but Lesnar’s goal right now is making his UFC comeback.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins recently did an interview with NOLA.com to discuss his professional wrestling career. “The Architect” was asked about the “Burn It Down” line being added to his entrance theme.
The line was added to Rollins’ theme during the dramatic pause in his music. At first, some fans didn’t like it and prefered the pause in the song. However, eventually, it grew on everyone as they love chanting it during Rolins’ entrance.
When asked who was responsible for adding the line into the song, Rollins revealed that it was a Vince McMahon decision. McMahon didn’t like the long pause in the music and wanted to add something in to fill the void. Rollins listened to a few options and eventually decided on “Burn It Down”:
“Honestly, I don’t exactly know. I feel like it was partially a take on the commercial for the video game last year where I’m sort of an arsonist when it comes to burning down the artifacts of the past.
“Having words in the entrance was totally Vince’s idea. There was nothing in that space, a weird dead space to Vince. He thought it was a good idea to fill it with something.
“We went through a couple of options, and that one fit the best. I chose it, and the next thing you know, it’s a huge part of my character.
“Thanks to Vince for having 50 years of pro wrestling knowledge in his back pocket. It’s a fun interactive thing for the audience. That many people screaming Burn it Down at WrestleMania was insanity.”
There was a ton of speculation going around suggesting Punk could make an appearance on the pay-per-view (PPV). As we all know, Punk never appeared on the program and it left a lot of fans disappointed.
Today (Fri. September 7, 2018) All In star and independent wrestler Scorpio Sky took a shot at Punk on Twitter. Sky partnered with Frankie Kazarian to take on The Briscoe Brothers on the All In: Zero Hour preshow.
Sky said Punk missed the one show that could’ve reinstated his love for professional wrestling. He said he knows he is somewhat scarred from his experience with WWE, but this is a “different world” now:
“Hey @CMPunk you missed a show that would have completely reinstated your love of pro wrestling over the weekend.
“You may hate it now because of your former employer but this is a different world. Where you at?”
Many believe the angle could be teasing a future match between the pair again. Ross said that the two legends put on the best segment he has seen on WWE TV in some time:
“The thing that stood out the most to me on Monday Night RAW, and I don’t know what would be second, and that sounds like I’m knocking the show, but I’m really not! I thought The Undertaker/Shawn Michaels business was so much better than anything that I have seen on television.
“I thought the Becky Lynch and Charlotte [Flair] business at times has been extremely good because it feels real; it’s organic; I get it. But, boy, this took me back.” Ross later added, “The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels stole RAW. They stole the show.
“They’re so far ahead in making an emotional attachment than some of their peers, might I say most of their peers on their team, it’s not even funny. These guys are what you would say is over. They’re really over. And it’s a lot easier to support your guy if he’s ‘over,’ either as a villain or as a hero.
“And to get over you’ve got to get on a roll. At some point, these guys have got to get on major extended rolls, R-O-L-L-S, rolls. So we’ll see how that works out for the rest of the roster. Bottom line, ‘HBK’ and Undertaker were amazing.”
Neither The Undertaker or Michaels are in the prime of their careers anymore. Their best matches are likely behind them given their ages, but Ross still thinks they can put on a quality match in WWE:
“I had the privilege of being there for WrestleMania 25, 26, and many prior to that, with those guys and Triple H, so I’ve had a lot of experience with those three men and their matches.” Ross recalled, “I think one of the best matches I ever called or ever saw was Triple H and Shawn when Shawn came back fro his four-year hiatus!
“It was awesome! I mean, it was textbook. He didn’t miss a damn beat, so anyone that thinks that Shawn and The Undertaker couldn’t have a good match, think again please. And if the glass is always going to be a half empty, they’re not in their prime. Well, no s–t. They’re not in their prime.
“Wow, what a revelation! Of course they’re not in their prime physically. Mentally, I suggest to you, they’re probably the best they’ve ever been mentally to tell a story, to bring you in, to captivate you, to capture your attention. It’s done psychologically more often than not. I just think that they can give us a great match if and when it’s going to happen.”
