Former WWE and Intercontinental Champion The Miz recently sat down with the UK’s ‘Sporf’ online channel and he recorded a motivational speech for football team Liverpool ahead of their Champions League final against Real Madrid tonight.
Wrestlingnewsco have reported that “at least 1 TV network is interested in bidding for WrestleMania rights” in the United States. This coincides with the news that WWE have recently signed a massive $1 Billion dollar deal with FOX to take the programme there in 2019.
The idea of taking WrestleMania to free television could potentially give the show a ‘Superbowl’ like feel, the biggest game in the NFL calendar makes more than $1 Billion in TV rights and even just a fraction of that potential sum would be leaps and bounds ahead of what WWE would generate via Network subscriptions and PPV providers. The interested party have not yet been revealed and it appears as though this scenario is nowhere near coming to fruition anytime soon.
Could you see WrestleMania heading to television? Let us know in the comments.
WWE has announced that Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels will be appearing as part of the upcoming United Kingdom Championship Tournament shows taking place in June.
HBK will be appearing on June 18th alongside head of NXT Triple H. The reasoning for his appearance has not yet been confirmed but rumors have been circulating linking Michaels to the NXT General Manager role…William Regal has not been seen on NXT television since WrestleMania.
The historic Royal Albert Hall will be hosting the two nights of action on June 18th and 19th. The United Kingdom Championship tournament finals will be taking place on Night 1 to determine a challenger for Pete Dunne on Night 2. Night 1 will also see a huge Six-Man tag team bout pitting British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) against The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong).
The first round matches for the tournament (taking place at the Download Festival) have already been announced as follows:
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s premier tournament for the Junior Heavyweight Division has now begun. The 2018 iteration features some of the finest high flying and technically gifted athletes on the planet and should present some top tier bouts over the next few weeks.
Here are the results from Night 5 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block A:
Tiger Mask b. BUSHI – Following two Double Underhook Suplexes (one from the top rope) Tiger hit a double a Tiger Suplex for the pin
Yoshinobu Kanemaru b. ACH – Kanemaru spit the whiskey mist at ACH and hit a brainbuster for a nearfall which was then followed with Deep Impact for the win
Flip Gordon b. Taiji Ishimori – Flip attempted a 450 but Ishimori got his knees up. Ishimori then went for a suplex, but Flip reversed this into an O’Connor Roll to take the win
Will Ospreay b. YOH – The finish came when Ospreay hit a standing Spanish Fly for a nearfall, he then followed with the Storm Breaker for the pinfall win
Here are the results from Night 6 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block B:
Marty Scurll b. Chris Sabin – Scurll took a flip bump off a big lariat and then popped back up and hit the Black Plague for the win
Ryusuke Taguchi b. KUSHIDA – Taguchi caught KUSHIDA early attempting a front facelock and then small packaged him for the extremely quick upset
SHO b. El Desperado – SHO hit Powerbomb Lungblower for a nearfall, he then hit a lariat and a Shock Arrow for the pinfall win
Dragon Lee b. Hiromu Takahashi – WATCH THIS MATCH, anyway Lee hit a standing Spanish Fly for a nearfall and followed this up with a Dragon Driver for the win…incredible bout
World Association of Wrestling (WAW) has announced that former Premier League football (soccer) player Grant Holt will be swapping his studded boots for wrestling boots and entering the squared circle for the very first time.
The 37 year old who previously played for the likes of Aston Villa and Norwich still plays professionally for National League side Barrow, he will be teaming with Roy and Zak Knight (the UK Hooligans) at FightMare 3 in 2019.
This has been an incredibly successful move for the WAW promotion as the mainstream media attention has been rolling over the past few days with the BBC, Independent, Fox Sports, Sky Sports and more featuring the brand heavily whilst focusing on Holt.
When asked about his upcoming move to wrestling Holt stated “If I want to do something, I do it properly. I love a challenge. It’s going to be great, a big show next year in June, which will be fantastic, so I’m really looking forward to it. Everyone knows how big it [wrestling] is in America but there’s a lot of stuff going on in the UK and I just don’t think it gets enough press. Hopefully, off the back of this, it will.
Opinion: If someone wants to let Grant know that PROGRESS are running Wembley in September that would be great.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) held what could be their final ever event at the legendary Legion Hall in Reseda, California last night. ‘Bask In His Glory’ would see new PWG Champion WALTER defend his belt against Sammy Guevara and would also be the final PWG event to feature ‘Limitless’ Keith Lee.
Here are the results:
Tyler Bateman b. Andy Brown – Bateman took the win in around 13 minutes after hitting a jumping tombstone piledriver and gaining the pinfall
Rey Horus b. Jake Atlas – Horus hit the Tornado DDT in around 14 minutes for the pinfall win
Bandido b. Robbie Eagles – Bandido took the win after a top rope torture rack into a Falcon Arrow
Adam Brooks b. Keith Lee – Brooks took the win and left Lee on his back for his final PWG appearance after hitting a Senton Bomb
Jonah Rock b. Timothy Thatcher – Rock hit a Frog Splash to take the win against the Ringkampf stable member Thatcher
Matthew Riddle b. David Starr – Riddle took the win after hitting a cradle tombstone piledriver from the 2nd rope in around 18 minutes
WALTER b. Sammy Guevara – WALTER hit a lariat to retain the PWG World Championship in around 17 minutes
It’s finally here. After five weeks of anticipation, Pentagon, Jr. is challenging Shane “Swerve” Strickland for the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. It’s the first MLW title defense and I hope both men deliver.
The show opens with Swerve and Barrington Hughes rolling up to the arena in an expensive red convertible. Strickland gets out and is flanked by reporters and photographers. Salina de la Renta approaches him and says that his car and his title are both rentals. She walks as Hughes calls her a “broomstick,” which he explains means she’s a “witch.” Swerve is about to say that she’s more like a “bitch,” but he gets cut off by the opening title card. That was pretty funny.
Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini welcome us and hype the big title match.
Santana Garrett vs. Chelsea Green
Winner: Santana Garrett with a jumping DDT
Thoughts and Highlights
I believe this is the first women’s match on Fusion.
These two started off as friends and then Green slapped Garrett, which turned the match into more of a stiffer brawl.
After the slap, Green went into crazy woman mode, smearing her lipstick all over her mouth.
One interesting move by Green was when she had Garrett on her knees and held her arms back. Then, she pushed Garrett into the middle turnbuckle with her foot a few times. Garrett hit the turnbuckle like someone hitting their face into a car dashboard during a sudden stop because they weren’t wearing a seatbelt.
One awkward spot in the match was towards the end where Garrett went for a kick. Green dodged it. Garrett just turned her back on Green like she was just waiting for the next move to happen, which ended up being a lungblower. I guess Green should have gotten the move off quicker but it made Garrett look like a dope for just standing there.
The two hugged after the match. I thought Green was going to turn but she turned off the crazy once the bell rang. Not a bad match.
We get a recap of Team Filthy’s beatdown on Jimmy Havoc followed by a promo from Lawlor. He apologizes for the beating and for the fact that Havoc can’t take a “vicious punch.” He mocks Havoc for being in British, saying that he’s probably in “London town” drinking tea and eating crumpets. After listening to some of Havoc’s promos, I think he likes to drink blood with his crumpets instead. Lawlor finishes by saying that Havoc can’t take him in the ring and he apologizes for that, too. Lawlor wasn’t the smoothest in this promo but he came across as an arrogant d—, which he’s pretty good at.
Simon Gotch Prize Fight Challenge
Winner: Simon Gotch (Duh- it’s his open challenge)
Thoughts and Highlights
The “prize” in this open challenge is $250. What a cheap bastard.
The first man to accept the open challenge was Danny Santiago. I was wondering if this guy was a jobber and he was. Three things confirmed this:
He didn’t even get his name displayed on the chyron.
He was wearing a white belt, which is the lowest level in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (I have to credit Bing with helping me on that one).
When he took off his jacket, his physique was…well…let’s just say unimpressive.
Gotch won after a T-bone suplex and a Gotch piledriver.
Gotch reached into the bag holding the money and pulled out an even smaller bag containing the $250. He waved it in Santiago’s face.
Kaci Lennox is outside Martin J. Friedman’s dressing room door, where she’s waiting for him to arrive. All of a sudden, Aria Blake and Joey Janela walk out of Friedman’s room. Janela is smoking a cigarette and drinking a Corona. Lennox asks why they were in there and Janela just says they weren’t doing anything bad.
After a commercial, Friedman arrives at his dressing room. Lennox is about to interview him when he smells smoke. He walks into his dressing room and it’s trashed. Cigarette ashes are all over his $3,000 shirt, there’s domestic beer cans all over the place, and there’s a condom on the floor (which was blurred out). Friedman is incensed and storms out of the room.
MLW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Shane “Swerve” Strickland (champion) vs. Pentagon, Jr. w/Salina de la Renta
We’re less than thirty minutes in and it’s time for the main event. A video package plays showing the events leading up to this match, including Pentagon’s mind games and the red mist attack from two weeks ago. We get a tale of the tape before heading out to the arena for the entrances. Pentagon is out first and spits his red mist at the top of the aisle. I hope he has enough left over to use for the match.
A mariachi band comes into the ring and plays the Mexican national anthem. The crowd was respectful for the most part. Nobody booed and nobody chanted “U.S.A.” while it was going on. In fact, they applauded after it was over. The whole crowd reaction was very 2018. If this were 1988, garbage would have been thrown in the ring and Jesse Ventura would have been talking about “Chico” Santana’s tacos.
Pentagon had the “Cero Miedo” hand sign over his heart during the anthem. Nice touch.
Swerve comes out next and I think there’s definitely some crowd sweetening. Some of the cheering just didn’t sound like it was live.
Winner: Shane “Swerve” Strickland after the Swerve Stomp
Thoughts and Highlights
This was a slower paced match but it wasn’t boring.
At one point, Pentagon tied Swerve’s hands to the middle rope using audio cables and began chopping him. The ref was admonishing Pentagon for this but then just kind of let Pentagon do his thing.
Bocchini compared Swerve to a “young Jon Jones.” Let’s just hope Swerve’s career doesn’t take a left turn at cocaine use and hit and run accidents.
The pace started picking up when both men booted each other in the face. The ref began a double 20 count as they lay on the mat and the show went to commercial. That was kind of a weird spot to give Blue Moon their ad time.
Pentagon hit a Canadian Destroyer on the apron. I thought for a second that we were going to get a countout finish but thankfully Pentagon got Swerve back in the ring.
Towards the end of the match, Pentagon brought a chair into the ring. I don’t like when heels bring foreign objects like chairs or title belts into the ring right in front of the ref’s eyes, especially if they’re the ones challenging for the title. Why would you get yourself intentionally disqualified? It makes “cero” sense.
Before the Swerve Stomp, Pentagon attempted to spit red mist into Swerve’s face, but Swerve ducked and de la Renta ended up getting the spicy spit in her face instead. Now, whereas Swerve reacted like he was going blind when the mist ended up in his face two weeks back, de la Renta just looked annoyed and acted like someone had spilt cranberry juice on her nice white clothes. She didn’t even look like her sight was affected in any way. It made Swerve look like an overreacting wuss.
After the show goes off the air, we get a commercial for next week’s episode, where former WWE superstars Rich Swann and Jake Hager (Jack Swagger) will make their MLW debuts. We’ll also see Jeff Cobb (Matanza Cueto) on Fusion for the first time as he takes on Hager.
