MLW was supposed to be “Swerve’s House” but a $60,000 bounty was eventually too much for him. Low-Ki not only cashed-in on the bounty but he took the MLW Heavyweight Championship from Strickland in the process.
The title changed happened last night from the Gilt nightclub in Orlando, FL. As per MLW rules, Low-Ki now must defend the title against any opponents Strickland had been scheduled against.
Low-Ki will defend his newly won title against John Hennigan next Thursday in Queen’s NY.
Low-Ki becomes just the second champion since the title was brought back into existence earlier this year. Strickland defeated Matt Riddle in the finals of a tournament on April 12th, 2018 in Orlando.
Low-Ki is now the 6th champion in MLW history. Champions 1-4 in the title’s lineage are Shane Douglas, Satoshi Kojima, Mike Awesome, and Steve Corino.
Other MLW Announcements
MLW Battle Riot July 19th
The promotion also plans to air their upcoming Battle Riot event on July 19 for free on BeIN Sports.
The promotion defines a Battle Riot match as:
“A mash-up of a battle royal, royal rumble and anything goes street fight, this super-sized main event will feature 40 wrestlers with new participants entering the ring every 60 seconds.”
The winner will receive a title shot against the MLW World Heavyweight Champion.
MLW War Games Returns
Earlier this week, MLW announced they will be holding a War Games match at the Fort Lauderdale’s War Memorial Auditorium on Thursday, September 6, 2018. The original inception of the promotion also featured a War Games match between Steve Corino’s Extreme Horsemen and Terry Funk’s “Funkin Army.”
Major League Wrestling owns the trademark to the name War Games for the following purposes:
“Entertainment services in the nature of organizing and arranging professional wrestling exhibitions for entertainment purposes; providing information and news about professional wrestling via a global computer network; presentation of live wrestling show performances.”
What started as a catch-phrase has turned into an officially celebrated holiday. Rusev Day has been officially declared in Knoxville, TN.
With his first-ever WWE Championship match upcoming this Sunday at Extreme Rules, the declaration couldn’t have come at a better time. Not surprisingly, it was a town with a connection to wrestling which announced the holiday.
Rusev spoke with ESPN earlier this year about how “Rusev Day” has taken off.
“I had no idea this was going to happen,” Rusev said to ESPN. “This was supposed to be a one-time ‘Rusev Day’ thing. I never thought in a million years it was going to be what it is today. It was something we planned to do, but just for one day. But it just caught on fire ever since then. Nobody expected that.”
While he might not have expected, Rusev says this has been the greatest part of his career.
“I’ve just been enjoying it,” Rusev said. “I’ve been booed out of the building for the past four years. So finally the people now appreciate me. But I’m just having fun, I’m just doing me. Every bad guy or good guy, we all enjoy the crowd reaction, so I’m just going with it.”
Rusev says he is even enjoying this period of his WWE run more than when he was undefeated and rode a tank to the ring at WrestleMania.
“By far it’s the most fun I’ve had in my career,” Rusev said. “I mean, I loved WrestleMania 31 with the tank — that was amazing, of course. But now I’m showing everybody that you don’t have to be stuck being a foreigner bad guy. Being a foreigner bad guy doesn’t have to be my destiny, and I can be much more than that.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced Rey Mysterio will return to the promotion next month. The famous luchador is scheduled to have a match on the final night of the G1 Climax 28 show from the Nippon Budokan on August 12th, 2018.
Mysterio’s opponent for the show has yet to be named, however. His only match for NJPW to date was at last month’s Dominion. On that night, he teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jushin Liger in a losing effort to Cody, Hangman Page, and Marty Scurll.
Mysterio originally challenged Jushin Liger when he first appeared in NJPW. A match between the two legends for Strong Style Evolved was eventually scrapped last year, however. Mysterio was forced to withdraw from the event due to a torn bicep.
It’s possible Liger is named later as his opponent, however that is only speculation.
Rey Mysterio NJPW
At 43-years-of age, Mysterio has been working hard to keep in shape for what is likely the final few years of his career. Mysterio posted on Instagram recently that he is having stem cell therapy done on his knee (which has been a frequent problem) and his bicep (which he tore last year).
Yesterday, we reported that Rey Mysterio and WWE were close to a deal. The only remaining sticking points were the remaining commitments Mysterio has left. One of those dates is All-In on September 1st, 2018. Mysterio does have dates booked after then as well.
Impact Wrestling is now just 9 days away from Slammiversary. Last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling added 2 new matches to the card and built towards several others already signed.
Impact Wrestling started off last night with King’s OGZ, so they sound like a good place for us to start too. Here are 9 takeaways from Impact Wrestling’s July 12th show:
5150 Street Fight Scheduled For Slammiversary
After Homicide and Hernandez made short work of some local talent, King challenged Konnan’s LAX for Slammiversary. Even though Santana & Ortiz are the tag-team champions, however, King said they are not interested in titles at this time. They want LAX in a 5150 street fight.
King also explained why Homicide and Hernandez joined him. He said that when Konnan decided to bring back LAX he chose to bring in two new boys he could control rather than Homicide or Hernandez. Now the OGZ want to take out the new LAX.
A standout from RISE, Shotzi Blackheart was scouted by Impact management at a seminar run by the Illinois-based developmental promotion. Shotzi is a wild one with quite a lot to say.