Finally, if the match were to happen, Ross thinks WrestleMania 35 would be the perfect location:
“If we said Undertaker and Shawn were going to be figured in some way at WrestleMania in New York City [New York], MetLife [Stadium], whatever, New Jersey, everything, you guys know.”
“That would be huge! That’s huge! That’s huge. It’s going to sell out anyway no matter who’s wrestling. The name, the brand, the event sells out. The card sells pay-per-views and [WWE] Network subscriptions. That’s why the card [has] got to be extraordinary for these extraordinary events, these tentpole events.
“And that’s why I think that there is a better than average chance. You don’t develop this much time on television without going somewhere with it.
“Why make me think that that could happen and give me that great of a sales job to measure my level of anticipation and enthusiasm regarding the storyline without somewhere down the road being able to deliver it? So time will tell.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Road Warrior Animal was recently interviewed by WrestleZone during Starrcast last weekend. Animal gave his thoughts on Saturday’s All In pay-per-view (PPV) event from the Sears Centre. The former WWE Tag Tema Champion said the show was “awesome”:
“It was awesome. This year was the 35th year anniversary of Hawk and I and to get 10,000 people chanting L.O.D. was fricking awesome. All I have to say is that the wrestling world needs to look out because there’s a new game in town.
“Between The Young Bucks, you got Cody, and All Japan and New Japan and all the guys that were on the card and all the girls that were on the card, it was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.”
The interviewer mentioned that there was an intergenerational mix of talent at the event. Animal interjected and said that very fact made the event all the more successful:
“I think what makes the difference there is that this company has gotten it that you have to mix in the heroes that got this business to where it is today and the new guys.
“Once you blend that in there perfectly – they did last night- you get the result you had and that’s the benefit of it, it works. Its that hard formula that works.”
JTG is all about that money. So much so that the former WWE Superstar has opened up a new business venture.
Pro Wrestling Sheet has announced that JTG has released his own line of beard care products. The line is named “Sexy As Hell Beard Care.” JTG noted that he has been experimenting with proper beard care since growing his out in summer of 2016.
As his beard continued to grow, many began to ask the Cryme Tyme member for advice. This inspired JTG (real name Jayson Paul) to start his own beard care line. Paul wrote the following on his Facebook page to introduce the product:
“With the knowledge I picked up along my beard journey, I’m ready to share it with the world and make beards across America healthy,” Paul said.
You can check out JTG’s new beard care line, Sexy As Hell Beard Care, by clicking this link here.
Ask any professional wrestling fan who’s the best of all time, you’ll get several different answers. Instantly names such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, John Cena, and Bret Hart come to mind. The debate could go on forever, but Steve Austin is very sure in his answer.
In fact, he says “anybody that actually knows the business” will agree that the greatest of all time (GOAT) is – “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Flair is a two-time WWE Hall Of Famer and a 16-time World Champion.
A fan on Twitter posted a GIF of Flair and Angle together in the ring. The fan tagged Austin in the Tweet, and “The Texas Rattlesnake” responded. He said “Flair is the GOAT. And that’s the bottom line.”:
One fan attempted to battle Austin on his claim. He suggested that the GOAT is, in fact, Andre The Giant. The fan argued that, had it not been for Andre’s contributions to the business, there would be no Ric Flair. Austin says there is no comparison and Andre just simply was not in Flair’s league.
No comparison, bro. Andre was a great star. Important for the business. Anybody that actually knows the business knows Flair is the GOAT. That is all.
Independent wrestling star Joey Ryan was recently interviewed by WSVN-TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet. During the interview, Ryan discussed his unique entrance at All In last week.
It turns out that several months of planning actually went into the entrance. Initially, the “Who killed Joey Ryan?” storyline was supposed to last a few weeks. Instead, after seeing the success it drew, it was decided to extend it:
“There was quite a few months of preparation because we had shot the murder and the murder scene revival all at the same time. It was supposed to be like a 2 or 3 week storyline but then they saw the footage and said it was really good and that we needed to draw this out as long as we could.