Final Thoughts
I really dug this week’s episode. The comedy on the show was just the right amount and it didn’t feel forced. When I watch Raw or Smackdown, I think to myself that the comedy on those shows feels contrived, like Vince McMahon has a comedy quota that needs to be filled in each episode. The funny spots on this show were quick and didn’t overstay their welcome.
I’m happy to see Simon Gotch featured in MLW. Not every guy’s career works out in WWE but he’s talented and I’m glad to see him spotlighted. His membership in Team Filthy and the open challenge gimmick are going to help him get over.
I loved the segment with Friedman in the dressing room and can’t wait to see a Friedman/Janela feud play out. It seems natural- the refined one percenter vs. the sloppy degenerate.
I was more impressed with Swerve this week than in his match with Jimmy Havoc.
Rich Bocchini is irritating and comes off as a dunce to me. When Schiavone questioned why Pentagon would bring a chair into the ring, Bocchini’s response was “You have to use that chair to make it illegal.” DUH. That’s the whole reason why Schiavone was questioning it.
That’s it for this week. Follow me on Twitter (@CliffofDoom). If you live in the States, enjoy your long weekend and please remember all of the men and women who died to protect America. Have a good week!
The Shield will always live in the minds and hearts of the WWE Universe. When the group first made their way onto WWE television, they were an instant hit with the fans. From the way that they looked to how they worked in the ring to their promos. They got over big time with the fans, which is something that a group had not done in years. Stables will be created from time to time but not have the success that acts like The Four Horsemen, DX, NWO and other classic groups had.
The Shield, who featured Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, was a different kind of stable that was created with NXT Superstars.
WWE will be releasing “The Shield: Justice for All” DVD that will feature three discs in July. Disc 1 focuses on Dean Ambrose, Disc 2 on Seth Rollins and Disc 3 on Roman Reigns. Courtesy of Wrestling DVD Network, here is the content listing:
DISC 1
Ours for the Taking Won’t Be Set Up to Fail United States Championship Match John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose RAW • March 30, 2015 Intercontinental Championship Match Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens TLC • December 13, 2015 Old School WWE Championship Match Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose Roadblock • March 12, 2016 Money in the Bank Ladder Match Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn Money in the Bank • June 19, 2016 A Feeling of Relief Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns Battleground • July 24, 2016 Intercontinental Championship Match The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose SmackDown Live • January 3, 2017 A Reluctant Reunion RAW Tag Team Championship Match Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus & Cesaro No Mercy • September 24, 2017 Always Down For A Six Man Tag
DISC 2
Injection of Energy WWE Championship Match Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins Money in the Bank • June 19, 2016 Unsanctioned Match Seth Rollins vs. Triple H WrestleMania 33 • April 2, 2017 Release The Hounds The Shield vs. The New Day Survivor Series • November 19, 2017 Gauntlet Match Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns, John Cena, & Elias RAW • February 19, 2018 The Ultimate Goal Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor WrestleMania 34 • April 8, 2018
DISC 3
Infiltrating the System WWE Championship Match Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose Survivor Series • November 22, 2015 WWE Championship Match Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns RAW • December 14, 2015 It All Felt Perfect WWE Championship Match Triple H vs. Roman Reigns WrestleMania 32 • April 3, 2016 No Holds Barred Match Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker WrestleMania 33 • April 2, 2017 Dream Opponent Roman Reigns vs. John Cena No Mercy • September 24, 2017 Deeply In Love Steel Cage Match for the Universal Championship Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns Greatest Royal Rumble • April 27, 2018
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has done it all in the world of professional wrestling.
During his legendary career, he has faced off with some of the biggest names in the business such as Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Ric Flair, The Undertaker.
Foley was introduced as the new General Manager of Monday Night RAW after the WWE’s Brand Split in July of 2016. Foley and Stephanie McMahon aligned themselves together to draft various Superstars in order to run Monday Nights to the best of their ability. After several months, however, Foley was then written off of WWE TV in order to undergo a major hip surgery that he needed. As a result of this, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon thought that it would be a great idea to bring back former WWE Champion Kurt Angle to serve as his replacement.
Foley had a one-man show on his 20 Years of Hell tour on Thursday night in Phoenix. After the show, a fan asked Foley who he wishes he could have wrestled. He wrote the following:
“I really wish I could have wrestled Bruiser Brody or @HulkHogan. I hope you had a great time tonight!”
WWE has decided to put Lana in an interesting position at the Money in the Bank PPV.
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center on the USA Network, Lana defeated Billie Kay and Naomi beat Sonya Deville in Money in the Bank qualifying matches. As a result of these wins, Lana and Naomi have been added to the women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match at the upcoming MITB PPV event. They join Ember Moon, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, and Natalya in the match.
During a recent Instagram Live video, The Ravishing Russian revealed that she has been preparing for the upcoming match by taking ladder bumps at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE will be adding one final superstar to this upcoming ladder match by having the winner of the last-chance gauntlet match that is slated to take place this Monday night on RAW placed in the contest. Those stars competing in this match include Sasha Banks, Dana Brooke, Mickie James, Sarah Logan, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Bayley.
Rey Mysterio has pitched an interesting idea for a new stable in the WWE.
Despite his recent appearances for the sports entertainment company this year (competing in the Royal Rumble Match at the pay-per-view event in January and wrestling in the 50-Man Royal Rumble Match at the Greatest Royal Rumble PPV) Mysterio has not agreed to terms for a new WWE contract. His appearance in Saudi Arabia was a one-shot deal. It’s still expected that Rey will sign with WWE and that he’ll likely return to TV later this year after he finishes up his other commitments.
