As noted earlier this week, Charlotte Flair will be undergoing surgery soon to repair a ruptured breast implant. The 5-time WWE Women’s Champion is currently overseas for WWE’s European tour and is expected to have the procedure after she gets back to the United States later this month.
Timeline of Charlotte’s Injury & Surgery
The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter provides exclusive details regarding the situation. Charlotte kept the injury a secret from most people up until this week.
Charlotte’s implant ruptured before WrestleMania 34. Initially, she decided to hold off on the surgery because she wanted to work WrestleMania 34 against Asuka. When WWE decided to put the SmackDown Women’s Championship on Carmella, Charlotte was asked to work against Carmella at Backlash.
Charlotte decided to put the surgery off until after the European tour, which is lucrative for the performers. The surgery will happen later this month, as Charlotte wants to be 100% in time for SummerSlam.
As of this writing, Charlotte is advertised to compete at Money in the Bank. The Observer report notes that she’s only expected to miss “a few weeks” – but her recovery schedule will dictate that.
Charlotte in ESPN’s The Body Issue
She recently did a photo shoot for ESPN magazine’s annual “The Body Issue” – which depicts athletes nude and semi-nude – and they were able to ‘shoot around’ the injured part of her body.
The 2017 edition of ESPN’s The Body Issue was released in the first week of July, so expect a similar early-summer release for this year’s installment.
WWE Superstar Ronda Rousey posted for The Body Issue back in 2012.
NXT held the latest round of TV tapings on Wednesday night from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Thanks to Jacob Cohen for these results:
– Lio Rush defeats Marcel Barthel
– Ciampa comes out to Gargano’s theme. Ciampa says Gargano may have won the battle but Ciampa will always win the war. Gargano is at home watching the show in a neck brace. Candice comes out, she doesn’t recognize what Ciampa has become, doesn’t understand why he is obsessed with ruining their lives, the only thing that is broken is Ciampa. Ciampa is a monster and Candice will never forgive him, he will always know that Gargano is better. Gargano isn’t half the man that Ciampa is, Candice is more of a man than Gargano is. Candice slaps Ciampa and Ciampa leaves.
– Lacey Evans defeats Brandi Lauren. Kairi Sane attacks Lacey as some retribution.
– Lars Sullivan comes in and lays out Ricochet & Velveteen Dream (No Contest)
– Kona Reeves defeats Raul Mendoza.
– Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch, & Pete Dunne vs The Undisputed Era. Danny Burch pins Kyle O’Reilly to win the match for his team.
– TM61 defeat Heavy Machinery with feet on the ropes.
– Lacey Evans defeats Kairi Sane.
– Gargano & Candice out, he teases retirement but he takes off the neck brace and calls out Ciampa, Candice doesn’t seem happy about it. Ciampa out, he says if Gargano is still in the ring when he gets there Ciampa will finish this. Ref break it up before it happens. Ciampa says Gargano should listen to his wife and leave, Gargano gets on the apron, Ciampa knocks him off right on to Candice. Medics are tending to Candice.
– Vanessa Bourne defeats Steffanie Newell
– Velveteen Dream has turned on Ricochet and leaves Lars to finish him off
– Lars Sullivan pins Ricochet.
– Kassius Ohno defeats Chad Lail (TNA’s Gunner).
– War Raiders defeat two local wrestlers.
– EC3 vs Fabian Aichner. Gargano comes out mid match and announces he has signed a contract to face Ciampa in a street fight in Chicago. EC3 pins Aichner.
– Kairi Sane defeats Lacey Evans
– Aleister Black out, winning the title has been life changing. Lars Sullivan out and the match is made official: Aleister Black vs Lars Sullivan for the NXT Title in Chicago.
– Shayna Baszler retains against Dakota Kai. Nikki Cross attacks Shayna after the match.
Impact Wrestling is back tonight with a show from their April tapings in Orlando. Last week, Eli Drake announced he would be cashing in his Feast or Fired briefcase this week to challenge Pentagon Jr for the Impact World Championship.
Tonight, Drake will attempt to regain the Impact World Championship in the main event.
Impact Preview (5/10/18)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ozYsHrj6Js
Impact World Championship Pentagon Jr. (c) vs Eli Drake
Pentagon shocked the wrestling world when he defeated Austin Aries at Redemption for the Impact World Championship. Even more surprising is that he dislocated Aries’ arm, essentially taking the former champion out of the title picture for the time being.
Eli Drake won a gauntlet match in August to win his first World Championship for a major promotion. He lost the title to Austin Aries at the company’s 1st set of TV tapings under their new management regime, however.
Drake is just one of several potential challengers for Pentagon. Moose has also indicated he wants a title shot. Austin Aries is also waiting in the wings for a rematch once his arm heals.
Moose vs Kongo Kong
Moose wants to be referred to as “Mr. Impact”. He cut a promo last week stating he would be the one to take the title from Pentagon.
As for Jimmy Jacobs’ monster, Kongo Kong, he’s coming off a victory in his rivalry with Abyss.
The winner of this match should move closer to a shot at the Impact World Championship.
Will Sami Callihan Be Fired?
Sami Callihan recently attacked Impact Wrestling Vice President, Don Callis, at an independent show in Toronto.
Impact put a poll on their website asking fans if they think Callihan should be fired.