Here are some quotes from her backstage interview with Alicia Atout:
“Being here has given me a one-track mind and that track is to prove I’m no phony-baloney”
“This mango is ready to tango”
“My mind is a machine, my body’s the bullets and Allie is my target”
She dropped her debut match to Allie but she was able to get in a fair amount of offense and show what she can do. Don Callis mentioned on commentary that Impact management would be foolish not to sign her.
For the second week in a row, Tessa Blanchard interfered in a match involving Allie. The previous week, Blanchard came out to get revenge on Madison Rayne but was fended off by Allie who was teaming with her. This week it was Allie who was Blanchard’s target.
Following Allie’s victory over Shotzi Blackheart, Blanchard hit the ring and delivered a hammerlock-DDT. Shortly after the segment aired, Impact Wrestling management made the match between the two of them official for Slammiversary.
Matt Sydal Believes Organic Matter Beats Machines (he also mentioned his 3rd eye…)
Matt Sydal is not worried about having to defend his title at Slammiversary against an opponent so much bigger than he is, he’s been doing that his whole career. Sydal cut a backstage promo this week on Impact where he discussed why he feels he’ll be victorious against Brian Cage.
Sydal said they call Cage a machine but that is the very thing which will be his downfall.
“My opponent is a man who sees things completely mechanical but we live in an organic universe,” Sydal said. “When machines break, they fall apart but organic things they come back to life. No matter how hard you bury me down, I rise back up.”
Joe Hendry and Katarina May Not Have Grado’s Best Interests In Mind…
It’s starting to look as though Katarina may have ulterior motives as it concerns her relationship with Grado. That Grado has brought his “best friend” Joe Hendry into Impact is also an interesting development.
Josh Matthews noted on commentary that he follows Katarina on social media and she posts a lot of pictures but usually ones which feature only her and Hendry rather than Grado.
Eli Drake disposed of Grado in single’s action this week. After doing so, Drake tried to put the moves on Katarina only to be pushed away. Upon realizing Katarina was not interested in him, Drake attempted to inform Grado that something was going on between Hendry and Katarina.
Austin Aries Drops Truth Bombs On DeAngelo Williams
Austin Aries is a guy who doesn’t mince words. When DeAngelo Williams returned to Impact to talk about how his training with Moose is going, Austin Aries couldn’t help but get involved. After Williams called Aries “trash”, the Impact World Champion came out to confront him.
Aries ripped on Williams for not getting signed by an NFL team for next season. Then he ripped on him for never having won a Super Bowl. Finally, Aries knocked him in the head with a microphone and then beat him up with a chair.
Later in the show, Moose would call in to say he will be on the show next week to confront Aries.
Madison Rayne Sit-Down Interview Turns Into Horror Film
It was just supposed to be a sit-down interview…
What seemed as though it would be a rather uneventful segment when we mentioned it in our preview for this episode, Madison Rayne’s planned sit-down interview turned into a macabre scene. Rayne’s interview had barely begun when ominous stuff started happening around the studio.
After foolishly stumbling into an open field to escape the paranormal activity, Rayne was surrounded by Yung’s undead brides. The undead brides whispered that her time had come. Then Yung herself appeared before the camera suddenly went black.
It's safe to say @realsuyung is getting the better of the mind games over @MadisonRayne ahead of Slammiversary…
The night’s main event featured Pentagon and Sami Callihan building towards their Slammiversary Mask vs Hair match. It also featured 2 of the 4 wrestlers who will compete in the fatal 4-way.
Fenix and Rich Swann were on the same side in this match but will be in competition with one another at Slammiversary. Some of the highlights of this week’s main event might preview what is in store at Slammiversary when Fenix, Rich Swann, Taiji Ishimori and Johnny Impact face each other.
This week’s main event featured a Lucha rules 6-man tag. On one side was oVe and Sami Callihan and on the other was Fenix, Pentagon Jr, and Rich Swann.
During this match, Callihan kicked out from Pentagon’s Fear Factor (package piledriver). Callis noted on commentary that he has never seen anybody kick out of that move. Callihan would also kick out of the spiked-piledriver move the Lucha Brothers use as a finisher.
If Callihan can kick-out of two of Pentagon’s finishers in a row, what will Pentagon have to do to beat him at Slammiversary?
In a landmark announcement, ROH and NJPW have just announced a super-card from Madison Square Garden.
“ROH and NJPW are proud to announce that on April 6th, 2019, the companies will join forces to present the ultimate wrestling event,” an ROH press release reads. “G1 Supercard, to fans from around the world, LIVE from Madison Square Garden in New York City!”
It had previously been reported that talks between ROH and the historic venue had broken down.
G1 Supercard Madison Square Garden
“The G1 Supercard is an event that can only represent the absolute best possible matches with both NJPW and ROH stars. Madison Square Garden is the perfect venue for them,” said Greg Gilleland, ROH General Manager
“This is a historic initiative for ROH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling,” Harold Meij, President of NJPW proudly commented. “This gives us a great chance to expose fans to NJPW in the building which housed so many memorable and compelling matches.”
The only confirmed participants so far are Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and Hiroshi Tanahashi.
ROH and NJPW Book Madison Square Garden
“We are thrilled to welcome Ring of Honor Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling to Madison Square Garden for the much anticipated G1 Supercard,” said Joel Fisher, Executive Vice President, MSG Marquee Events. “We expect April 6th to be another memorable night of wrestling at The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
“This is destined to join a long list of historical wrestling moments and where better to hold it than at Madison Square Garden,” ROH Chief Operating Officer Joe Koff said.