Mysterio recently spoke with Harry Ruiz of Telemundo Las Vegas and during the media appearance, he revealed that he wants to create a super stable when he returns to the sports entertainment company.
As far as the members of the group, he would want Sin Cara, Kalisto as well as former NXT Champion Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas. “@ReyMysterio told me the only thing missing with the Latino talent in #WWE right now (@SinCaraWWE, @KalistoWWE, @AndradeCienWWE) is him, so that way they could form a stable. LWO 2.0 coming up? Do it @VinceMcMahon! #LuchaLibre.”
Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal has had two completely different runs with the WWE.
In April of 2011 Mahal made his main roster debut and would eventually find himself as a member of the Three Man Band (3MB) trio alongside Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater. In 2014, however, his run with the WWE came to an end when he was released from his deal. He would return to the independent circuit for two years, where he would reinvent himself creatively and physically, before being brought back to WWE around the time of the Superstar Shake-Up last year.
He has been the talent who has worked on both brands, RAW and SmackDown Live. The former WWE Champion was recently interviewed by Planeta Wrestling (transcript courtesy of Wrestling Inc).
During the interview, he was asked about the locker room differences between RAW and SmackDown. “Generally, it is still the same but different competitors. Obviously, in WWE everyone is on top of their game. WWE is the epitome of Sports Entertainment, it gets no bigger than this. So, whether you are on Raw or on SmackDown, the level of talent that we have on both sides is second to none. Overall, feeling in the locker room is still the same, but I keep to myself and focus on myself, and hope for the best.”
Back at the biggest event of the year for the sports entertainment company, WrestleMania 34, Mahal defeated Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev to win the United States Title. “WrestleMania is amazing. 78,000 people there all over the world, including people from Spain. Everybody thought it was ‘Rusev Day,’ no way, it was ‘Maharaja Day.’ Unfortunately, Kurt Angle put me in a match that I wasn’t prepared for when I lost the United States Championship to Jeff Hardy on Raw after WrestleMania, or else I would have brought the US Championship to Spain but we will get that Championship back. I look forward to many other WrestleMania moments, even main eventing WrestleMania.”
What are your thoughts on Mahal’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
AXS TV sent in word that they will be airing a live broadcast of NJPW’s upcoming G1 Special In San Francisco on Saturday night, July 7th at 8pm ET.
Below is the official press release, including a quote from AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon .
AXS TV TO LIVE BROADCAST NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’S THIRD U.S. EVENT, THE ‘G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO,’ ON SATURDAY, JULY 7 AT 8pE/5pP
‘G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO’ Marks AXS TV’s Third Live NJPW Broadcast
10,000 Fans Expected at the Historic Cow Palace
Los Angeles (May 25, 2018) – AXS TV announced today that it will exclusively live broadcast New Japan Pro Wrestling’s third U.S. event—the G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO—on Saturday, July 7 at 8pE/5pP. The G1 SPECIAL continues the network’s partnership with the fast-growing wrestling promotion and its Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi, building on the success of AXS TV’s presentation of STRONG STYLE EVOLVED in March 2018 and G1 SPECIAL IN USA in July 2017, along with its award-winning Friday Night NJPW series.
The event marks NJPW’s most ambitious foray into the U.S. market to date, with a crowd of over 10,000 expected at the historic Cow Palace in Daly City, California. Wrestling Hall of Famer Jim Ross and former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NJPW veteran Josh Barnett will call the action ringside as the best wrestlers in the world, including “The Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, enter the ring at the G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO.
“As NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING continues their U.S. expansion, we are proud to provide a platform for NJPW and TV Asahi to bring their electrifying events to as many fans as possible through our live, primetime broadcasts,” said AXS TV FIGHTS CEO Andrew Simon. “The Cow Palace has a rich history of major pro wrestling events and we are excited to continue that tradition with our presentation of the G1 SPECIAL IN SAN FRANCISCO.”
Tickets to the live event are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
John Hennigan is now confirmed as a contestant of the 37th season of the CBS reality competition series, Survivor. ‘Survivor: David vs. Goliath’ was filmed in Fiji and will see “Davids” (underdogs who have overcome adversity) competing against “Goliaths” (standout athletes and lifelong overachievers) competing for the big $1 million prize.
Survivor host and executive producer Jeff Probst spoke to Entertainment Weekly about Hennigan being a perfect fit for the David vs. Goliath theme. “This guy that’s known as Johnny Mundo [a.k.a. John Morrison], the mayor of Slamtown. He’s a professional wrestler, he’s gigantic, he’s charming, and he’s smart. He started with advantage, he had a great family, and he’s used all of these skills to slay everybody his entire life.”
Hennigan is no stranger to the reality television scene, having won the third season of WWE Tough Enough along with Matt Cappotelli. He would later become a WWE Superstar, winning the Intercontinental Championship (3x), the WWE and World tag team championships and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.
Hennigan is part of the fourth season of Lucha Underground that premieres on June 13th. He’s also been working for Impact Wrestling as Johnny Impact and has competed for MLW. It’s rumored that he could be working for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the near future.
The MLW World Heavyweight Championship will be defended on FUSION for the first time ever tonight. After weeks of build-up, World Champion Shane Strickland will face off with Pentagon Jr. in tonight’s main event. Team Filthy makes an appearance tonight with the first-ever Simon Gotch Prize Fight Challenge. And the firsts continue, as the initial women’s division matchup ever on MLW: FUSION will be featured tonight.
Learn more how you can watch FUSION on beIN SPORTS here. If you can’t access beIN SPORTS on your cable/satellite/streaming provider, the full episode will be uploaded to MLW’s official Youtube channel Saturday night at 6:05pm ET.
