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Early Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax Betting Odds

Andrew Ravens
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7

The early betting odds have been released for Ronda Rousey’s second match on WWE PPV. 

It’s been well established that the sports entertainment company has already announced that Rousey is slated to challenge Nia Jax for the RAW Women’s Title at the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. The odds are listing Jax as a -140 favorite against Rousey.

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

– WWE Title Match: AJ Styles © vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Nakamura picks stipulation

– WWE RAW Women’s Title Match: Nia Jax © vs. Ronda Rousey

– WWE SmackDown Women’s Title Match: Carmella © vs. Asuka

What are your thoughts on this match? Sound off in the comment section below.

Kurt Angle Q&A: If The Undertaker Will Wrestle Again, His Superstar Pick To Win MITB

Andrew Ravens
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0

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently did a Q&A on Facebook and commented on a number of interesting topics.

Angle has had quote the career while in the professional wrestling business. Angle returned to in-ring competition under the WWE banner at last year’s Survivor Series pay-per-view event in November.

The WWE Hall of Famer then teamed up with former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania 34 in a Mixed Tag Team Match.

He also competed in the 50-Man Royal Rumble Match at the Greatest Royal Rumble event. In this Q&A, Angle was asked about the scariest moment in his career.

“When I got knocked out at Summerslam 2000 against Rock and HHH. I don’t remember anything I did that night. Now that’s scary.”

Over the past few years, The Undertaker has gone from being a full-time talent to a part-timer. After years of speculation when Taker would retire from pro wrestling, it appeared that he had his farewell at WrestleMania 33 in the main event against Roman Reigns last year in Orlando, Florida. It turns out that Taker has decided to wrestle again as he took on John Cena at WrestleMania 34 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on the WWE Network.

Then the future WWE Hall of Famer wrestled Rusev in a Casket Match at the Greatest Royal Rumble event. Angle was asked if he thinksUndertaker will wrestle again. “I think he will. He looks great. He’s an amazing athlete.”

Finally, Angle was asked who he thinks will win the men’s Money in the Bank match. This led to him responding by stating, “Honestly? He’s a long shot. But Kevin Owens. He seems to always find a way to shine. A real ass kisser:).”

What are your Angle’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.

Jinder Mahal Calls For Match With Brock Lesnar, Makes Claim About His WWE Status

Andrew Ravens
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9

Jinder Mahal transformed his career between his first and current run with the sports entertainment company.

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.

The former WWE Champion was recently interviewed by Planeta Wrestling (transcript courtesy of Wrestling Inc). During the interview, he was asked how it feels to no longer be the WWE Champion and his goals in the sports entertainment company. Here is what he had to say.

“Unfortunately, I lost the WWE Championship to AJ Styles but I held the WWE Championship for 6 months. Many people thought that I would never hold the WWE Championship, let alone any Championship in WWE so I proved a lot of people wrong, but now that I moved to Raw, my goal is the WWE Universal Championship, but there is also many great competitors such as Roman Reigns, who I have my eyes on right now. He claims that Raw is his yard, I think differently. I think I am the most dominant superstar in WWE. Right before I lost my title match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship I was going to face Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, so now that I am on Raw that match is very possible for the Universal Championship. Other than that, Seth Rollins is the WWE Intercontinental Champion. I am excited to be on Raw and I look forward to holding more championships.”

Mahal added, “To become Universal Champion and Intercontinental Champion and Tag Team Champion, that way I can become a Grand Slam Champion.”

What are your thoughts on Mahal’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.

https://youtu.be/hSqVYxalYzg

Daniel Bryan Reacts To The Miz’s Recent Shot At Him

Andrew Ravens
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4

It’s been well documented that there is history between The Miz and Daniel Bryan.

Now that Bryan has been cleared to return to in-ring action, it’s just a matter of time before the WWE books Miz and Bryan in a program on the blue brand. If you recall, Miz was Bryan’s coach on the very first season of the NXT reality series. They have wrestled some matches while on the main roster together.

The Miz spoke to Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard section last week. During that interview, he was asked about the potential feud with Bryan, which was when Miz started to make headlines.

“Daniel Bryan could have quit and went and did all his indies and did all the bingo hall things, but he wanted to fight for his dreams,” Miz said. “But that day, he didn’t fight for his dreams. He walked away like the coward he was calling me. Now you fast forward and everybody wants to see Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz, but the fact is Daniel Bryan isn’t at the caliber I am at. I am sick of people sitting there saying, ‘Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.’ He doesn’t deserve to be in the ring with me. He’s not at the level that I am. I am showcasing top-level talent, and maybe in a year or maybe in two years, he’ll be at that level. But right now, he’s not at that level. He’s just going on the fame he had four years ago. Things changed. So when Daniel Bryan is ready, and I feel that he is ready, that’s when the match will happen. Until then, he’s not ready for me.”