“And it was really up to the audience of how long they would let us stretch it out and how receptive they would be to the bits like the false arrest of Stephen Amell which actually played into his storyline with Christopher Daniels.
“We stretched it out as long as we could adding elements with other characters as long as the audience were taking the new additions we were adding in.
“Then when we realized we could let it sit all the way until ALL IN, we figured if we’re going to do this at ALL IN we needed to do something big with it and that’s where the idea for the penis druids came up.”
Ryan also said that he doesn’t really have any interest in signing with WWE. He knows the standard rate given to guys in NXT, and makes well above that at this point in his career on the indies:
“I know the standard NXT rate that they give most newcomers and I make well beyond that. But I know people who have signed on from the indies who were doing well and they get a better rate because they are more valued.
“It’s weird because pretty much in every business, the goal and the dream is to be your own boss, set your own schedule, be successful on your own terms. In wrestling, a lot of wrestling fans want you to give all that up and sign your future to someone else’s hands and have a boss and have a schedule that you’re required to keep.
“So it’s kind of weird that in just about any other business, the dream is to do what I’m doing now but in wrestling everyone thinks you’re not successful until you have a boss which is kind of bizarre. But that’s the way it is and I’m pretty confident and really enjoy what I’m doing.”
Discussion: What do you think about Ryan not wanting to go to WWE? Let us know in the comments section below!
Last weekend, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho shocked the professional wrestling world.
After Kenny Omega’s victory against Pentagon Jr., the lights in the Sears Centre went out. When they came back on, Pentagon Jr. shot back to his feet and attacked Omega. Once Pentagon hit Omega with a Codebreaker, however, it was realized that the man attacking Omega wasn’t Pentagon.
When the mask was removed, it was revealed that Jericho was actually Omega’s assailant. He said he would see him on the Jericho cruise. The moment may have very well stolen the entire show – which is really saying something.
The Journey To All In
It turns out, that moment almost never happened. Jericho initially didn’t want to take part in All In. He has a self-rule about competing at wrestling events in the United States that aren’t WWE. Eventually, he decided to make the exception for All In.
Jericho detailed the decision-making process in the latest edition of his podcast, Talk Is Jericho:
“Months ago, when All In was announced, Cody called me and said, ‘Do you want to be involved?’ I said, ‘No, I’m not really one to work any shows in the States that aren’t WWE shows.’
“For various reasons, I just didn’t feel like it was where I was at career-wise. I told him that I appreciated the offer, but I’m not going to do it. I also got asked to do Long Beach and those New Japan shows as well.
“Over the course of the last few months, my mindset has changed a bit to where I’m enjoying being part of this new revolution of wrestling. I thought I would consider it, but the idea has to be right.
“Cody called me again and I started thinking, ‘I wonder if I could make this work.’ The idea was ‘what if I could come in earlier in the show and attack Kenny?’ The idea was to keep the angle alive from the Tokyo Dome to the Cruise.”
Discussion: What do you think about Jericho deciding to appear at All In? Sound off in the comments section below!
Ring of Honor has officially announced the location for the Final Battle event. On Friday afternoon (September 7, 2018), the Baltimore-based promotion revealed that they would hold this upcoming pay-per-view event at the historic Manhattan Center’s Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Friday, December 14, 2018.
They did not disclose whether they hold a TV taping at the same venue the following night as they have done with previous events but they will likely due so as the promotion historically doesn’t run events during the holiday season. Tickets for the two events go on sale Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. local time for HonorClub members and Friday, Sept. 14 at 12 p.m. local time for the general public. Although no names were advertised for this show, it was noted that it would feature “all of the top ROH stars.” The next ROH PPV, Death Before Dishonor, is slated to go down at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, September 28, 2018 and will air on traditional PPV outlets and the FITE TV app. Five matches have been announced for the show thus far, which you can see here.
ROH will be holding TV tapings in the same venue the following night for upcoming episodes of their television show.