Battle of the Besties
Santana Garrett and Chelsea Green are best friends. They have traveled up and down the road together in professional wrestling. But tonight, they make history. Green and Garrett will be the first two women’s grapplers to be featured on FUSION. How will their friendship and intimate knowledge of one another affect this match? What effect will the outcome have on the MLW women’s division? Those questions will be answered at 8 p.m. ET in our first bout of the evening.
Filthy Fallout
Two weeks ago on FUSION, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Simon Gotch and Team Filthy laid out Jimmy Havoc. Havoc had just finished a brutal encounter with “Bad Boy” Joey Janela and accidentally bumped into Lawlor outside the arena. Lawlor wasn’t happy about being interrupted. So he and his buddies beat down an already exhausted Havoc. Tonight, Lawlor has promised to apologize for his actions. Stay tuned …
Gotch Prize Fight Challenge
Team Filthy and Simon Gotch have offered a cash prize to anyone who can last five minutes with “the Great Gotch.” The first man to step up and accept the challenge will get his chance tonight. According to Gotch, his opponent doesn’t even have to win tonight’s matchup, just avoid submission or pinfall for five minutes. Team Filthy says they have lined up an accomplished martial artist lined up as an opponent. Will Gotch hang onto his “large sum of cash”?
The Gold Is On the Line
Major League Wrestling fans know the impresaria Salina de la Renta lusts after championship gold. Heck, her company – Promciones Dorado – is named after the Spanish word for gold. Tonight, her top star Pentagon Jr. has the opportunity to bring gold home to Promociones Dorado with a shot at World Heavyweight Champion Shane “Swerve” Strickland.
While it’s about the World Title, this matchup also got a bit more personal over the last few weeks. First, de la Renta tried messing with Strickland’s mind, doing some “interior decorating” in his locker room. Then, Pentagon Jr. tried messing with Swerve’s eyesight. In a backstage altercation, set up by de la Renta, Penta sprayed red mist into Strickland’s face, causing damage to the champion’s eyes. Following that brazen attack, MLW officials stripped Pentagon Jr. of his No. 1 Contender status and forced him to put his World Title shot on the line against his brother Rey Fenix last week. Following an incredible battle, Pentagon Jr. reclaimed the opportunity to take on Strickland for the World Title.
Will Strickland’s vision be affected by the mist attack? Was Swerve’s ability to train for this important defense of the World Championship impacted by his injuries? How much does Pentagon Jr. have left in the tank after the brutal match with Fenix last week? Or will his victory give Pentagon the momentum needed to unseat the champ?
We’ll find out, as it all goes down tonight on FUSION!
Join Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini as they call the action for an action packed 60 minute shot of Major League Wrestling: FUSION!
Use #MLWFusion when tweeting about tonight’s broadcast.
WWE fans around the world are interested in when Brock Lesnar will make his return.
The current WWE Universal Champion surprisingly retained his title against Roman Reigns in the main event of the biggest event of the year for the sports entertainment company, WrestleMania 34, in April.
The expectation at the time was that WWE would crown Reigns the new champion as it was reported that Lesnar would be leaving the WWE for another stint in the UFC.
Shortly after this event, it was revealed that Lesnar had signed a short-term contract with the sports entertainment company. He was last seen at the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view event where he retained his title against Reigns in a Steel Cage Match.
With Lesnar being under contract with the WWE for a short-term and his UFC return appearing to be just a matter of time, there is speculation as to not only when Lesnar will return to WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night RAW, but when he will drop the Universal Title.
Bryan Alvarez recently spoke about Lesnar’s return to the ring on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Live (transcript courtesy via ringsidenews.com) where he gave his take on when the WWE will use Lesnar once again. Here is what he had to say:
“He is not on Money In The Bank so my guess is when they first announced that he had re-signed a deal I did have someone tell me they believed he was going to be there through Summerslam. So all we know is that it is a short-term deal. I presume he is going to drop the title at Summerslam I don’t know what.
It could happen I guess in July. But he is not at Money In The Bank so it will either be the July pay-per-view or Summerslam and if you got Brock Lesnar and you’re paying him big money it will probably end up being Summerslam.”
When do you think Lesnar will make his WWE return? Sound off in the comments section below.
The card for the upcoming WWE Money in the Bank PPV is taking shape.
However, we are still a few weeks away from the latest pay-per-view event that will be produced by the sports entertainment company. Here are the matches that have already been confirmed for the show:
Based off of the ongoing storylines, Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the following matches could take place on the card:
Cedric Alexander defending the Cruiserweight Title against Buddy Murphy, Seth Rollins defending the Intercontinental Title against either Baron Corbin or Elias, Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt defending the RAW Tag Team Title against Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler or Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel, Jeff Hardy defending his United States Title against Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan or Andrade “Cien” Almas, and Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn.
The Money In The Bank pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, June 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured.
What are your thoughts on this card thus far? Sound off in the comments section below.
Daniel Bryan recently appeared on the “Why Not Now?” podcast hosted by Amy Jo Martin. During the episode, Bryan spoke about how he struggles to advocate for himself and his character backstage.
“I’ve never been very good at being like, ‘Hey you guys should do more with me’ or ‘you guys should do this or do that with me’,” Bryan stated during the podcast. “I’ve never been someone who is motivated by that or pushes himself towards that or pushes myself towards financial goals, or pushing myself towards anything other than what I love to do. And I’m constantly having to remind myself, like, ‘hey, if you want to get to the next level where I want to be, you do have to do some pushing here.’ And so yeah, that’s a constant thing that I struggle with.”
Heads-up book lovers: @WWEDanielBryan & I have started a book club! The 1st book is Factfulness by @HansRosling. We'll review it together on the Why Not Now? podcast in June. To join us, just read the book & share your thoughts using the hashtag #WhyNotNowReadABookpic.twitter.com/c5mE3OeTvo
Bryan and the show’s host are starting a book club as well. They will be reviewing Hans Rosling’s “Factfulness” beginning next month.