Miz regularly appeared on Talking Smack while he was on the blue brand and had a famous segment with Bryan on the show. If you recall, this most memorable moment took place on the August 23rd, 2016 edition of Talking Smack. The Miz went off on Bryan after being called a coward for his wrestling style.

It was one of the most memorable promos of the past few years and fans were left wondering if it was scripted or not.

SPORTbible was able to speak with Bryan and get his response to The Miz’s comments.

“If you were to look at Miz’s matches since I’ve come back, he’s got a point,” Bryan admitted. “His match with [Seth] Rollins at Backlash, that was by far the best match on the pay-per-view. When I lost to Rusev, he wrestled Jeff Hardy – which was a fantastic match. The knock on Miz for years was that he was a great talker but so-so in the ring. This happened with [John] Cena too where people were like, ‘This guy can’t wrestle’ and while they are saying they can’t wrestle, they learn to wrestle and learn to be the best as far as in-ring stuff.”

“On the independents when I was with Ring of Honor, people thought I was the best wrestler in the world – fans would chant it and I think the fans would believe it because they want to believe that their guy is better than the WWE guys,” Bryan responded. “But never once have I considered myself the best – I look at AJ Styles and I look at Rollins right now. I say these matches with Miz were great but Rollins is in those matches – and I don’t know what is different but now he’s clicking on every level. It almost feels like it was for me in 2013 where he’s not the top guy on Raw but he’s starting to get those top guy reactions, more so than other people. You look at these people and think, ‘Ah, he’s better than me at this.’ So if Miz says I’m not on his level, I look at it like, ‘Maybe I’m not’ and that motivates me – how do I get on his level?”

What are your thoughts on Bryan’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.

Rumor Killer On Big Cass Suffering Injury At WWE Live Event

Andrew Ravens
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4

There was speculation going around online that Big Cass may have suffered an injury this weekend.

Cass worked Saturday’s (May 19, 2018) WWE SmackDown live event in Amsterdam. This is when fans saw Cass limping during and after the match. Those who were in attendance took to social media and noted that he may have been injured. Fortunately, that is not the case.

Cass has actually been limping during all of his matches to sell an angle that was filmed on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in London, England after he was attacked by Daniel Bryan.

Cass is expected to work the rest of the tour and will be appearing on Tuesday’s edition of SmackDown Live in Worcester, MA at the DCU Center.

The MLW Fusion Report: May 18, 2018

Staff
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0

We’re one week away from Shane “Swerve” Strickland’s first World Title defense on MLW Fusion. The question is, will it be Pentagon, Jr. or his brother Rey Fenix? Pentagon’s red mist attack on Swerve last week forced MLW officials to strip him of his title shot and put it on the line in a re-match between the two luchadores. We’ll find out who’ll be the #1 contender tonight.

We start with a video recap showing how this week’s main event came to fruition. Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini welcome us to the show and update us on the condition of Swerve, which includes seeing eyes specialists at John Hopkins University.

Kotto Brazil vs. Trey Miguel

Winner: Trey Miguel after a jumping double knee smash from the top rope.

Thoughts

  • Miguel’s nickname is the “Fresh Prince of Mid-Air.” That’s pretty creative.
  • This was a cruiserweight match with action so quick that it was hard to keep up.
  • There were some pretty innovative spots, including a running Sliced Bread #2 from Brazil and a corner 619 from Miguel with Brazil’s head tucked into the top turnbuckle. I’m looking forward to seeing these two in action again.

They play a tape of an interview that Rich Bocchini had earlier in the week with Salina de la Renta from her palatial estate. She’s very arrogant and clearly likes the smell of her own s—. The interview ends when she pushes Bocchini in the pool.

That interview is immediately followed by another one backstage with de la Renta. This time the person holding the mic is Andrea Ocampo. De la Renta announces that she’s signed both Pentagon and Fenix, meaning that she’s guaranteed to get the MLW World Title in her faction.

We get a recap of last week’s main event between Jimmy Havoc and Joey Janela and the post-match beatdown outside the arena by Team Filthy on Havoc. A camera walks up to a jacuzzi occupied by Tom Lawlor and Simon Gotch. They say that Havoc deserved a beating and aren’t worried about the repercussions. After seeing some of Havoc’s handiwork, I’d be worried. Maybe when he’s done with them, they’ll be less sensitive to people bumping into them.