Koff would continue to say that this would not be possible without the tremendous fan support they enjoy.
Tickets will go on sale August 8th, 2017 at 10AM ET for Honor Club VIP subscribers. They will go on sale to the general public August 10th.
Former WWE Champion Sheamus has given some insight into the differences between the top two shows that the WWE presents each and every week.
Sheamus spoke with CantonRep.com while promoting Saturday’s WWE live event in Canton, Ohio where he talked about various topics including going to SmackDown from RAW this year.
The WWE star brought up the fact that it’s relaxed on SmackDown side of things as it’s not as pressurized, and it’s also a shorter show, which sets up limited spots, and they have to rotate the stories more. On the flip side, RAW is a three-hour show that sometimes feels a little stretched, but with a two-hour show, he doesn’t think there’s any danger of anyone getting over-exposed here. “We really haven’t got started here yet. We’re just waiting to get that opportunity to really kick things off.”
Sheamus talked about teaming with Cesaro and how he handled being in new waters in his career. The former WWE champ noted that they are brothers now and have a great bond that’s developed over the last couple years. He brought up that they’ve been successful together as a team or individually. “There’s nobody that can touch us in the ring. We argue we fight and have our differences, but we get on. That’s just like brothers. We look at it as a team, and we take care of things as a team. It’s always what’s best for the team and The Bar. We’re the greatest, and we’re not out there trying to steal each other’s spotlight, we’re out there to make each other look good. That’s really all that matters.”
What are your thoughts on Sheamus’ comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Mark Henry recently gave his take on the current feud booked by the WWE that involves Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley.
The Hall of Famer discussed this feud and the way that WWE has handled it on the Busted Open Radio podcast. As seen on this week’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW in Boston, MA at the TD Garden on the USA Network, the latest angle that helped build the feud saw both men being involved in a pull-apart brawl with other stars.
According to Henry, this brawl helped both Reigns and Lashley. The former World Champion believes that making Lashley a tough and aggressive character will get support from fans rather than the smiley character he had during his feud with Sami Zayn. “The fans are getting a chance to see two big physically impressive tough guys go at it,” said Henry. “That’s how I feel about Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns. I feel like, ‘oh sh*t, let’s go! Put ’em in there, let ’em go!’ Like they are ready to do something that hasn’t been done in a long while. And that thing is to take over the show without bells and whistles.”
Henry did bring up the fact that he was a fan of the brawl because it felt like a schoolyard fight as stars stopped what they were doing to run to the fight to step in and break it up. He also praised the WWE for not adding a stipulation to the match. “A lot of times you’re like, oh, it’s a cage match, it’s a falls count anywhere. It’s pot pans and chairs and ladders. It’s nothing [in this feud],” said Henry. “They don’t need anything. It’s two big strong physically impressive guys that need to get in there and punch each other in the face. Everybody is ready to see it.”
Reigns vs. Lashley in a singles match is slated to go down at this Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena on the WWE Network.
Candice LeRae has opened up about her time thus far in the WWE.
The newly signed star recently spoke with WWE.com to discuss various topics including what it means to her to be a WWE star. LeRae noted that it’s her childhood dream come true as she always wanted to be a WWE Superstar and now she is living that dream.
She noted that she has discovered that there is a whole new world of opportunity here in NXT and that she has pushed herself to do things in the ring and in the gym that she used to be afraid to do or be uncomfortable with.
“I want to seize every opportunity NXT has to offer me, and when I do, I want to be ready for them. Being here has sparked something special in me to push me to the next level.”
WWE has already announced that LeRae, Kairi Sane, Nikki Cross and Bianca Belair collide in a Fatal 4-Way Match with a future opportunity to challenge Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Title on next week’s episode of NXT.
When asked about her issues with Baszler, LeRae noted that she hasn’t forgotten about wrestling the NXT Women’s Champion in last year’s Mae Young Classic and how disrespectful Shayna was towards her. It should be noted that LeRae was staying in kayfabe during this interview. LeRae continued by saying, “Earning an NXT Women’s Championship opportunity is a reward, but to face Shayna, knowing that I could potentially be the one to dethrone her? it would be the cherry and sprinkles on top!”
What are your thoughts on LeRae’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Two days after losing to Daniel Bryan cleanly at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV), Big Cass was released from the WWE citing behavioral issues. It was initially reported last year by Dave Meltzer that Cass was getting heat backstage for vocalizing his support of President Donald Trump.
In a recent episode of WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T’s podcast, Heated Conversations, the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion talked about the rumors:
“There are so many rumors flying around as far as his release,” Booker T said. “The story is bigger than Big Cass. For instance, back in the day, you didn’t tell anyone who you voted for, you know what I mean? It was a secret. You don’t bring that stuff up together because we have to be friends. That is something that you have to deal with inside yourself.
“I’m not homophobic or anything like that, but when gay people come out it’s like, you didn’t have to tell me that because I’m still going to still give you a hug. It’s not my business so when people do certain things they literally become vulnerable and not keep their eyes on the prize as far as what is really at stake here… my livelihood.”
Booker then dove into the dangers of social media, specifically Twitter, and discussed how Twitter can ruin someone’s life:
“At the end of the day, it is about taking care of your family. Going out and doing the job like Stevie Ray would say, to the best of your ability until something better comes along. I say that because it’s very simple; we are all in the entertainment business. If you want to be running a publication get another job, but Twitter can ruin one’s life. Going on Twitter and saying something.