We should get some update from the promotion tonight regarding this matter.
Tessa Blanchard Speaks
Last week on Impact, Tessa Blanchard interfered in a match between Taya Valkyrie and Kiera Hogan.
Blanchard has said she plans on skipping to the front of the line in the Knockouts division but upcoming stars like Hogan may have something to say about that.
The “Girl on Fire” might decide to get some revenge on Blanchard this week.
Who is the Mystery Attacker?
Someone is attacking people in the back. Don Callis and Josh Matthews are concerned.
Over the last few weeks, multiple people have been attacked in the back and had an ominous X placed on their unconscious body.
Impact is teasing we could find out more about this tonight.
Aerostar vs El Hijo Del Fantasma vs Drago vs Taiji Ishimori
4 stars of the X-Division are featured in this match tonight. The winner could easily find himself near the top of the heap and closer to a shot against champion Matt Sydal.
Taiji Ishimori was recently announced for the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors tournament with New Japan Pro Wrestling
Brian Cage in Japan
Brian Cage’s world tour continues tonight.
Cage was victorious in a Fatal 4-way match last week from World Series of Wrestling in Australia.
Tonight he will be in Japan, though Impact has yet to announce who he will be facing.
DJZ & Andrew Everett vs LAX
X-Division wrestlers, DJZ and Andrew Everett will enter into tag action this week against former champions, LAX.
LAX is going through a rough time as Konnan has been taken out and Homicide has gone radio silent. It’s tough to know what’s really going on within the faction at the moment.
In the weeks leading up to the Greatest Royal Rumble in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, WWE switched the Undertaker’s opponent twice. Rusev was originally revealed as the Undertaker’s opponent for the match but was removed not long after the announcement. Both Rusev and Lana posted on social media in regards to the match, which may have been the catalyst for the change. Chris Jericho was announced as his replacement.
Not long after that, Jericho was then removed from the casket match as well. Rusev was then reinstated as Undertaker’s opponent. According to the Wrestling Observer, Jericho was told a Saudi Prince asked for Rusev to be put back in the match.
Chris Jericho and Rusev at the Greatest Royal Rumble
Also according to the report, Chris Jericho notified Vince McMahon that he would be returning to Japan to shoot an angle with Tetsuya Naito. The report continued to say that just hours after this, Vince McMahon contacted Jericho to say he was being removed from the casket match. According to McMahon, Jericho’s removal from the match had only to do with a Saudi Prince who asked specifically for Rusev to be put back in. There was no mention of Jericho’s NJPW angle as a possible cause for the switch.
The Saudi Royal Family reportedly requested several WWE stars from bygone eras appear at the event. Some of the wrestlers requested have been deceased for several years. Names mentioned included Yokozuna and the Ultimate Warrior. There is speculation that Sumo wrestler, Hiroki Sumi, was added to the match for this reason. His background in sumo would perhaps be reminiscent of Yokozuna.
Chris Jericho also revealed recently that WWE contacted him about being Shane McMahon’s replacement at WrestleMania. Shane suffered diverticulitis and a hernia in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania 34. There were concerns he would not be able to perform on the show.
Johnny Impact (Morrison/Hennigan/Mundo/Nitro) has not appeared on Impact Wrestling in several weeks. In storyline, Johnny has been targetted by the “Emo Princess” Jimmy Jacobs and his monster, Kongo Kong.
It appears his absence from recent television tapings has been due to participating in the upcoming season of the hit reality television program, Survivor. Earlier this week, several blogs and websites dedicated to the show released word of Johnny’s participation in season 37.
Back in November, the website “Surviving Tribal” stated the showrunners were looking for “Super Hero” types to participate in season 37. It is believed the season was taped in full throughout March and April in Fiji. The last time John Hennigan wrestled a match was in February for 5-Star Wrestling in Liverpool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wp-ayjD2KE
John Morrison Outside of Wrestling
Morrison is the 3rd person associated with the wrestling industry to be involved in Survivor. Ashely Massaro competed on Survivor: China but was the 2nd contestant to be eliminated. Johnny Fairplay, who had a brief run in TNA Wrestling, also competed on two seasons of the show.
IMDB credits obtained by Hennigan include the Netflix series GLOW, Shameless, Sharknado 5, and his own film “Boone: the Bounty Hunter”.
In addition to competing for Impact, Morrison has been a key player in each season of Lucha Underground thus far. A former Lucha Underground Champion, Johnny Mundo is the leader of the World Wide Underground along with his real-life fiancee, Taya Valkyrie, and cronies Jack Evans, PJ Black, and Ricky Mandel.
Morrison’s fiancee, Taya Valkyrie, also competes for Impact Wrestling. She is one of the top-ranked Knockouts in the division. Most recently, Taya defeated Kiera Hogan at the Redemption PPV. She was defeated by Allie 2 weeks ago on Impact in a Knockouts Championship match, however. Last week, a rematch between Hogan and Taya resulted in a no-contest after Tessa Blanchard got involved.
WWE held the latest set of NXT Tapings yesterday and the company revealed a couple of top matches for the upcoming NXT Takeover: Chicago II over the course of the recording.
First Lars Sullivan announced that he will be facing the current NXT Champion Aleister Black for his title at the upcoming show during a segment.