The Dirty Blondes vs. Team TBD in an Elimination Match

Winner: The Dirty Blondes

Order of Elimination

  • First Elimination: Michael Patrick pinned Jimmy Yuta after Yuta landed a diving crossbody but Patrick rolled through and grabbed the tights for the three count.
  • Second Elimination: Jason Cade pinned Michael Patrick with Black Magic (backslide driver).
  • Final Elimination: Brien pinned Cade after the ref was distracted and the Blondes hit an illegal double Alabama Slam.

After the match, Cade pushes Yuta away from him. They argue backstage. Ocampo interviews them. Yuta says they’re going to win the Tag Title tournament. Considering Cade’s attitude after losing the match and in an inset promo where he called himself the “captain” of the team, I smell a heel turn.

Swerve is interviewed by Ocampo. She asks how he’s recovering from the red mist attack. He says he doesn’t believe that Pentagon has zero fear. Furthermore, Pentagon can take his arms, his legs, or even his head; Pentagon still can’t take his heart. I don’t know, Swerve. If you lose all those body parts, Pentagon can pretty much take whatever he wants.

Pentagon, Jr. vs. Rey Fenix to become the #1 Contender to the MLW World Title

Winner: Pentagon, Jr. after hitting the Fear Factor

Thoughts

  • Another excellent main event between the two brothers.
  • Pentagon is so good with the crowd and they love him. Out of all the wrestlers I’ve seen on Fusion so far, I think Pentagon is the biggest star.

We get some replays of the match, an announcement of next week’s World Title match, and go off the air.

Final Thoughts

  • The wrestling on this week’s show was exceptional from start to finish.
  • I’m not a big fan of Swerve, especially on the mic. I believe the word “painful” can describe this week’s interview.
  • After the first five episodes of Fusion, I have to say that it is SO MUCH easier to watch than Raw or Smackdown. I know Fusion is only an hour long compared to three hours on Monday and two hours on Tuesday, but still, MLW is entertaining from start to finish while Raw and Smackdown drag. Fusion lives up to its name with a variation of fighting styles. Plus, no two matches each week are the same. In WWE, I feel like if I watch one match on the show then I’ve seen all of them. You know when a rest spot is coming, you know when they’re going to commercial, and you know when the finish is coming. Predictability isn’t always bad, but it certainly isn’t always good, either. MLW keeps me engaged and interested for its entirety.

That’s it for this week. Next week, Pentagon will finally challenge Swerve for the World Title and I certainly hope we see a champion with “Cero Miedo.” Follow me on Twitter (@CliffofDoom). Have a good week!

Watch this week’s episode of MLW FUSION below:

NXT Dallas Live Results: Former TNA Star Returns To The Ring

Eric Lynch
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3

Former TNA wrestler “Gunner” has made his second NXT live event appearance with a victory over Kassius Ohno. Under the name Chad Lail, he defeated Ohno at NXT’s Dallas live event this week. This was his first match since a live event match last June, when he lost to No Way Jose.

Below are the full results from the show.

NXT Dallas Live results

– The Revival def. The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler): Dash and Wilder get the win with the Shatter Machine.

– EC3 def. Fabian Aichner: EC3 gets the pin after hitting the One Percenter.

– Kairi Sane & Nikki Cross def. Reina Gonzalez & Taynara Conti: Gonzalez was described as coming off as green/sloppy in this match.

– Oney Lorcan def. Kona Reeves: Reeve cuts a promo after the match, and Lars Sullivan comes out and beats him down.

– NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong def. The Street Profits

– Chad Lail def. Kassius Ohno: The crowd was said to be really behind Lail, and had several chants for him. Ohno started working heel after the crowd went with Lail and Lail won with a roll-up.

– NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler def. Dakota Kai

– Ricochet def. Velveteen Dream: Described as a great match, which the crowd was hot for.

Randy Orton Undergoes Knee Surgery, Return Timeline Details

Eric Lynch
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10

The Viper on the mend

Randy Orton has needed knee surgery since late last year, and WWE.com now reports that he has successfully undergone surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear.

The Viper had reportedly wrestled through several matches with the injury, until his most-recent match at Backlash where he lost to Jeff Hardy.

Randy Orton’s return date?

Although WWE didn’t reveal any other details on Orton’s recovery timeline, F4WOnline.com reports that he’s expected to return in time for WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view in August.

Orton is currently home in St. Louis recovering, and told WWE.com he is “staying motivated to come back and dominate the blue brand.”