“I personally liked the guy. I didn’t know about his personal beliefs about voting for Donald Trump. Maybe that was part of it, but my thing is this; I’ve been one of the boys, I had to work in that locker room, I may have had heat with some of the boys in certain times throughout my career but if I went out and performed in the ring all of that overshadowed and trumped everything, which is with your performance.
“If you are on time; if you are ready to go as far as people needing you for a promo set and not looking all throughout the building for you. Everything comes into play as far as being around or not. Being a General or being a Private. I want to be a General so I am always going to be on time and had my shoes spit shined. All of my medals are going to be straight. The bed, everything is tucked. If you don’t take care of your business this is what is going to happen to you.”
Booker T says the lesson is the same thing he tries to teach his students over at Reality Of Wrestling – If everyone does what they’re supposed to do then we can all put on a great show:
“The thing is, it can be a bunch of things. My point is this; when it gets to that point, it isn’t something that everybody else is doing, it is something that you are doing. I have been in the business for many years, I knew as long as I went out and performed and thought about that — look here, being married to Sharmell was in the twilight of my career.
“I was around 40. Sharmell was the first woman that I thought about talking to, and if you listen to Sharmell she thought I hated her the first time we met because I was always all business. When I was in my twenties and in my thirties I was thinking about making my mark and I have to do it now. I couldn’t think about getting married to slow me down, especially with the women I work with.
“I knew where it was going to lead. I was always thinking about going out there and performing and that only. I think these young guys it is easy to get caught up. It is easy access. When you lose focus and your train of thought.
“When you take those blinders off anything can happen. When you start thinking it is a party instead of putting your suit and tie on and getting your job done and handling your business, you are thinking about the wrong thing. Big ups to Big Cass. Hopefully he finds something. There is a lot of work out there on the independent scene and in Japan. Whatever he did he definitely lost out on this deal because I thought he was going to be one of the next greatest big men in the sport.”
You can listen to Booker T on Heated Conversations by clicking this link here.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star and IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson was recently a guest on Sean Waltman’s podcast, X-Pac 12360, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. He first talked about WWE Hall Of Fame commentator Jim Ross getting injured during his match at the G1 Special in San Francisco on Saturday:
“I thought it was squashed after the show. Obviously, it wasn’t our intention to hurt JR. I think he knew that, because why would we want to take the attention off the match? Nobody wants to hurt anybody, especially a 70-year-old guy.
“We apologized because it’s just a bummer that it happened. We’re in the wrong at the end of the day. I thought the guardrails were gonna be locked, I went out there earlier in the day because I knew we were gonna be hitting the fences pretty hard so I wanted to make sure they were interlocked. The guys on the floor at 4pm told me they were going to be so I thought it would be okay.”
He then offered his thoughts on the injury that Hiromu Takahashi’s sustained at the G1 Special as well:
“When you hear broken neck people, you think [paralyzed], but that’s not with every broken neck. Hopefully his broken neck is just time off. Even though, that still sucks but that beats the alternative. After seeing it, this is probably the best case scenario because that looked like it could’ve been the last bump he ever took.”
Robinson then compared the differences between training in the WWE Performance Center and the NJPW dojo:
“The Dojo was more bumping – you have to remember that there were a lot of guys that are really just starting out to even take like backdrops and hip tosses. When I was at the Performance Center, I was in one of the higher classes where obviously we already knew that stuff. In the Dojo, for me, I was just going through the drills, just the basic drills, stuff you can do in your sleep but you get a workout out of it.
“The Performance Center, it turned more into a mental thing… you know a lot tape study, a lot of studying psychology, applying the finer things of the business. The Dojo just kinda got back to the basics.”
You can listen to Juice Robinson’s interview on the X-Pac 12360 podcast by clicking this link here.
Randy Orton Comments On Tommaso Ciampa Using His Move On NXT
On last night’s (Wed. July 11, 2018) episode of NXT, Tommaso Ciampa hit Aleister Black with an elevated DDT backstage. It looked very similar to the same elevated DDT Randy Orton frequently uses inside the ring. Longtime WWE veteran Goldust took to Twitter to bring this to “The Viper’s” attention:
OH MY GOD. @ProjectCiampa just STRUCK AGAIN, and this time it's #WWENXT Champion @WWEAleister on the receiving end! pic.twitter.com/ecCMga1BQD
The Rock & Stephen Colbert Have An Eyebrow Showdown (Video)
Former WWE Champion The Rock was recently a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. During the interview, Rock and Colbert did shots of tequila and actually had an eyebrow showdown with each other. You can check out the video here:
They talked about several other topics, including his Samoan heritage and as well as if he actually plans to run for President Of The United States one day. “The People’s Champ” had this to say about the interview on Twitter:
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors will compete in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom.
SEScoops staff writers Ian Carey and Jake Jeremy made their predictions for Night 1 of the tournament, which takes place this Saturday, July 14th.
Here are their thoughts:
Jake Jeremy – Ok so we’re talking Night 1 of the G1 Climax, we’ve got some sleeper matches in here but let’s talk winners and losers, here’s the full card:
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki
Togi Makabe vs YOSHI-HASHI
Michael Elgin vs EVIL
Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White
Bad Luck Fale vs Hangman Page
Ian Carey – Definitely not going to win is Yoshi-Hashi. My Prediction to win it all is Kazuchika Okada as I really feel he is going to face Kenny Omega at the Tokyo Dome next year. I think that he’ll face Tetsuya Naito in the finals.