It started when Black came out and started talking about winning the title in New Orleans. He was interrupted by Lars who announced the bout. The challenger then went on to attack the champion.
Black tried to deliver a Black Mass but Sullivan grabbed his leg and hit Freak Accident on Aleister. He then stood tall with the NXT Title belt over the Fallen Champion to close the segment.
Also after being involved in multiple fights over the course of the tapings, it was clear that the battle between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa is far from over and it looked imminent that they will meet again at the next Takeover.
This bout was made official when Gargano came out during a match between EC3 and Fabian Aichner and announced that he has signed a contract for a street fight with The Psycho Killer at the upcoming show.
Apart from this they also hinted towards a match between the NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler and Nikki Cross but it’s yet to be made official.
NXT Takeover: Chicago II will take place on Saturday, 16th June from Allstate Arena.
While Big E has spent most of his time in the main roster being part of one faction or another, it appears that the company may finally be ready to give him the singles run many believe he is worthy of.
According to PWinsider, WWE is considering Big E for a singles push in near future and the upcoming Money In The Bank ladder match could be the start of it.
If these reports are true then it can be regarded as a spoiler for the New Day vs. the Bar match which has been announced for next week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
The stipulation for this bout is that the winning team will earn a spot in the Money In The Bank ladder match for one of their members and after these reports, the former NXT Star looks to be the most likely star to qualify for the bout.
A former NXT Champion in his own rights, Big E made his main roster debut in December 2012 where he quickly aligned himself with former WWE Star AJ Lee and her storyline boyfriend at the time, Dolph Ziggler.
While he had a short singles run after his storyline with the former Diva’s Champion ended in late 2013, it wasn’t long before E formed a faction with Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston in mid-2014.
This trio which later acquired the name New Day has been together ever since and has become one of the most successful tag teams in the history of the company.
Ricochet came down to the ring to start off this week’s episode of NXT. Ricochet said that everywhere he has been around the world he always wanted to make sure that everyone remembered him. It was his mission to make sure that everyone was talking about him after WrestleMania weekend. Ricochet stated that he was determined to take over NXT. Ricochet said that the one thing on his mind, said that it wasn’t socks, it was the NXT Championship. Ricochet wasn’t wearing socks during the segment and the NXT crowd chanted “socks!” throughout the promo.
Velveteen Dream interrupted and came down to the entrance ramp. Dream asked Ricochet what gives him the authority to come down here and ask for NXT titles opportunities. Dream added “you are talking about taking over, babe, I need you to take a step back”. Velveteen said that there is one man, one experience and you are looking at him. Dream posed and twirled around in the ring as the crowd chanted his name.
Dream said that Ricochet can jump around in the ring to make a name for himself, but no matter how you flip or flop, you better land in the back of the line behind the Dream. Ricochet chuckled and said that he understands that he is the new guy around here but he knows all about Velveteen Dream. Ricochet added how Velveteen made the entire NXT Universe say your name. Ricochet then said that Dream even got the NXT Champion to say his name, granted it was after he kicked him in the head.
Ricochet stated that Dream was good, but he wasn’t as good as him. Ricochet claimed that he has come to NXT to steal Dream’s show and his spotlight. Dream said that he thought that was funny and added that Ricochet can try his best. Velveteen stated that anything Ricochet can do, the Dream can do better. Ricochet said “prove it!” and dropped the microphone.
Dream took off his necklace and pretended like he was going to attack Ricochet. Dream dropped on the canvas and smiled at Ricochet. Velveteen then slithered out of the ring and retreated up the entrance ramp with a smile on his face as Ricochet stood tall in the ring. Dream and Ricochet continued trash talking as Ricochet’s music hit.
EC3 battled Raul Mendoza tonight on NXT. Mendoza locked in a side Headlock to start off the match. Mendoza followed it up with a Hurricanra, but EC3 shrugged it off and sent Raul to the corner. Raul connected with a springboard Dropkick for a one count. EC3 bounced Mendoza’s head off the turnbuckle and stomped him down in the corner.
EC3 leveled Mendoza with a Clothesline. Mendoza battled back with a kick to the side of the head and then charged at EC3 in the corner. EC3 was ready for it and launched Mendoza into the turnbuckle. EC3 followed it up with a knee to the face and then hit his One Percenter finisher for the pinfall victory.
After the win, EC3 was interviewed on the entrance ramp. EC3 said that the only thing that you will see out of him going forward is victory after victory until he rebrands NXT to NX3. He said that the he is the top one percent of this industry and posed on the ramp.
Dakota Kai faced Vanessa Borne tonight on NXT. Kai hit a Dropkick to start off the match, but Borne battled back and beatdown Dakota in the corner. Borne clubbed Kai across the back and then shouted at the NXT crowd to cheer for her. They responded with a loud boo as Borne planted Kai with a Neckbreaker for a two count.
Kai connected with a few boots to the face and then hit a running knee to the face in the corner. Dakota then planted Borne for the pinfall victory. After the match, Shayna Bazler came down to the entrance ramp and Kai had a terrified look on her face. Baszler got into the ring and Kai backed to the corner. Shayna then locked in the Kirifuda Clutch on Vanessa Borne in the ring. Kai took the opportunity to run away as Baszler stared at her as she walked up the entrance ramp.