Fire Pro Wrestling Coming to PS4 This Summer

Jake Skudder
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21

Fire Pro Wrestling will be arriving on Playstation 4 this summer. The critically acclaimed game was already released on PC back in December 2017 and now the New Japan Pro Wrestling affiliated game will be making the jump to the PS4 on August 9th in Japan and an as yet undisclosed Summer date in the US and Europe.

Fire Pro Wrestling is the popular 2D wrestling franchise that dates back to the late 1980’s. Up until the NJPW partnership, the Fire Pro games never featured officially licensed wrestlers. Instead, the developers focused on addictive gameplay mechanics while the robust creation suite allowed players to recreate famous wrestlers.

Fire Pro Wrestling World for PS4 will feature licensed NJPW wrestlers, their actual move sets and for the first time, a Young Lion story mode.

Japanese wrestling commentator Chris Charlton recently posted translated updates from Fire Pro officials which included the following updates:

  • There will be 39 Official New Japan Pro Wrestling stars in the latest update
  • Management mode will be released following the PS4 Launch
  • A Junior Heavyweight focused campaign mode is in the works

WWE Live in Newcastle Results incl. Bryan vs Miz plus Ronda Rousey in Action at Turin

Jake Skudder
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9

WWE’s European Tour is currently in full swing, with their two most recent events taking place in Newastle, England and Turin, Italy.

Here are the full results from the Newcastle event, including the highly praised match between Daniel Bryan and The Miz:

The Bludgeon Brothers b. The New Day – The Smackdown Live tag team titles were on the line in this one and the Bludgeon Brothers retained successfully

Aleister Black b. Alexander Wolfe – The NXT Champion successfully defended his title again Sanity’s Alexander Wolfe after hitting the Black Mass

Jeff Hardy b. Rusev – The United States Champion successfully defended his title although he was potentially limping the ring and may be working injured

Tyler Bate, Wolfgang & Mark Andrews b. Joseph Conners, Tyson T-Bone & Saxon Huxley – The WWE UK performers pulled off one of the reportedly more entertaining bouts of the night, the match ended when Tyler Bate hit the Tyler Driver ’97 on Huxley for the pinfall win

Andrade “Cien” Almas b. Sin Cara – The former NXT Champion took the win in an exciting display

Daniel Bryan b. The Miz – This match is being described as ‘phenomenal,’ it went around 25 minutes and stole the show

Big Cass b. Tye Dillinger – This was essentially a squash match for Big Cass who took the win, he was selling the beatdown from Daniel Bryan on Smackdown this week

Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch & Naomi b.  Lana, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose & Carmella – Asuka made Lana submit to take the win

AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson b. Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro & Sheamus – This was originally slated to be a Styles/Nakamura match before Cesaro & Sheamus interfered, Styles took the win after hitting Cesaro with a Phenomenal Forearm

https://twitter.com/WWEAleister/status/997092603739955200

WWE’s event in Juventus featured Ronda Rousey teaming with Ember Moon and Natalya to take on Mickie James, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan. In a glaring error WWE decided to have Rousey enter the ring wearing a Juventus (Soccer Team) jersey in a town where the majority of the fans support their rivals Torino, subsequently the fans nearly booed her out of the building.

 

 

 

 

 

Former WWE Star Badly Beaten Outside His Home (Photo)

Jon Fuentes
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20

A former WWE Superstar was very badly beaten outside of his Los Angeles home this week after a dispute over a parking spot.

The former WWE Superstar is none other than Tom Magee, who went under the ring name “MegaMan” during his WWE run from 1986 to 1990. He was trained by Stu Hart in the Hart Family Dungeon but his wrestling career never really took off.

CBS News reports that Magee got into a dispute with a man in another car over a parking spot. Six men got out of the opposing car and jumped Magee, punching him and kicking him on the ground. When neighbors came out to investigate the commotion, the six men fled from the scene.

Magee suffered a broken jaw, eye socket, and concussion. A photo of Magee after the attack can be seen here below, but WARNING, it is very graphic and the injuries may be disturbing to some:

Jim Cornette Reacts To Vince Russo Being Banned From “All In”

Jon Fuentes
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Professional wrestling legend Jim Cornette recently took to his podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience, to offer up his thoughts on Cody Rhodes telling Vince Russo to “stay away” from All In this September.

Russo has been mentioning the event quite frequently lately, and seems very interested in making an appearance. Cornette had this to say about Rhodes banning Russo from the Chicago event:

“He knocks them all the time, so why would he want to, if he believes he has any credibility, why would he want to associate himself with that where then people would have to say ‘well, look. Russo knocks them,” said Cornette.