Jake Jeremy: Wow really? I don’t think that Okada is winning, I’ve got Kota Ibushi down as my favourite to face Kenny at Wrestle Kingdom.
Ian Carey – I mean I don’t know but to me Okada seems like the safest pick. I’d love to see Kota win but I feel Okada is a stronger possibility. I also think that Tama Tonga beats Omega in the round-robin and gets the title shot in Long Beach on September 30th
Jake Jeremy – That makes sense for Tama to win with the Firing Squad building momentum, but hey Kenny could win the G1.
Ian Carey – It’s a really important tournament for Tama Tonga. This is where he becomes a main event guy. Ok so my predictions for Night 1 are:
Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page – Which is really the first Elite vs Firing Squad match and the Firing Squad need to build more momentum
Kazuchika Okada beats Jay White – Although I could easily see them giving White a win here since he just lost to Juice
Togi Makabe beats Yoshi-Hashi – in a match I won’t watch
EVIL beats Michael Elgin – again, a match I probably won’t watch
Jake Jeremy – Here’s my predictions for Night 1:
Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page – I completely agree, this is the first Bullet Club ‘Civil War’ bout and I see Fale getting the win
Jay White beats Kazuchika Okada – Night 1 of the G1 tends to have a shock or two so I’m guessing that White gets the win here. He might even get damn close to winning the block
Yoshi-Hashi beats Togi Makabe – I will watch this match because I hate myself. I’m going for YOSHI-HASHI because why the hell not?
Michael Elgin beats EVIL – I’m going Elgin because EVIL isn’t going anywhere in this tournament sadly.
Ian Carey – But if Okada is going to go all the way a win here seems important. Though, as you said, he might not be going all the way
Jake Jeremy – I really don’t see Okada doing it, I think he might even be put in the IC Title picture to rebuild it but that’s not highly likely though
Ian Carey – Did you know Okada has had 10 matches that Meltzer has ranked as 5 stars or better?
Jake Jeremy – That doesn’t shock me, 4.5 is average at best anyway according to Omega.
Ian Carey – Tanahashi vs Suzuki is a tough one to call. I think I’m going to take Suzuki though. I feel like a possible route they go is Suzuki injuring one of Tanahashi’s limbs or something which gives Tanahashi an excuse to lose a bunch of matches this summer
Jake Jeremy – Has anyone ever been ‘taken out’ of a G1? Could Minoru just straight out destroy Tanahashi so that he can’t compete in later bouts?
Ian Carey – I don’t know if they’ve ever planned it but wrestlers have had to pull out
they just lose all their remaining matches by default. Alex Shelley had to do it once in the BOSJ
Jake Jeremy – Maybe that’s Suzuki’s strategy…injure everyone and have a shorter run to the final
Ian Carey – Ah ok, so on the final night of A Block its Tanahashi vs Okada. That leads me to believe it could be the two of them in the running on the last day cause nobody else has a big match
Jake Jeremy – Maybe they could go to a Draw like last time?
Ian Carey – In the A Block it has to be Okada coming out…I take it back, I now think Tanahashi beats Suzuki on the first night
Jake Jeremy – I’m going with Minoru
Ian Carey – Somebody will go to a dramatic draw this tournament. Could be Omega and Ibushi on the last day. I find it hard to pick against Minoru Suzuki, possibly because I’m worried he’ll find out…but i think A Block will just be the Tanahashi vs Okada show.
So here’s the full predictions:
Ian Carey
Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page
Kazuchika Okada beats Jay White
Togi Makabe beats Yoshi-Hashi
EVIL beats Michael Elgin
Hiroshi Tanahashi beats Minoru Suzuki
Jake Jeremy
Bad Luck Fale beats Hangman Page
Jay White beats Kazuchika Okada
Yoshi-Hashi beats Togi Makabe
Michael Elgin beats EVIL
Minoru Suzuki beats Hiroshi Tanahashi
What are your predictions for Night 1? Let us know in the comments.
Former WWE Superstar Lanny Poffo recently did an interview with WrestleZone to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Poffo first discussed his involvement in the “350 Days” documentary:
“I’ve been very dear friends with [producer] Evan Ginzburg for about 35 years, and he asked me if I would do it. Anytime he asks me a question like that I always say yes. He was the Associate Producer of The Wrestler—I actually auditioned for that part with Darren Aronofsky, and he said ‘Lanny, that was good, but you look like a game show host.
“You don’t have enough sin on your face.’ So I said ‘maybe you should hire Jake The Snake Roberts, he’s got enough sin for everybody. I’m a little different than the rest of these guys, and that’s what so great about this movie. They’ve got a point of view from people like Superstar Billy Graham, Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, who is no longer with us.
“I’m going to tell you my opinion, and I enjoyed every minute of it, all 21 years I spent on the road. I traveled all over the world, and it didn’t cost me a dime, and I appreciated it. The only downside is I had to hang around with wrestlers, and that was like National Lampoon’s Animal House.”
He then talked about once getting busted open by WWE Hall Of Famer Andre The Giant during a Battle Royal on Saturday Night’s Main Event, and getting a call from a lawyer asking him to join a class-action concussion lawsuit against WWE:
“Oh yes, in fact I got a call a couple of years ago from a lawyer about if I wanted to join a class-action lawsuit against the WWE for concussions. And I said ‘absolutely not, I’ve never had a concussion’ and they said it doesn’t matter, you can get rich. I said ‘wait a minute… I’ve read John Grisham’s novel King Of Tort, and no one gets rich off of class-action lawsuits except for the lawyers.