Daniel Bryan in 2018
It’s been an up and down return to WWE recently for Daniel Bryan. Including house shows, Bryan has now wrestled 16 matches since being medically cleared to compete. Bryan teamed up with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania and they beat their rivals Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in his first match back after 3 years.
A dream match between Bryan and AJ Styles went to a no-contest on the first episode of Smackdown after WM34. Bryan then lasted a record amount of time in the Greatest Royal Rumble from Saudi Arabia. At Backlash, Bryan submitted Big Cass in just under 8 minutes. He then suffered his first televised loss in a single’s match to Rusev on the May 8th edition of Smackdown. Rusev qualified for the Money in the Bank match as a result of the victory.
This week on Smackdown, Bryan submitted Jeff Hardy in a match where the winner qualified for another shot at MITB qualification. Bryan will meet Samoa Joe next week with the winner moving on to the MITB match.
Jim Cornette is not a fan of Kenny Omega. As he does with all of his opinions, Cornette has made this one perfectly clear.
While previous rivals of Cornette’s have gone so far as to take out restraining orders against him, Omega believes a good hard-handed Tweet is enough to get the job done.
Cornette sent out the following response to a video of Kota Ibushi giving repeated Canadian Destroyers to a dummy:
So apparently this is the "great" Kota Ibushi that some people rave about, another piece of shit playing wrestler that hangs around with noted disgrace to our business @KennyOmegamanX . Birds of a feather shit the same, apparently. Someone please tell him I said Fuck You. https://t.co/txpdFpKfsD
Jim, I warned you about this. I said you could use my name to continue making your living as long as you refrain from polluting my TL. Don’t force my hand.
Kenny Omega really has warned Cornette about tagging him in his posts before. Omega has said Cornette can bury him all he wants but would rather he didn’t tag him in the comments so that they appear on his Twitter timeline.
Omega first made these statements to Cornette last year:
I like you, Jim, but if you want to bury me, please don't tag me in it. We just started the G1 and I can't have this polluting my TL. Thanks
What is Jim Cornette’s Issue with Omega and the Young Bucks?
Cornette’s old-school no-nonsense approach to pro-wrestling is unwavering. As a result, he is not in favor of highspot-centric wrestling which he feels is exhibited by many of today’s modern wrestlers.
In some cases, Cornette believes this wrestling is too dangerous and at other times he feels it hurts the credibility of the sport.
In response to a question about why he continues to tag Omega in his posts, Cornette posted the following:
Because I want this dipshit to know exactly what I say about him so there's no misunderstanding. He should not be allowed in our business. https://t.co/eZXOSxX9f2
Kenny Omega probably isn’t too concerned about Cornette at the moment, however. One of the biggest matches of his career is upcoming at NJPW’s Dominion show on June 9th, 2018.
Omega will challenge IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada, in a best 2-out-of-3 falls match. Should Omega be victorious, he will only be the second member of Bullet Club to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
This week was the 19th anniversary of Owen Hart’s tragic death. He was to descend from the rafters of Kansas City’s Kemper Arena on May 23rd, 1999 but tragedy struck. Owen died after falling from the arena rafters and landing chest first on the top rope.
His official cause of death was listed as internal bleeding due to blunt force trauma. He was only 34 at the time of his death.
Yesterday, Owen’s older brother Bret sent out the following to his social media accounts:
I miss you every day Owen, and I vow to keep your memory alive despite the efforts to let you fade away.
Owen’s widow Martha does not want WWE to profit off of using Owen’s likeness. This likely has prevented Owen from being inducted into the Hall of Fame or receiving the historical attributes many feel he should on WWE programming.
In 2010, Martha and WWE were in court over WWE continuing to use Owen’s likeness. Bret responded with the following statement:
“I feel that it’s ridiculous for anyone to think they are serving the best interests of Owen’s memory or his children to pretend he wasn’t a wrestler. Not only was he a wrestler, he was a great one and proud of it. I personally believe Martha Hart has done nothing to keep his memory alive and sadly, he fades from view a little more every year. I do suspect this lawsuit is more about publicity, ego, and small-mindedness than it is about pro-wrestling and all of those that are in it.”
The Fight Network talked with Bret in 2015. He spoke to John Pollock on the topic of Owen’s 2015 DVD:
Owen Hart DVD
In 2015, a planned DVD about Owen was in the works. After learning of the planned documentary, Martha made the following statement:
“My children and I were unaware of this project until May 7, when it was brought to our attention by a friend who had read about it online. Contrary to your report, we do not back or support it in any way, nor has WWE requested our backing or support. From what little we know of the project, it seems to be another attempt to exploit Owen’s memory, and his tragic death, for commercial gain. We have resisted that kind of initiative for almost 16 years. If WWE really wanted to honor Owen’s legacy, it would just let him rest in peace.”
There is reason to believe that 2018 could feature yet another “Summer of Punk”. The 39-year-old is scheduled to face Mike Jackson on the main card of UFC 225 in Chicago later next month. He also could be headed to trial with WWE’s doctor, Chris Amann.
Last week, reports were the two sides were negotiating on a settlement. Now it appears Punk is pushing for a trial by jury.
Amann filed the suit against him in 2014 after Punk appeared on his friend Colt Cabana’s “Art of Wrestling” podcast. During the interview, Punk made derogatory comments regarding the medical care he received from Amann while in WWE. Amann’s legal team is seeking $1 million in damages from the libel and slander lawsuit.
Before his fight with Mickey Gall in 2016, Punk was asked if WWE or Vince McMahon had wished him luck. Punk responded, “No, he’s currently bankrolling a lawsuit against me, so I don’t think he’s going to be reaching out.”