“Same thing I thought immediately. Russo knocks them, but he’s not above a payoff to come up here and be a part of the thing. That was my main consideration for not being involved, because I don’t want people to think that I’m a f***ing hypocrite. But he has no problem with that.

“But then, to not know enough to take the booking and not realize that a bunch of the people on the show that are running the show because it’s the boys running the show, I believe we’ve mentioned that, that the boys wouldn’t want you on [the show] because… dealing with him is like picking up a turd from the clean end. There’s absolutely no way to do it where you can please the majority of the people involved in the situation, because nobody wants him around.”

You can listen to The Jim Cornette Experience by clicking this link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka2L7rsqUug

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Finn Balor On How Sister Abigail Match Cancellation Was A Turning Point

Jon Fuentes
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3

Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor recently did an interview with What Culture to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Balor was first asked to name the three toughest wrestlers he has had the pleasure of sharing the squared circle with thus far:

“Let me think. Samoa Joe. Huge man but moves like a cruiserweight, hits like a heavyweight and has stamina for days. Bray Wyatt. He has size that just doesn’t translate on TV, like in person he’s much bigger than he looks. I had to use a lot of the lessons I learned from fighting Samoa Joe and apply them to Bray Wyatt.

“The third most toughest person I’ve ever faced in the ring would be Zack Sabre Jr, who despite his size and unique frame has deceptive toughness and uses your own movements against you. He’s someone who’s very economical with his movement and someone who can counteract someone’s strength with his technique.”

In regards to Bray Wyatt, he and Balor were initially supposed to wrestle at the Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV) last year. Unfortunately Wyatt fell victim to a viral illness backstage and was forced off the card. Balor explained what fans could’ve expected from his match against Wyatt at the event:

“I don’t know [laughs]. It’ll always be that great unknown question. I think that it could have really went either way. What were we going to see with Sister Abigail, I don’t even know what we were going to see but I think it worked out well for me in the end.

“Obviously Bray was struck down with illness, was it fate or not I don’t know – maybe it was Sister Abigail that stuck him down [laughs]. But obviously Bray had to step out, AJ (Styles) stepped in and I believe that was definitely a turning point in the year for me and helped me get a little bit of steam to where I am now. So, thank God we didn’t see that Sister Abigail!”

You can read Balor’s full interview with What Culture by clicking this link here.

Roman Reigns Reveals If Vince McMahon Has Ever Wronged Him

Jon Fuentes
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7

WWE Superstar Roman Reigns recently did an interview with The Express where he talked about several professional wrestling topics. One of these topics included Reigns’ relationship with Vince McMahon.

Reigns said Vince has never steered him wrong, and also noted that the entire McMahon family are great people:

“All the McMahons are great people and if you know them you get to talk to them on that level. It’s very easy to see them, they’re very personal and that’s key – you have to build a relationship,” Reigns revealed. “It’s not just with the McMahons, it’s everybody. It’s just about getting to know people and a lot of people getting to know you.”

“I can’t say Vince has ever done me wrong. Regardless of all the fantasy bookers out there, at the end of the day life’s been pretty good for me in the wrestling business so I have to attribute a lot of that to the relationship that I do have with Vince and the way that he has always taken care of me. He takes care of all of us. To have that responsibility and that role is not easy – to be a provider and a protector and that’s what he is. I think along with everybody else, I can say that we are all very grateful,” Reigns said.

You can read Reigns’ full interview with The Express by clicking this link here.

The Young Bucks Explain Why They Wouldn’t Sign With WWE Now

Jon Fuentes
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24

The Young Bucks, Matt and Nick Jackson, recently joined Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Matt Jackson revealed that when AJ Styles first departed to WWE, he wanted to bring The Young Bucks with him:

“We had just signed a contract with ROH at the time in November because AJ pulled us aside and was like, ‘tell me you guys don’t have any contracts now please,’ and we were like, ‘we just signed.’ And he was like, ‘argh!’ because he wanted to bring us over too. And I don’t know if that would’ve happened, but that was his idea. And we were like, ‘naw, man. We just signed for two years’ or whatever it was.”

“It would be kind of dumb of us because they couldn’t pay us what we’re making right now.”

Matt then explained why they wouldn’t go to WWE right now, as it would be a “dumb” decision to do so:

“If we left right now [for WWE], it would be kind of dumb of us because they couldn’t pay us what we’re making right now, not with the schedule we’re on too. There’s no way.” Matt clarified, “of course they could [afford the pay]! Do you know what I mean? I just don’t think they would!”