“Who do you think you’re talking to here? I used to be The Genius.’ What they did was, they needed—this was for NBC—and Gorilla Monsoon came up to me and said ‘come here, Lanny, I want to talk to you. I just recommended you, I hope you don’t make a monkey out of me.’ I said ‘I would never make a monkey out of a gorilla, what do you mean?’ God bless him, [Gorilla] was always nice to me.
“So, he says have you ever done a blade job before? You know, take the razor and give yourself a self-inflicted wound to the head—they cover that in the movie The Wrestler. To tell you the truth, I feel that that is immoral, you know, to self inflict—I don’t even have tattoos or piercings—so why would I do that? But, the thing is, if I’m [going to be] a prostitute, let me be a highly paid one, this is NBC.
“They needed Andre The Giant, who was the top babyface in the world, they put him with Bobby Heenan but they wanted to give him a serious, mean heat. They needed the sacrificial lamb to help him out, so I did a very good job of it—I’ve got plenty [of scars]. So he headbutts me and I go over the top rope, and I land in a pool of blood, and I got removed from the scene.”
You can watch Poffo’s interview with WrestleZone by clicking this link here.
Nick Aldis is one of the best wrestlers in the world that is not under contract with the WWE but rather doing it his way.
The NWA World Heavyweight Champion, who first made his name known as Magnus while in TNA, was recently interviewed by Interactive Wrestling Radio where he talked about various topics including the reason that he’s not currently in the WWE. “If I had a dollar for every time I was asked why I’m not in the WWE, I’d never have to wrestle again. For different bulls–t political reasons and for different personal reasons, they won’t give me an opportunity there.”
Aldis is slated to face Cody Rhodes on September 1, 2018 at the Sears Centre in Chicago, Illinois for the All In event. When asked about, he noted that it’s so crazy where everything has gone as he brought up the point that he’s under contract with the NWA and is showing up and working ROH events.
He noted that ROH, NJPW, and NWA are all working together and it’s great because he believes that there have been so many missed opportunities where greedy promoters in the past didn’t have the foresight to make a money match.
Aldis would later go onto say, “My generation said, ‘No, it can happen and we’re going to make it happen.’ The beauty of guys like Cody, the Bucks, Marty Scurll, myself… All these guys like Pentagon all over the world who’s brands are making their own opportunities. Also, the promoters and producers that have the progressive mindset that is what needs to happen to move the business forward but also aren’t crippled by their egos where they couldn’t bare to admit that it wasn’t their idea.”
What are your thoughts on Aldis’ comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Sami Callihan will face Pentagon Jr in a Mask vs Hair match at Slammiversary on July 22nd, 2018. He was this week’s guest on the Impact Wrestling teleconference media call.
Callihan is currently a featured wrestler for 3 different promotions. Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground, and MLW all have Callihan on their roster. He believes this fact is proof that he is the most revolutionary wrestler going right now.
“I’m making history right now, I’m one of the first people, if not the first person, to work for 3 national television programs at the same time,” Callihan said. “I’m on TV every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Who else in professional wrestling history could ever say that?”
Out of everything he is currently doing, however, there is nothing more important to him than taking Pentagon’s mask at Slammiversary.
“I’m starting a revolution, I’m changing wrestling from the inside out.” – Sami Callihan
Mask vs Hair Match
Sami Callihan vs Pentagon Jr.
Slammiversary
July 22nd, 2018
Callihan didn’t mince words when talking about his plans for Slammiversary. “Slammiversary I’m going to take Pentagon’s mask once and for all,” Callihan said. “A lot of people outside of Impact’s world don’t realize that me, Pentagon, Fenix, Dave & Jake (Crist, oVe) we’ve been doing this for years all over the world. Now, we get a chance to do it on national television, on live pay-per-view and there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from taking his mask once and for all.”
“(Pentagon) may have the rest of the wrestling world fooled that he’s some undead Mexican Zombie but I know his secret. He is just a really good professional wrestler that wears a mask. I’m going to take that ask from him and he’s not going to be special anymore.”
Should Callihan lose at Slammiversary, however, he’ll have his head shaved bald. In the past, having their heads shaved has caused many wrestlers to spiral into madness. We asked Sami if he was worried that this could be his fate at Slammiversary.
“Well, I’m not going to have my head shaved, that’s the point,” Callihan said. “I’m going to beat Pentagon, I’m going to take his mask. Then I’m going to parade all around the world wearing it. Maybe I’ll become Pentagon. I don’t know if you saw TV a couple of weeks ago (it was last week), I wore his entire outfit and at this point, I’m pretty sure I make a better Pentagon than he does.”
A big match has a been announced for next week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network that will see Candice LeRae, Kairi Sane, Nikki Cross and Bianca Belair collide in a Fatal 4-Way Match with a future opportunity to challenge Shayna Baszler for the NXT Women’s Title.
Although this has yet to be announced by the company, it’s likely that the winner of this match will face Baszler for the strap at the upcoming NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 event that takes place on Saturday, August 18, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on WWE’s streaming service.
AJ Styles Hypes
WWE Champion AJ Styles is slated to make his next title defense against Rusev at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view event on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena that will air on the WWE Network. Styles went out the following to hype the title match:
“Don’t waste your money on streamers and noise makers. #RusevDay is just another day for me…another day to defend the #WWEChampionship and proclaim #IAmPhenomenal. #ExtremeRules #AndStill @WWENetwork.”
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors will compete in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom.