Dakota was then interviewed backstage and she was still terrified. Shayna Baszler then got in her face and demanded that Dakota do something about. Dakota cowered in fear and Baszler said “that is what I thought” and walked away. Nikki Cross was then shown laughing her ass off next to Kai.
Heavy Machinery (Tucker Knight & Otis Dozovic) battled War Raiders (Hanson & Rowe) tonight on NXT. Dozovic and Rowe started off trading punches to the face. Hanson and Knight then got into the ring and traded punches as well. Rowe knocked Knight to the mat and then kneed Otis in the face. Hanson tagged in and connected with a Splash in the corner. Rowe lifted Hanson up onto his shoulders and threw him onto Dozovic in the corner.
Hanson tagged back in and Otis planted him with in impressive overhead Suplex. Tucker and Rowe tagged in. Knight punched Rowe in the face a couple of times and decked him with a Dropkick and then a Hip Toss. Hanson ran into the ring and leaped through the ropes to take out Otis on the outside. Rowe tagged in as Hanson lifted Knight up in the air. Rowe leaped off the top rope and connected with Fallout on Knight for the pinfall victory.
Tommaso Ciampa faced Kassius Ohno in the main event of this week’s NXT. Ciampa was greeted with chants of “a**hole!” and “you suck!” as he entered the ring. Ohno wasted no time coming down to the ring and delivered a beatdown to Ciampa to start off the match. Ohno dropped him with a Suplex and followed it up with a Senton and Ciampa rolled to the ring apron.
Ciampa tripped up Ohno on the apron and connected with a running knee to the face. Tommaso reigned down a bunch of stomps to Ohno’s head as Mauro Ranallo shouted that Ciampa was a sick individual. Ciampa hit a Dropkick and started raking at Kassius’ face. Ciampa applied a Chin Lock in the midde of the ring as the crowd chanted for Ohno.
Kassius battled to his feet and jabbed Ciampa in the jaw. Ohno then hit a massive boot the face and beatdown Ciampa in the corner. Ohno drove his elbow into Ciampa’s face and then dropped a knee on his midsection. Ohno took down his knee pad and dropped his exposed knee onto Ciampa’s face. Ohno perched Ciampa up on the top rope and slapped the taste out of his mouth.
Ohno locked in the Cravate in the middle of the ring and then planted him with a Powerbomb. Kassius shouted “is it worth it?” as he booted Ciampa in the face. Tommaso hid behind the referee and then hit Ohno with a cheap shot. Ciampa took off his wrist tape and went after Ohno. The referee took the tape from Tommaso, but Ciampa used the distraction to rake at Ohno’s eyes. Ciampa then hit a running knee to the back of Ohno’s head for a two count.
Ciampa shoved his boot in Ohno’s face, but Kassius grabbed and battled back to his feet. Ciampa connected with a Clothesline and then hit his finisher for the pinfall victory. Mauro Ranallo shouted “oh noooo!” and “damn it!” after Tommaso won the match. Ciampa raised his hands in the ring as the crowd chanted “you suck!”. After the match, Ciampa took off his knee brace and attacked Ohno with it. Ciampa shouted “I broke Johnny’s body, I broke Candice’s heart and Gargano’s fairy tale is over”. Ciampa then posed on the entrance ramp as NXT went off the air.
Corey Graves is one of the best commentators that the WWE has right now but had an interesting ride to get where he is now.
In August of 2011, Graves signed a developmental contract with WWE and he was sent to WWE’s developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). In the Spring of 2014, he was pulled from action in NXT after suffering a concussion, which caused him to be absent from television for several months. He announced his official in-ring retirement due to his concussion issues in December of that year.
It was a bittersweet moment as the door on his wrestling career shut while his career as a commentator began. Following the 2016 WWE draft, it was announced that Graves would be joining the RAW commentary team. Since then, Graves has brought his entertaining analysis to the main roster by breaking down the matches and storylines on both RAW and SmackDown Live.
Graves was recently a guest on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast. During the interview, he was asked if he dislikes Jonathan Coachman and Byron Saxton. Here is what he had to say: “Usually if I am not into somebody, then I just won’t talk about them. I wouldn’t have anything to say. I have gotten to the point now where I am kind of tired at points. I still am on such a roll non-stop and I haven’t had a week off in any way shape or form in like 4 years.
I love it though, that is what keeps me going, I am finally at a point now where I think to myself that I don’t have anything for this segment so I have to catch my breath, my throat hurts, which still hasn’t recovered from WrestleMania, and every once in a while I will tell Byron [Saxton] to take this segment, or Coach, help me out here. Usually I am so take charge, it’s either Tom [Phillips] and I or [Michael] Cole and I. We have instant chemistry and we can read each other’s minds and finish each other’s thoughts, but a lot of times I tend to forget that there is a third guy there. It is nothing intentional but you get in the zone and you get excited and fired up, but every once in a while I remind myself to breathe. I get burned out sometimes.” Graves continued by saying, “”I don’t know Coach on a social level. I am cool with him and have hung out with him a handful of times socially, but I don’t know him, which is different because with Booker T, by the time we were doing Raw together, I had worked with him in the studio every single week for a year and a half and spent all day with him. We had a chemistry, where we would go to the hotel bar and just talk business and have fun so I had a rapport with him, but with Coach, he was the square peg in a round hole, so in the first few weeks I told myself that I wasn’t going to come at him too hard because I wanted to have him get back into it. It’s not something you just pick back up overnight and say that you are doing Raw commentary. He and I are cool.