He also discussed if he and his brother would ever sign with WWE, and while he admits it will always be a big question in their careers, they won’t have any regrets if their careers ended tomorrow:

“It’s always going to be a question. No matter how big we get, it will always be a question that lingers on in our career, I think, as well as Kenny because the three of us, well, he went to [WWE] developmental for a little bit, but people don’t remember that. I don’t even know if that counts as a WWE run, but it will always be a question.

“The way we’re going, we could probably quit in five years.” Nick said, “at this point, [WWE]’s not a goal. We don’t need it. It was [a goal] for sure. For our first eight years, that was the goal.

“We could literally quit tomorrow and do something else. And we would be fine though because we have enough saved now at this point. Like, we’re in a good spot!” Matt reflected, “we’ve built this empire, man, The Young Bucks brand. What else could I want? That would be literally the last missing piece, going there and doing a run.”

You can listen to The Young Bucks’ interview on Talk Is Jericho by clicking this link here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Daniel Bryan On How He Convinced Vince McMahon To Let Him Wrestle Again

Jon Fuentes
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9

WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently did an interview on Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk Is Jericho, where they discussed his return to the squared circle in WWE. Bryan first discussed working as the SmackDown Live General Manager when he was unable to compete, and how he grew to hate the job:

“Then they brought me back as GM, and I still have to do a bunch of traveling with that. I have to sit around for a bunch of matches It hurt and it also was like, ‘What am I doing?’ This is the part of me where I’m like, ‘What a sissy I am!’ Lots of people go to their jobs that they don’t like and make way less money than me being the GM of SmackDown, but I could not get out of this mental state where I hate being here,” Bryan said.

“I really disliked going to work every week, and there would be times where I would fly in and get the script to the show, I would try to get as many people as I could to get in the shoot so I can leave that night and just get out of there. That was when I really started to say that I wouldn’t accept this anymore, I’m going to come back.”

Bryan then had a serious conversation with Vince McMahon about coming back to the ring. It was there that he presented an interesting idea to The Chairman Of The Board that would allow him to wrestle again:

“I had a conversation with Vince McMahon. He was pushing the hard questions about what would happen if I would get another concussion? I had answers for him and laid it out. I would have different concussion protocols than everyone else, and one of my pitches to him is that this happens in every sport, when guys get a concussion and a trainer goes over to him and they are asked if they are okay, and the guy would say that he is fine.

“They would ask if he has a concussion, and the guy would say no, he’s fine. Myself included would say that. So, stop that because that has been an issue with me before. In the past, when I would have a concussion I would just walk it off,” Bryan said. “My proposal would be that after every match I have to go to the trainer’s room and they have to do their checks, and if I don’t do it maybe I get a fine, or something like that. After every match now I get checked.

“Not even thanking my opponents, after WrestleMania, I walked to Gorilla. No thank you’s to anybody, just walked straight to the Doctor’s and then I get checked. They do basic neurological stuff, and we are revising that as we go because it is new to them too.”

McMahon then told him to send his proposal to WWE’s medical director Dr. Maroon, and the rest is history:

“He told me to type it up and put it in an email to Doctor Maroon and say this. I give Doctor Maroon a lot of credit because it is hard to reverse your decision regarding clearing me. I have a lot of respect for him because he said, okay, my opinion might not be right for this. He sent me to three Neurologists that he thought were the best Neurologists. He could have easily sent me to Neurologists that backed his opinion.

“He sent me to people that had the latest, up to date research on concussion,” he said. “He wanted to get to the right answer. I have a lot of respect to him for that. If I get hurt, it goes to Doctor Maroon because he is the Head of Medical in WWE. That was the beginning of the process.

“He said that if we do clear you, what is your schedule going to look like? Turns out, we haven’t talked about the schedule much because they pretty much have thrown me in live events, so now, I am on that full European tour, so it’s back to the full-time stuff.”

You can listen to Bryan’s full interview on Talk Is Jericho by clicking this link here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWfIz6doP_E

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Davey Boy Smith Remembered On The Anniversary Of His Passing

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Today, May 18th, marks 16 years since the passing of wrestling legend Davey Boy Smith. He was just 39 years old when he passed away from a heart attack.

Smith had a storied career competing for WWE, Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and WCW. Along with the Dynamite Kid, he was one half the British Bulldogs tag team before embarking on a singles career in 1990. Throughout multiple runs with WWE, held multiple championships including the Intercontinental, tag team, European and Hardcore titles.

On the anniversary of Smith’s passing, his son and daughter posted messages on Twitter acknowledging the date and expressing their love for him.