Here are the tournament bouts announced for Night 1 were A Block takes the spotlight:
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Minoru Suzuki
Togi Makabe vs YOSHI-HASHI
Michael Elgin vs EVIL
Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White
Bad Luck Fale vs Hangman Page
The real headline grabbing bout for Night 1 appears to be between CHAOS stablemates Kazuchika Okada and Jay White.
Jay White is one of the more intriguing elements of this year’s G1 tournament, the ‘Switchblade’ recently lost his IWGP United States Championship to Juice Robinson and this has lead many to believe that he might actually win A Block. New Japan are clearly excited about the talented New Zealander’s prospects and a win here against Okada is certainly not out of the question. Okada himself is now in arguably the strangest position of his recent NJPW career, the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion isn’t currently considered a favourite to win the G1 and it will be interesting to see his path between now and January 4th…could he be in line for a bout against the likes of Chris Jericho?
Who is your favourite for the G1? Let us know in the comments.
John Cena has given his take on Daniel Bryan being medically allowed to return to the ring under the WWE banner.
Cena recently spoke with Sports Illustrated for a new interview and during the interview, he discussed WWE clearing the former World Heavyweight Champion after being on the sidelines for two years due to his history with concussions.
Cena stated that from a co-worker’s standpoint, it’s great to have him back because Bryan is very good at what he does. Switching to a company-standpoint, he noted that it’s also great because audiences will show up to see him.
“Speaking from a personal standpoint on what I know about Bryan Danielson, I know that he is dedicated to wrestling and loves wrestling. He was so heartbroken when it was taken away from him before it was his decision to give it up. I can’t tell you how happy I am for him to go out there again and live his dream. He gives wrestling his all, and it’s great that he now has the outlet again where it can give something back to him.”
The sports entertainment company is not advertising Cena for any upcoming events. He was last seen when he beat Triple H in the opening match on the main card of the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in April.
What are your thoughts on Cena’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
There was an interesting bump involving Jim Ross that took place during NJPW’s G1 Special at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California on Saturday night (July 7, 2018) that aired on AXS TV.
At the show, Jay White slammed Juice Robinson into the barricade during their US Title match, which unfortunately sent the WWE Hall of Famer and legendary pro wrestling announcer, who was calling the event alongside former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett, to the floor.
As a reaction to this bump, Barnett could be heard on commentary saying, “you done f*cked up now!” to White and chasing him into the ring. Nothing came about it between Barnett and White.
Ross addressed the bump and spoke about the injury he suffered at the event on the latest episode of The Ross Report podcast. The WWE Hall of Famer noted that suffered bruised ribs on his left side, a bruised left lung and a sternum injury. He would add that his doctors have told him that they fear he could catch pneumonia due to the issues with his lungs. Also, Ross noted that this temporary health setback caused him to miss some appearances this week that he had scheduled. Barnett gave his side of the story during this podcast by stating that everything happened so fast and as soon as the table spot happened, Ross was down.
He brought up the fact that there was someone in the crowd who told made some comments about him going after White which led to him responding that how he is supposed to catch him. Barnett added that they were being disrespected and that was it.
At the end of the day, it was an unfortunate situation and we send our best wishes JR for a speedy recovery.
On the other hand, Netflix’s original GLOW series did get nominated for a few Emmy categories. The show was nominated for the “Best Comedy” category. Betty Gilpin of GLOW was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Finally, Jesse Peretz was nominated for Best Directing Of A Comedy Series For GLOW’s pilot episode.
PROGRESS has announced the full card for their upcoming Chapter 73 event ‘Fourth Shade of Green’ which will be taking place this Sunday July 15th from the O2 Academy in Birmingham, England.
Here’s the lineup for this Sunday:
PROGRESS Championship Match – Travis Banks v Tyler Bate
Jimmy Havoc v Drew Parker
Pete Dunne & Trent Seven v Kings Of The North
Sexy Starr v Haskins & Webster
Toni Storm vs Killer Kelly
TK Cooper vs Rob Lynch
Eddie Dennis vs Jones
Mark Andrews vs El Phantasmo
One of the biggest bouts sees Travis Banks defend his PROGRESS World Championship against fellow NXT UK colleague Tyler Bate. The ‘Kiwi Buzzsaw’ Banks has been a dominant reigning World Champion since his win over WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne in September 2017 having avenged losses to Keith Lee and Matt Riddle whilst Champion. Banks also featured in arguably the best PROGRESS bout of 2017 when he defeated Will Ospreay as part of the Unboxing Live show in December, again to retain his title.
Tyler Bate is of course a name that fans of the WWE United Kingdom specials will know well. The inaugural UK Champion has seen his stock rise exponentially over the past year with performances on WWE’s 205 Live and NXT Takeover where he had arguably the match of the year against Pete Dunne; having said that the momentum that PROGRESS has found since ‘turning’ Banks against the fans (he would say that they turned against him) has been nothing short of phenomenal and when he finally drops the title it will be a huge moment and a chance to coronate a new champion and usher in a new era for the UK based company.
Sunday's #Birmingham card is low-key stacked: Jimmy Havoc v Drew Parker Travis Banks v Tyler Bate Pete Dunne & Trent Seven v Kings Of The North Sexy Starr v Haskins & Webster Storm vs Killer Cooper vs Lynch Dennis vs Jones Andrews vs El Phantasmo
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) July 12, 2018
The Mae Young Classic is the biggest topic as it will begin next month. Already confirmed for the Classic is returning former Divas Champ Kaitlyn. More on that here.