CM Punk at All-In
There has also been recent speculation that CM Punk could appear at the “All-In” event on September 1st, 2018. Punk was not announced as one of the many wrestling personalities taking part in Starrcast or All-In. He is scheduled for a Meet and Greet with fans at the Pro Wrestling Tees retail store in Chicago the night before the event, however. This has led some fans to believe Punk could make an appearance at the show.
Punk was also reported to have been backstage during the All-In press conference which was also held at the Pro Wrestling Tees retail outlet.
“I’m just saying [All In] literally might be the best in the world,” said Jenn Sterger, the host of the press conference. “I will only say someone wearing sweatpants and training for something walked into the back of the building that the press conference was in, with marks, mind you, lining the entire sidewalks in the front of the building, and I just kept thinking ‘If they knew you were back here, they would literally tear down the front of the store.’”
While reports suggest that WWE will keep pushing Roman Reigns as a babyface in upcoming future, it hasn’t stopped people from giving their opinion on how the company should turn him heel.
During a recent interview with Pancakes & Powerslams show, Wrestling Legend Bobby Fulton gave his thoughts on the situation regarding the former World Champion among other things.
Fulton said that if the former Shield Member is not getting over as a babyface then the Officials should either turn him heel or fire him altogether because the Raw Star is not getting the job done:
“If he can’t get over as a babyface and the people are booing him, fire him! Get rid of him or turn him heel. He’s not getting the job done. It is plain and simple! They gotta make a change somewhere. People just ain’t buying Roman Reigns.”
Apart from this, Fulton also talked about his announced retirement, the modern days of wrestling being different than the territory era and more. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
Braun Strowman has emerged as a big star since parting ways with the Wyatt Family during the 2016 drafts and he has continued to be one of the most entertaining wrestlers of the Red Branded Show in the last couple of years.
Many fans believe that he is the perfect candidate to be the next top star of the company and it appears that Legendary WWE Commentator Jim Ross is also one of them.
During the latest episode of his Ross Report podcast, the Wrestling Legend talked about Strowman and claimed that the company still considers Braun to be one of their top stars despite his recent bookings.
Continuing on the topic, Ross said that Strowman is not ready for the top spot yet but he is getting better every week and claimed that the Monster Among Men is the future lead mule of the company:
“I like the continued advancement of Braun Strowman. He’s not being force fed to me. I think he’s going to be the next big thing in 2019. I wouldn’t do it before then. I don’t think he’s quite ready for it. But man you can see him getting better and better every week. Braun Strowman in my opinion the future lead mule in the WWE.”
Discussion: Do you see WWE pushing Braun Strowman as their top guy in future or do you think the company will keep using him in comical segments and mid card spots as they currently are? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
WWE Altered Plans For Takeover Match Because Of MITB Bout
Fans were surprised when WWE announced that Johnny Gargano will face Tommaso Ciampa in a street fight at the upcoming NXT Takeover: Chicago II because it felt like a repetition of their unsanctioned match at Takeover: New Orleans.
Though it appears that the company had a reason to choose this stipulation and according to reports, they were forced to alter the original plans for this bout because of an announced Money In The Bank match.
According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Officials were originally planning a Last Man Standing match between the two stars but they changed their mind after deciding to use the stipulation for the AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura bout.
Gargano is now set to compete with Ciampa once again at the upcoming NXT Takeover: Chicago II event on June 16th.
Alternate Angles Of Strowman vs. Balor
This week’s episode of Raw saw the Monster Among Men Braun Strowman going against the first ever Universal Champion Finn Balor in a one on one match. Their bout was praised by fans and Balor took Strowman to the limit before losing the fight.
After the show, WWE posted the following video on their official YouTube channel, featuring alternate angles of the main event of the Red Branded Show:
On Thursday, we had a chance to speak with Major League Wrestling competitor Maxwell Jacob Friedman. The 22-year-old wrestling prodigy from Plainview, Long Island is perhaps best known known for his oversized ego and lavish North Shore upbringing.
Friedman sounded off on a wide range of topics, including what it’s like being a pro wrestler in this social media era, his upcoming fight against Joey Janela at MLW’s next Fusion tapings (6/7) and much more.
We did our best to transcribe the interview accurately – our audio recording of the conversation was hard to make out at times, as MJF was in a helicopter en route to the Hamptons for Memorial Day weekend when we spoke.
SEScoops: You’ve been a part of Major League Wrestling since the promotion’s re-boot last fall at One-Shot. How did you first get involved with MLW?
MJF: “[MLW CEO] Court [Bauer] basically begged me to join. I felt pretty bad for the guy. He said, ‘Look, we need star power. We need top guys, somebody that can carry the company to the next level and get us on national TV.’ Let’s face facts, without me, they wouldn’t have gotten that TV deal. So I said, ‘Look Court, if the money’s right, I’ll think about it.’ We took it from there and ever since, we’ve been off to the races.”
What is it like coming up in today’s era of social media, where fans can interact with you 24/7? It seems there would be pro’s and cons to this dynamic. On one hand, you can promote yourself nonstop. But there might also be the risk of being ‘too accessible,’ which takes away from the mystique of you as a performer.
MJF: “Here’s the thing. I don’t let those nerds and losers into my life completely. What I do is, I tell it like it is. I tell them facts and the fact of the matter is, I’m the fastest rising star in professional wrestling. That’s the positive about social media. People get to see what MJF is doing and where MJF is going to be. At the same time, the negative is, these fans have an opinion that they think is valid. It’s not. They’re not important. They’re poor, they’re stupid and quite frankly, almost never know what they’re talking about.”
Ok. With the recent launch of MLW FUSION, the show has featured a hybrid of various wrestling styles – amateur, brawling, lucha libre, MMA, etc. How would you describe your in-ring style?