My thing is that you can tell when he is live Tweeting on the air because he will literally repeat something or say something that means nothing, and then you will scroll through Twitter and then you see Coach sending a ‘Coach em Up’ Tweet, and then he’ll talk about how great the match is going to be, and I say something like, ‘thanks Coach.’ We just spent the last five minutes saying that. The longer we work together the better it is going to be.”
Former WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos have been a core element of the sports entertainment company for years now.
The Usos have been five-time tag team champions. By breaking this down, WWE Tag Team Championship twice in 2014, SmackDown Tag Team Champions on three different occasions in 2017. They were the first team to win both the Raw Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship, which was previously known as WWE Tag Team Championship. Although they started out as babyfaces, they became stale and knew that a change had to be made. Thus, they turned heel.
During a recent interview Fox 45 News to promote this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Baltimore, MD at the Royal Farms Arena on the USA Network, Jimmy discussed how they do not play a character on television. “Our characters – we’re lucky – we basically get to just be us out there. Some guys actually have to be somebody [else] or a character. I’m glad we get to be us, so that works. It’s easy, because it’s real.” “We are the longest reigning tag team ever in WWE History. … Four brothers, we grew up beating each other up, watching my Dad and family on TV. Breaking coffee tables, putting holes in walls, jumping off couches, it’s natural [being in the ring].”
There was a lot of talk about how WWE officials handled one situation regarding the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia.
It all started when WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler and guest Jim Cornette talked about the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia during a recent episode of Dinner With The King. The two legends also talked about the fact that women cannot wrestle at the show. Cornette suggested that WWE give the women a hefty payday while they stay at home. Lawler replied with, “I think that’s exactly what’s happening.” It was then reported that female superstars in WWE were being paid as if they had performed at the show. The reason that they didn’t work or event appear at the show was due to the cultural differences in the country compared to the majority of the world.
Lita spoke with WrestleZone Radio for a new interview promoting her new The UFO Sho on ASY TV. During the interview, she discussed women not appearing at Greatest Royal Rumble.
“I understand that they are a business, a global business and they are always looking to expand their global presence. However, I do feel this was a direct conflict of interest with them maintaining any integrity or truth to the fact that they say they would like to push forward women, their roles and their reputations in this business as anything resembling equal to a male. Make the money, that’s fine, but don’t try to cover it up. Don’t say, “No, we are doing this because in the future we would like to help progress their culture forward!” No, you want the money, you’re a business and businesses make money. That’s okay. From my perspective over here, I don’t own your business so that’s your call. From a PR perspective don’t say you are doing it because, “We want to help progress that culture forward.” No, it’s a direct conflict of interest, in my opinion.”
What are your thoughts on Lita’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
Charlotte is scheduled to undergo surgery soon to correct a ruptured breast implant, according to Bleacher Report.
The former SmackDown women’s champion competed on this week’s show, defeating Peyton Royce in a match to qualify for the upcoming Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
At this time, it’s unclear whether or not she will be medically cleared in time for the June 17th pay-per-view.
Charlotte is scheduled to head overseas for WWE’s European tour, which kicks off Thursday and runs through May 20. PWInsider speculates that Charlotte will wait until after the tour to undergo the procedure.
Charlotte had been scheduled to appear at the ACE Comic Con event on June 22nd in Seattle, but she’s been pulled from that appearance. The @ACEcomiccon Twitter account announced that Carmella was replacing Charlotte due to Charlotte’s planned surgery, but they deleted the tweet about the medical situation.
PROGRESS has announced that they will be holding a ‘World Cup’ event in London’s Tufnell Park on Wednesday June 13th.
Based on the FIFA World Cup the event will be part of a one night show featuring talents representing countries from all over the globe, specifically from each ‘group’ of the actual World Cup. Several of the performers named for the tournament will be making their debuts for the company in an attempt to truly gift a global feel to the fans in attendance.
The confirmed names are as follows:
RUSSIA – Ruslan
PORTUGAL – David Francisco
AUSTRALIA – Adam Brooks
ICELAND – Einar Ironside
SWITZERLAND – Oliver Carter
GERMANY – Bad Bones
ENGLAND – Chuck Mambo
JAPAN – Naoki Tanizaki
The tournament will be single elimination with the winner earning a PROGRESS Title shot of their choosing. Tickets will be available from Friday 11th May and are priced at just £19.
Every 4 years there's a football World Cup; every 4 years there's a #ProgressWorldCup. We've picked 1 nation from each group of the actual World Cup to compete in ours. Weds 13th June at @DomeTufnellPark, tickets on general sale Friday at 12! Stay tuned for the entrants… pic.twitter.com/VAr2IK3Vcf
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) May 9, 2018
UK based promotion RIPTIDE has begun announcing the stars for their upcoming RUMBLE event which will be taking place from The Brighthelm Centre Auditorium on June 1st.