Davey Boy Smith Jr., Son

Georgia Smith, Daughter

Will Ospreay and More Announced for Strong Style Evolved UK

Jake Skudder
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Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) have announced more names for the upcoming Strong Style Evolved UK events taking place on June 30th/July 1st in Milton Keynes and Manchester respectively.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, Taichi, Yuji Nagata, and Toru Yano will be joining the already announced leader of the Suzuki-Gun stable Minoru Suzuki, Bullet Club’s ‘New Bone Soldier’ Taiji Ishimori, Rev Pro British Heavyweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada.

Fans hoping to see the likes of Kenny Omega at the shows are sadly out of luck, he confirmed recently that he will not be heading to the UK for SSE. More names are expected to be announced for the shows in the coming weeks and we will update here on the site as soon as news becomes available.

Tickets for the first Strong Style Evolved shows outside of the United States are available to purchase via the official Rev Pro website.

Last 8 Competitors Announced for WWE UK Tournament

Jake Skudder
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WWE has announced the last 8 competitors that will be taking part in the upcoming United Kingdom Tournament to determine a new Number 1 contender to Pete Dunne and his UK Championship.

The final 8 men confirmed for the tournament are as follows:

  • Travis Banks
  • Flash Morgan Webster
  • Jordan Devlin
  • Tucker
  • Drew Gulak
  • Ashton Smith
  • James Drake
  • Tyson T-Bone

They join the already announced:

  • Zack Gibson
  • Joe Coffey
  • Jack Gallagher
  • Dave Mastiff
  • Kenny Williams
  • El Ligero
  • Joseph Conners
  • Amir Jordan

Quite possibly the most intriguing inclusion on this list is PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks, the New Zealand star has been one of the standout performers on the UK scene for the past few years and his run as PROGRESS World Champion since September 2017 has produced some stellar bouts against the likes of Chris Brookes, TK Cooper, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. WWE fans who have not yet had the opportunity to see the ‘Kiwi Buzzsaw’ are in for an absolute treat if he is given the chance to truly showcase his talents.

Another notable inclusion is Ashton Smith who previously took part in the World of Sport New Year’s Eve Special and was a featured star alongside tag team partner Rampage Brown. It is clear that WWE has been securing stars from the WOS roster in an attempt to undercut the new ITV project, however if you take a look at the stacked lineup WOS has amassed it could be argued that WWE is possibly flagging behind in this department.

Ric Flair Pulled From Weekend Appearances Due To Sudden Illness

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WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair announced on Instagram that he’ll be unable to fulfill his scheduled appearances this weekend due to “sudden illness.” Flair thanks fans for their support and vows to be back Stylin’ and Profiln’ in no time.

Ric Flair underwent emergency hospitalization last August in order to remove an obstructed part of his bowel. This led to several complications, including kidney failure, which required dialysis treatment. Flair spent over a month in the hospital and was touch-and-go at times.

We’d like to with Ric Flair a speedy recovery.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi7GoQ5hzlN/

Best of The Super Juniors Day 1 Results – A Block

Jake Skudder
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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 1 of the tournament which featured the combatants in Block A:

Preliminary (Non-Tournament) Match Results

  • Chris Sabin and Ren Narita b. KUSHIDA and Shota Umino – Sabin hit Umino with the Cradle Shock to secure the win for his team
  • SHO and YOSHI-HASHI b. Dragon Lee and Tomoyuki Oka – YOSHI-HASHI submitted Oka with the butterfly lock to win the bout for his team
  • Minoru Suzuki and Desperado b. Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare – Suzuki Henare with the Gotch piledriver to win the match for his team
  • EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi b. Marty Scurll and Chase Owens – EVIL made Owens submit with the Banshee muzzle the secure the win for his team

A Block Results

Tiger Mask b. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – Tiger Mask took the shock win via pinfall after rolling up Kanemaru

ACH b. Flip Gordon – This was Flip Gordon’s debut in the BOSJ and he lost after ACH hit the Cradle DDT and secured the pinfall win

YOH b. BUSHI – BUSHI hit a Canadian Destroyer and attempted to hit the MX…YOH pulled off a Cradle to grab the shock win

Taiji Ishimori b. Will Ospreay – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Ospreay attempted the Oscutter which was reveresed into Ishimori’s new finisher: The Bloody Cross (Suplex into a Lungblower) which scored him the pinfall win. The crowd reacted in a big way to the returning star’s win

Natalya Reacts To Women Being Left Off Greatest Royal Rumble

Jon Fuentes
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At the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia this past April, no female WWE competitors performed on the card due to the culture of the country.