Could former Diva of The Year, Maria Kanellis, be next on a list for returns for the Classic?
Mike and Maria had their child back in April and it seems Maria is ready to get back in the ring as soon as August. The same month the Classic takes place which is also in Florida. All hints point to an in-ring return.
As stated earlier, Maria most known accomplishment was being Diva Of The Year in 2009. Her wrestling ability would be more prominent in her ROH days as she was best known as a valet in her WWE career. It will be interesting to see if Maria still has the fortitude to work in the ring if she does return.
Sound Off In The Comments Below, Do You Want To See Maria In The Mae Young Classic?
Bret Hart has been openly critical of his brother Owen’s widow, Martha. According to the Hitman, Martha Hart’s continued efforts to prevent WWE from using Owen’s image has been detrimental to his legacy.
“I think Martha, Owen’s widow, she’s a very obtuse, square-headed person,” Hart said recently. “I think she’s done more to erase my brother Owen’s memory than she ever did to remember him.”
Martha Hart Responds To Bret Hart
Marth Hart published her response to Bret’s comments on the Owen Hart Foundation website.
“The suggestion by Bret Hart that I am “erasing” the memory of my late husband, Owen Hart, is reckless, irresponsible, and clearly untrue,” Martha’s statement begins.
“Bret’s comments are rooted in the fact that I have steadfastly refused to work with the WWE to exploit Owen’s image for commercial gain. Owen was an incredible entertainer and I know that his many fans around the world enjoyed his wrestling career immensely. I encourage them to continue to do so. But I am firm in my belief that the WWE was responsible for Owen’s death. As a result, I cannot and will not support any efforts by the WWE to profit from Owen’s memory.”
After giving the above statement regarding why Martha refuses to work with WWE, she then spoke on the work the Owen Hart Foundation has done and how that work honors Owen’s memory.
The Owen Hart Foundation
“Instead, I, my son Oje and daughter Athena have worked tirelessly to honor Owen through the good works of The Owen Hart Foundation, which has exceeded $4 million in gift giving and contributions toward scholarships, home owner bursaries, and other special projects that have greatly improved the lives of so many in Canada and around the world. We have always believed that this is the most fitting public tribute to a man of profound integrity; a wonderful human being who just happened to wrestle. I know that Owen would be very proud of the tremendous accomplishments the Foundation has achieved in his name.”
Severed Ties Between Bret Hart and Martha Hart
According to Bret’s book, Bret and Martha were very close in the days following Owen’s death. Over the years, however, the topic of WWE using Owen’s likeness has driven a significant wedge between them.
“Bret Hart’s comments are disrespectful and cruel. It is disappointing that so many in the media have chosen to report them without seeking my perspective. Whatever Bret may believe, the fact is that, far from “erasing” Owen’s memory, I have devoted the last 20 years to celebrating his life in a very public way. I can think of very few people who have been remembered so glowingly by their spouse.”
Impact Wrestling is back tonight with an episode taped from Windsor, ON, Canada. It will be the second last show before Slammiversary on July 22nd, 2018.
The OGZ (King, Homicide & Hernandez) Kick Off Impact
The first segment for this week is scheduled to be King, Homicide, and Hernandez.
Last week’s episode concluded with LAX in tatters due to a civil war. King admitted being behind the hit on Konnan. He attempted to recruit Santana and Ortiz but when that didn’t work, Homicide and Hernandez took them out.
We still don’t have an Impact tag-team championship match at Slammiversary. Perhaps we could see King’s OGZ challenge Konnan’s LAX for the straps.
Austin Aries Speaks The Truth
In the build-up to Austin Aries vs Moose at Slammiversary, it’s been a war of words.
Aries went on vacation shortly after winning the title back from Pentagon but tonight he will have a chance to say whatever he wants to his upcoming challenger.
Aries has been criticizing Moose for being a failed football player trying a second career.
Moose, on the other hand, says he left the NFL for pro-wrestling and is here to chase a dream.
DeAngelo Williams Returns To Impact
DeAngelo Williams will return to Impact Wrestling tonight. He’s been helping Moose train for his World Title match and will likely have plenty to say regarding his chances against Austin Aries.
Allie In Single’s Action
Allie is back and she’ll be involved in a single’s match tonight against an as of yet unnamed opponent.
This is a new version of Allie, however, one that is a little darker and not quite as bubbly as before. She’ll need that new attitude too as she has a potential new rival waiting in the wings.
Last week, Tessa Blanchard interfered in Allie’s match in which she was teaming with Madison Rayne and facing Su Yung and one of her undead brides. Blanchard wanted at Rayne because of the two straight upset losses Rayne has handed her lately. Perhaps Allie and Blanchard are on a collision course.
Madison Rayne Sit-Down Interview
In just 10 days, Madison Rayne will go one-on-one with Su Yung. Tonight, she takes part in a sit-down interview to discuss her career, Slammiversary, and, of course, her opponent on that night, Su Yung.
Pentagon, Fenix, and Rich Swann vs Sami Callihan and oVe
Callihan has promised that during this match not only will he take Pentagon and Fenix’s masks but he plans to rip off Rich Swann’s face!
We will get a build-up to the Mask vs Hair match between Pentagon and Callihan here.
While Fenix and Rich Swann are on the same side in this match, they will be opponents at Slammiversary. They are two of the four competitors (along with Taiji Ishimori and Johnny Impact) involved in the fatal 4-way match.