Here are the currently announced names for the RUMBLE match which will confirm the final entrant in the company’s Brighton Championship Tournament:
Sierra Loxton
Federales Santos Junior
Elijah
Drew Parker
TK Cooper
Roy Johnson
James Castle
Amir Jordan
Chakara
ELIJAH
Fraser Thomas
Gideon Grey
Ashley Dunn
Big T Justice
Rhia O’Reilly
Chuck Mambo
The upstart promotion from Brighton, England have been building a huge underground following ever since their first event in June of 2017 (Beers. Bands. Wrestling). With a unique presentation style and some of the best names available on the UK and European independent scene RIPTIDE look set to build upon their already impressive following way before even their first anniversary as a company.
PROGRESS Wrestling has announced that former TNA X-Division Champion and icon of British Independent wrestling Doug Williams will be appearing for “one more match” at Chapter 69 on May 20th from the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, England. The show, dubbed ‘Be Here Now,’ references British band Oasis and is the biggest show to ever take place for the company outside of their London home.
Williams’ recent run in the company has been highlighted as a final throw of the dice for the past few chapter shows, his appearance at this past weekend’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament saw him lose out to WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne in the first round and he once again began debating if this was finally the end of the line for his career. PROGRESS has now confirmed that the British legend will indeed be returning and he has been added to the ATLAS division triple threat bout now making it a Fatal Four Way match between Rob Lynch, DEFIANT Champion Rampage Brown, WWE UK’s Joseph Conners and Williams. It is likely that the winner of this bout will go on to Wembley Arena on September 30th and challenge for the recently vacated ATLAS title, hopefully Williams can win this bout and secure his place in England’s biggest wrestling event for over 30+ years.
WWE United Kingdom roster member and former PROGRESS Wrestling Tag Team Champion Trent Seven will be challenging for the Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling Gender Neutral Championship this June.
The Moustache Mountain and British Strong Style stable member will be heading to Ireland’s Tivoli Theatre on June 2nd to face current reigning Champion LJ Cleary as well as Pro Wrestling: EVE’s Kris Wolf.
Seven is not the first WWE UK contracted performer to be linked to the newly established title…WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne was also locked in to challenge for the belt against then Champion ‘Session Moth’ Martina before a snowstorm across the UK cancelled OTT’s event that evening.
Whilst Seven is the veteran of this bout and the most well established internationally it is unlikely that the company will be taking the title off of LJ Cleary right now, his win against ‘Session Moth’ before her move to Japan’s Stardom promotion appeared to be the catalyst for a big run for the young star and looks set to continue over the next few months.
Former professional wrestling tag team legend Bobby Fulton, of the Fantastics, was recently a guest on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show where he talked about several professional wrestling topics.
Fulton was promoting his upcoming World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling show which is set to go down on May 26 in Circleville, Ohio, where he will be wrestling the final match of his 40-year career.
During his appearance, Fulton offered his thoughts on WWE’s current booking of Roman Reigns. Reigns is one of the more controversial characters in the business as he is received with a plethora of boos around the country, despite being pushed to the moon by WWE creative as one of the company’s top stars.
Fulton divulged that if Reigns were working in the old territory days of professional wrestling, he would’ve already been fired:
“I’ma tell you right now. If Roman Reigns was wrestling back in the day, they would have fired him already,” Fulton said. “Because he can’t get the job done if they hired him as a babyface. Jerry Lawler told me one time when I was breaking in the business, I was going out to the ring and was wrestling underneath – and underneath means that you’re at the bottom of the rung – and it got to the point where the people knew I was gonna lose when I walked to the ring and I was working in Memphis.
“I said, ‘man, the people are booing me when I walk to the ring!’ [Lawler] said, ‘well, maybe it’s time for you to go. You’re here as a babyface.’ And, like I said, if Roman Reigns was wrestling back in the day, and I mean I give all props to his family and where he comes from and who he is. But as far as getting the job done as a professional wrestler, even as a sports entertainer, he’s not getting it done because he is not able to make that connection with the people.
“The people just aren’t buying him. He needs to become a heel and just forget about it if Vince is gonna keep him hired. But if they’re gonna keep doing what they’re doing, then they need to turn him heel or get rid of him because he’s not gonna be an asset to the company and whoever he beats he’s gonna make them more popular just like Brock Lesnar. The more Brock Lesnar beat on him and bloodied him was the more the people got behind Brock.
“So, with that being said, if this would have been back in my day, Roman Reigns would either be a heel or be fired right now because he’s not getting the job done… Vince is trying to prove a point but he can’t prove it because it just ain’t gonna happen.”
You can listen to Fulton’s full interview on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show by clicking this link here.
Former WWE official Bruce Prichard recently dedicated an episode of his podcast, Something To Wrestle, to overlooking the WWE career of former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam. Prichard first discussed that RVD made his WWE TV debut back in 1987 as a fan:
“Rob told me, when I first met him. He said, “You know I was one of those people that came out of the audience and did one of Ted Dibiase’s ‘Will you do this for money’ deal,” Prichard explained.
“He actually did the ‘Kiss My Feet’ thing with Ted Dibiase where he got paid to kiss his feet. We actually went back and found the footage and it was Rob Szatkowski, so I thought that was really cool. He was a mega fan.”
Prichard also revealed that after seeing Van Dam get his start in WCW he seriously considered bringing him in to WWE:
“The first time I saw Rob Van Dam was actually with Dory Funk Jr, long before he was in ECW. Right about the time he was going to WCW. Rob Van Dam does the ‘Van Dam Deadlift’ where he takes two chairs and does the splits and then he lifts a barbell in between,” Prichard said.