Many fans were up in arms about this due to the Women’s Revolution currently being pushed by the company. There have been rumors going around that the women could get paid for missing out on the show, however, that has not happened as of this writing.

WWE Superstar Natalya recently did an interview with Joe.ie and discussed women being left off the Greatest Royal Rumble. Here’s what she had to say on the matter:

“It was an awesome show. And I was thinking ‘Wow this is so cool, I really want to be a part of this one day’ and it goes back to everybody evolving. It takes time to grow and move forward. I believe everything is going in a positive direction.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say, but I think definitely we’ll get there, I’m excited about it. I was talking with several of the male talents that were over in Saudi Arabia, and Roman Reigns said it was just so incredible, and that he can’t wait to go back. So it’s exciting for us to think about going there. I think one day I’ll be there for sure.”

You can read Natalya’s full interview with Joe.ie by clicking this link here.

Why All In Might Not Be On PPV

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Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks’ self-funded “All In” event has sold out in less than 30 minutes. The action all goes down from the Sears Centre in Chicago, Illinois on September 1st.

Rhodes recently joined Wrestling Observer Radio to talk about All In and also discussed the possibility of offering the event on pay-per-view (PPV). It turns out there may be a key issue getting the program broadcasted.

While Rhodes noted that making the event available on PPV is accessible, and those conversations have been had, there’s also the issue that several talents on the card are under contract with other promotions.

Some of the competitors’ contracts with their respective promotions could pose issues with the event being broadcasted. Okada is under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Rhodes and The Young Bucks are under deals with Ring Of Honor (ROH), and other stars such as Pentagon Jr. who is under contract with Lucha Underground.

Cody Says Triple H Congratulated Him On Winning ROH World Title

Chris Stephens
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Cody was recently a guest on the Edge and Christian podcast. The 32-year-old is riding high these days after his planned All-In event on September 1st, 2018, sold out in under 30 minutes.

Several topics were discussed on the podcast but one of the more interesting notes involved a comment Cody made regarding Triple H. During the interview, Cody revealed he received a congratulatory text message from Triple H after winning the ROH World Championship.

“The coolest feeling in the world is to have text messages from people in our industry who don’t have text you. Somebody like Triple H telling me ‘congrats’ for winning the ROH World title,” Cody said to Edge and Christian. “It makes what we do real. My Dad always told me that was the only real thing we do is the World Title.”

Cody Rhodes and Triple H

While Cody has had less than pleasant words for WWE regarding Starrcade or the company patent-claiming the name “Cody Rhodes”, he’s always had high praise for Triple H.

Cody was upset following WWE’s decision to use the name “Starrcade” this fall. He sent out the following in response:

In something which went mildly under the radar, Michael Hayes offered Cody a spot on the card after.

5 days after the offer, Cody signed an exclusive deal with Ring of Honor.

When NXT announced they were bringing back another Dusty creation, War Games, Cody’s reaction was different.

Cody and Triple H have always spoken highly of each other. This fuels speculation Cody left WWE due to his belief Vince McMahon didn’t seem him as a star. It’s possible Triple H agrees with Cody and not Vince. This is even more likely to be the case now considering what Cody has accomplished since leaving the company.

With Vince McMahon expected to spend more time away from WWE in the coming years, it remains to be seen just how long Cody spends outside the promotion.

Cody has brushed off the question of a WWE return when asked. His responses to the question generally state he is happy where he is and happy with what he accomplished during his time in WWE.

Randy Orton Reportedly Undergoes Minor Surgery, Kenny Omega Knocks WWE

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Randy Orton Undergoes Minor Knee Surgery

It turns out that former WWE Champion Randy Orton is, in fact, dealing with a minor injury. Orton hasn’t been seen since losing his United States Title match to Jeff Hardy at the WWE’s Backlash pay-per-view (PPV).

WrestlingNews.co is reporting that Randy Orton had a minor surgery on his knee this past Tuesday. It was not specified which knee Orton had the operation on, but it was noted he could be out until July. Orton’s wife recently posted a video on Instagram in which The Viper’s left knee is wrapped up. You can check that out here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi0V2R1lzyi/?utm_source=ig_embed

Omega Pokes Fun At WWE’s Roster Age

A fan recently shared a picture of an old Playstation WWE game “SmackDown Shut Your Mouth” from 2002. The cover features Superstars such as Triple H, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Brock Lesnar, and Kurt Angle – all who are still affiliated with the company today.

Kenny Omega responded to the photo and joked that it could be a poster for the WWE’s upcoming PPV:

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