MJF: “My style is that I’m better than anyone I’m in there with. I don’t need to do flippy flops, I don’t do cool technical wrestling. At the end of the day, I do what I have to do to win. And that’s just that. That’s what’s wrong with pro wrestling today. People are concerned what the fans think. They want to look cool, they want to act tough. I don’t care about that. You know what I care about? The bottom dollar. I care about filling up my bank account. So you know my style is? My style is making money and winning.”
On June 7th, you’ll be across the ring from Joey Janela at the next MLW FUSION taping from Orlando. You’ve competed against Janela before and have seen what he’s done thus far in MLW. What’s your strategy going into this match?
MJF: “Joey Janela is brain dead. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but he’s been in some incredibly brutal matches, one of them with me, where I defeated him at Cage of Death in CZW, so I know what it’s like to get in the ring with that lunatic, and I’m quite proficient at it. The picture with Joey is that fans seen to take likening to him because he’s willing to put his body on the line. But that’s what’s wrong with Joey Janela. Joey doesn’t understand that you don’t have to do that, he doesn’t have to play to these people, if he wasn’t so dumb, I bet he could be a very talented, well-rounded wrestler. He puts his body on the line trying to impress people. Time after time again, he gets hurt.
Here’s what’s going to happen, I’ll tell you exactly what’s going to happen in our match. Joey Janela is going to have me on the ground. He’ll probably be close to having me beaten. But what he’s going to do wrong is he’s going to try to do something stupid. He’ll try to do a big stunt like he’s Evel Knievel, I’m going to move out of the way, he’s going to break every bone in his body and I’m going to pin him. The guy has so much potential, but he doesn’t think things through. Honestly, he reminds me a lot of the wrestling fans of today. They don’t think things through and they act on instinct and emotion. It’s really sad, honestly.”
MLW recently crowned a World Heavyweight Champion in Shane Strickland. Are you focused on making a run at MLW’s top prize in the near future?
MJF: “Here’s the thing. I think Court is protecting his little pet project there in [MLW World Heavyweight Champion] Shane Strickland. I think the MLW office is protecting Shane Strickland. I think everyone who is reading this interview right now is very well aware that if I wanted to, I could tap Shane Strickland out like a little school girl, ok? Right now, that’s not what I’m interested in. I’m interested in focusing on myself, making my money and proving week in and week out, show after show, month after month, year after year, I’m the best in the ‘biz.
Maybe, just maybe, Shane will stop ducking me, maybe the office will allow me to wrestle Shane, maybe that will go down. When it does, there will be a new MLW World Heavyweight Champion. You know, there’s talk of there being other belts, other titles, other championship titles. Quite frankly, I’d rather pioneer the next class of championship, the next generation. Once I’m done doing that, if I feel like it, if Shane Is done being a scared little girl, I’d love to wrestle him for that title.
I can’t badmouth Shane Strickland. He’s quite possibly one of the best hybrid wrestlers in the world today. He’s very proficient in almost every style. But as I said, my style is winning – and business is good right now.”
As one of the top prospects to come out of New York in recent years, what’s it going to be like for you when MLW comes to New York City on July 19th for the big MLW FUSION TV taping at the Melrose Ballroom in Long Island City?
MJF: “It’s going to be a homecoming. The people are going to out in the streets. They’re going to be going nuts. There’s going to be parades for MJF. I think you and I both know that I’m the hometown hero. Everybody loves me. Everybody loves me everywhere!
I don’t know if it’s going to be crazy different, because let’s face facts: every town I go to, people are excited to see Maxwell. But it’s going to be a little bit of a different feel. Born and raised in Plainview, Long Island, I think people are going to emotionally connect with that. I’m excited to perform in front of people of my ilk, so to speak.”
Where do you see MLW one year from now?
MJF: “I see MLW growing rapidly already, so I can’t imagine where we’ll be in a year from now. I’m just excited for the future, but more importantly, I’m excited for myself. It’s not like MLW is the only spot I’m working. I’m all over the place. I’ve worked for every top-tier promotion in independent wrestling. If you can think of a top-tier company, I’ve wrestled there twice. Places like Progress, House of Hardcore, Limitless, Beyond Wrestling, CZW, the list goes on and on. If I keep going I’ll probably lose my voice.
If there’s a difference about MLW compared to all those companies, it’s that MLW 1) Has phenomenal TV, 2) Has one of the best rosters in all of professional wrestling. I think you’re going to be seeing a lot of growth out of Major League Wrestling over the next year.”
Parting words for the readers of SEScoops.com:
MJF: “You’re all dumb, stupid and poor, but at the end of the day, if you need somebody to look up to, if you need someone to distract you from being a complete loser, just follow me on Twitter and Instagram @The_MJF. My name is Maxwell Jacob Friedman. I am better than you and you know it.”
Catch MJF each week on MLW FUSION, which airs Friday nights on BeIN SPORTS. The weekly episodes are also uploaded to MLW’s official YouTube page Saturday nights at 6:05pm ET.
A new match may have been revealed for the upcoming WWE Money in the Bank PPV.
This match involves Sami Zayn and Bobby Lashley. Based on the recent storyline, there is speculation online that the WWE will be adding this match to the card of the upcoming PPV event. WWE is teasing more from these two superstars for this coming Monday’s edition of RAW.
This week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Albany, NY at the Times Union Center NY on the USA Network featured a segment involving Zayn and Lashley. By watching the show, Zayn brought Lashley’s three sisters to the show with him as a way to try and expose him. Jessica was played by independent wrestler “Mr Everything” Victor Andrews. Frances was played by wrestler Max Caster.
The Money in the Bank pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, June 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured. Here is the updated card:
– Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz vs. Rusev vs. Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Roode
– Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Ember Moon vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Lana vs. Naomi