“Extremely difficult to do and extremely impressive when someone does it. He had a unique look and had a different style, so watching Rob from day one thought that he was special and thought someone that can come to WWE and have a big niche following.”
RVD got his start with WWE in 2001 as a member of the Invasion storyline. Prichard said that he became a fan of RVD’s during this storyline when he saw his interactions with WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin – as he believes the ECW legend has great chemistry with the Texan:
“The Alliance stuff with Steve Austin and Rob Van Dam, to me, that was where I fell in love with RVD because I really didn’t know him that well, except superficially, but when we were doing stuff with Steve Austin and Steve was doing stuff with his watch and doing the ‘What?’ chant and looking at his watch, we’re shooting and I am telling Rob to act natural, react and just go with it because I wasn’t a big fan of scripts, so I would let the guys freestyle at times, and if it would work we would go with it,” Prichard said.
“So, Steve is putting his watch in his ear and RVD takes the watch and puts the watch up to his ear asking what it is he was listening to. It was real, and it was something that everybody wanted to do but they’re looking for a script, but I told Rob to just freestyle with it and it was good.
“Steve and Rob had a chemistry in the backstage vignettes where we thought that there may be something there. It was just good chemistry.”
You can listen to Bruce Prichard’s comments on Something To Wrestle by clicking this link here.
Seth Rollins On His Historic Intercontinental Title Feat
WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins recently took to Twitter to comment on himself completing a historic feat as Intercontinental Champ. Rollins noted that he was getting set to defend his title on a fourth continent in three weeks.
That doesn’t seem to be enough for The Architect, however, as he followed up by saying he wants even more:
Big Cass Takes Credit For Rusev’s SDL Win Over Daniel Bryan
On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Rusev defeated Daniel Bryan to qualify for the Money In The Bank Ladder Match in several weeks. Cass was not used on the show last night, but did do a post-show interview for WWE’s YouTube Channel to discuss his rival Bryan’s loss.
Cass took credit for Rusev defeating Bryan because of his assault on the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion after their match at Backlash. Check out what he had to say here:
On SmackDown Live last night, General Manager Paige barred Sonya Deville from ringside for Mandy Rose’s match against Becky Lynch. Deville revolted on Instagram by posting a picture of herself and Rose, asking who the hell Paige thinks she is for barring her from ringside.
Yesterday was NXT star Tomasso Ciampa’s 33rd birthday, and WWE Network’s Twitter account wished him a Happy Birthday while also saying he has a “black heart” – a play on his nickname. Ciampa then responded by posting screenshots of himself blocking the WWE Network Twitter account. Check it out here:
Former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley is back in the WWE fold but it doesn’t seem like his return has garnered as much attention as the company would’ve liked. Lashley seems to have formed an alliance of sorts with Braun Strowman as they recently took out Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn together at Backlash.
One fan on Twitter suggested that WWE turn Lashley heel as it would benefit his better in regards to a crowd reaction. The fan also noted that he’d like to see former United States Champion MVP return to be Lashley’s mouthpiece. MVP took to Twitter to respond to this possibility – simply replying with “intriguing”
Intriguing. RT @FredRichani: I'm a big Bobby Lashley fan, but he was never a strong babyface. The TNA Lashley shined as an arrogant monster who knew he could beat you up and there would be nothing you could do about it. Turn him heel and hire @The305MVP to be his mouthpiece. #Raw
Last night on SmackDown Live The Miz took on Jeff Hardy for a spot in the upcoming Money In The Bank Ladder Match. The Miz wound up winning the contest and qualifying for the bout.
WWE Stats & Info posted a very interesting fact about the pair on Twitter, revealing their match last night was only the second time ever they’d shared the ring together in one-on-one competition:
WWE and WCW Legend Vader revealed on Twitter that he recently underwent another heart surgery to repair an irregular heartbeat that put him at higher risk of heart attack or stroke. Vader noted the operation was a success:
Yesterday I had a surgery on my heart .My heart had shifted to an A-Fib irregular heart beat A person in a fib has substanily increased chance of Heart Attack &Stroke.The surgery was to put the HEART in normal sinus https://t.co/MQvHiGe0Rg was a success
Right out of the gate, Jericho dropped some interesting news about how he almost competed at the biggest event of the year for the sports entertainment company, WrestleMania 34.
He noted that he was the backup plan to be Bryan’s tag team partner at WrestleMania 34 in a match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
Originally, SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon was supposed to be Bryan’s partner but that idea was in jeopardy due to McMahon’s health problems leading up to the show.
If you recall, in March, just one month before WrestleMania 34, McMahon was dealing with acute diverticulitis and an umbilical hernia.
McMahon had an infection due to acute diverticulitis and was hospitalized for several days in Antigua as he was on vacation with his family before being flown back to a New York-area hospital, where he was being treated with heavy doses of antibiotics.
There was some concern that he would miss WrestleMania 34. Thus, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon reached out to Jericho about possibly replacing Shane in case he couldn’t work.
“A few weeks before WrestleMania, maybe three or four weeks, I get a call from Vince. And he’s talking about Shane and his appendix, or not his appendix, his diverticulitis, and he had an infection in his hand and he had… a staph infection and he had… a hernia. And he goes, ‘Listen, we don’t know if he can do ‘Mania.’ And he had somehow looked, or got someone to look at my schedule, and we had a Fozzy show that day… So he was like ‘I know you’re doing a Fozzy show, and you’re gonna watch WrestleMania with your fans,’ he goes, ‘what would you think about coming to New Orleans if Shane can’t do it?’”
At this point in time, Jericho was last seen on WWE television during a backstage segment with Elias at the 25 Anniversary episode of Monday Night Raw in January. He last wrestled in a WWE ring back in July of 2016.
Outside of WWE, Jericho made several surprise appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling including his match against Kenny Omega at the Wrestle Kingdom event at the Tokyo Dome.
This was a big match for Bryan as it was his first bout back since he had to retire from in-ring competition due to his history with concussions. However, after two years of fighting for his dream, he was medically cleared. Bryan chimed in by stating, “We’re in this stage now where they don’t tell the boys anything. So they keep all the secrets from the boys because they’re afraid all the boys are talking to the dirt sheets. And so I asked, cause when Shane called me and told me, he said ‘I’m in the hospital right now. I got diverticulitus while I was in Antigua, and then when they were giving me IVs I got a staph infection from the IVs, and then I have this hernia that’s coming out of my stomach… but don’t worry I’ll be ready for ‘Mania’…” Jericho continued by saying, “And it’s funny because we were looking, we were googling airports, and it was in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, like the most out of the way place. We were looking up airports close to Hampton Beach and how long is the charter to get there [New Orleans], and he [Vince] was like ‘Okay, you can make it right on time and we’ll give you a police escort, and you’ll basically have to go right into the ring.’ And I said ‘Listen, I’ve got no problem with that, and I know that Bryan has no problem with it. Kevin and Sami – especially Sami – are gonna have heart attacks calling a WrestleMania match in the ring.’ I mean, obviously we would think of some stuff beforehand, but like, I can do it. I don’t have a problem, so can you. We could do it now. But like, Sami is going to die of a frickin’ aneurysm is we do that!”
Former World Champion Eddie Edwards continues to be one of the best wrestlers in Impact Wrestling.
Throughout his time with the promotion, which started when he and Davey Richards decided to go to TNA back in 2014 after a successful run in Ring of Honor, Edwards has won several titles in the company including the World, X-Division, and Tag Team Championships.
Edwards recently spoke with SportsKeeda to talk about various topics. During this interview, he discussed Scott D’Amore and Don Callis being in charge of creative of Impact Wrestling and the future of the promotion.
“ I do. I have total confidence in what’s going on in the office right now. Between Anthem, Scott, Don, Sonjay and stuff, it’s a great combination. The lines of communication between the boys and the office are open. Everybody’s on the same page. You can’t have people pulling in different directions.
So right now, whether it’s one or two steps at a time, we’re all going in the same direction. I have full confidence in what the office is doing right now.”
The latest pay-per-view event that Impact Wrestling held was their Redemption show, which took place on April 22, 2018, in Orlando, Florida at Universal Studios. He was asked if this show was the start of a new regime for Impact.
“It’s a continuation of the regime we have right now. We’re all going in the same direction right now. Day by day, they want to make the product better. Bring it back to the heights it was at before and then pass and eclipse that. So, the Redemption pay-per-view showed everybody being on the same page. You could tell. Everybody wants to see the product exceed and excel.”
What are your thoughts on Edwards’ comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
Last month former WWE NXT Champion Drew McIntyre was called up to the main roster as a member of Monday Night RAW. Interestingly enough, he made his debut alongside Dolph Ziggler – who moved over to Monday Nights from SmackDown Live – in a tag team.
McIntyre has been expected to be a big singles star upon his main roster call-up by fans, so seeing him paired with Ziggler was a very interesting choice by WWE creative. In regards to who has been calling these shots, PWInsider‘s Mike Johnson reports it has been all Vince McMahon.
Vince reportedly made the call to bring McIntyre up from NXT and it was also his call to pair him up with Ziggler.
McIntyre previously worked for WWE back in 2007 when he was signed to a developmental deal. He went on to win the Intercontinental Championship before having a major drop-off in his career, subsequently pairing up with Jinder Mahal and Heath Slater to form Three Man Band (3MB).
He was released from the company in 2014 and returned to the independent circuit. Following stints with EVOLVE, IMPACT, and many others – McIntyre signed back with WWE in April of 2017 and was sent to NXT.
Discussion: How do you like the pairing of McIntyre and Ziggler? And where do you think WWE is going with the team?
There was one WWE Superstar who unfortunately suffered a minor injury this week.
As seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Baltimore, MD at the Royal Farms Arena on the USA Network, former WWE Tag Team Champion Xavier Woods took on former RAW Tag Team Champion Cesaro in a singles match.
During the match, Cesaro connected with a devastating uppercut to Woods that had him bleeding from his mouth. After the show, Woods decided to take to his official Instagram account to reveal that as a result of taking that uppercut, it made him bite his tongue and that’s the reason he was bleeding so much.
Woods wrote the following in the caption of this post on his account: “As a result of a nasty uppercut from @wwecesaro I have one hole and two partials in my tongue. Eating/talking the next few weeks should be fun.”
