Home Blog Page 1764

Ex-WCW Producer On Steve Austin’s Issues With Promos In WCW

Jon Fuentes
-
0

Ex-WCW feature producer Neal Pruitt has released another episode of his podcast, Neal Pruitt’s Secrets of WCW Nitro, and talked about several WCW related topics. One such topic covered WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s time with the company. Pruitt talked about Austin’s issues with bing nervous during interviews:

“I don’t think anybody ever wants to really expose their weaknesses, but when you do expose your weaknesses to someone that’s willing to help you, you can really excel. Not that I had anything to do with it…but [Austin] did tell us he had an issue with speaking [upon his arrival to WCW]. [He said] it was something he really needed to work on.

“Having been in the interview room for so long, [I know] that what really freaks people out is… it’s just not natural to look in the camera lens instead of somebody’s face. So it’s already a weird thing to do, and the intimidation factor creeps in for whatever reason. [Often] when the light goes on the camera, the personality goes off.

“I knew Stone Cold was uncomfortable with that – looking right in the camera. So I told him, ‘if you’re nervous about looking in the camera, don’t even look in the camera. These people don’t deserve your gaze’. So if you watch some of his earlier stuff when he had hair and he was on WCW Saturday Night, you’ll see that he’s not looking at the camera at all.

“He worked at his talent at talking, [and] so did Cactus Jack. When they would ride down the road together, they would never turn the radio on. They would just [practice their promos]. That’s how dedicated these people were at becoming professionals at what they did. And I really admire that, because I know that’s what it takes. It doesn’t come naturally to most people, but if you work at it, you can get it.”

Pruitt also tackled the rumors that WCW fed in “Goldberg” chants to their programming when he made his entrance:

“Sometimes some of it would be recorded, and we would mix that in to get the people excited. It didn’t happen all that much as far as the live shows went, but I know I would enhance some of the pay-per-view events.

“When I did the show for Deep South Wrestling – that’s where people like Luke Gallows, Kofi Kingston, MVP, Jack Swagger, The Miz and lots of [other] guys at WWE [came from] – I would always super-enhance the audio, as far as when the show aired on TV. I had a ‘roar’ track that I used underneath [the crowd noise], that I think really enhanced the show.”

You can listen to Neal Pruitt’s Secrets of WCW Nitro by clicking this link here.

Paul Heyman Praises Braun Strowman, Nia Jax Warns Women’s Chamber Competitors, Backlash News

Jon Fuentes
-
1

– Paul Heyman had some high praise for Braun Strowman over the weekend. After witnessing first-hand what Strowman was capable of at the Royal Rumble last month, Heyman wrote on Facebook,

“Just for the record, this is one seriously talented and credible contender. Braun Strowman’s upside is … dare I say … MONSTROUS!”

Heyman’s official Heyman Hustle website just posted a new batch of photos (courtesy fo photographer Bruno Miguel Silveira) from the Royal Rumble that are really worth checking out.

– WWE posted a video of Nia Jax cutting a promo on the competitors involved in the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber match. Jax is currently set to face first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble winner Asuka at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view (PPV), and if she wins she’ll be added to the RAW Women’s Title match at WrestleMana – making it a Triple Threat match:

– RAW exclusive PPV Backlash will go down on May 6th in Newark, New Jersey from the Prudential Center. WWE has announced tickets will go on sale for the event on February 24th.

John Morrison On Who He’d Like To Work With In WWE Today

Jon Fuentes
-
2

Former WWE Superstar John Morrison (also known as Johnny Mundo) recently did an interview with WSVN-TV Entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet in his backyard where he has his own wrestling ring. During the interview Morrison talked about what it was like to work with Ricochet and seeing him go to WWE:

“It’s bittersweet to see him go. I wrestled Puma/Ricochet/Trevor all over the world by all these different names. He’s one of the best in the business right now and I’m really excited to see what happens for him at WWE and see him on NXT. It’s sad to see him go but when he was a kid he grew up watching WWF and I think it’s something he had to do for himself.

“He had to get there and see what it was like for himself. I think he’s going to kick ass there… Everyone’s going to miss Puma. I actually teared up on that last episode when he walked away. It was emotional man.”

If Morrison were to return to WWE, there are a ton of talents on the roster that he’d be excited about working with:

“There’s a lot of cool matchups that are waiting for me in the WWE. I’d love to teach Roman Reigns how to work. Just kidding. Seth Rollins. Unfinished business with The Miz. It’d be fun to get back in there and maybe do some Dirt Sheet episodes with him. Me, Miz, Ziggler and Zack Ryder would have a hell of a faction I think. I’ve never really had a long program with Cena. That’d be a fun one. I have a feeling that Daniel Bryan will be back when he gets cleared.”

After Morrison and The Miz split up as a tag team in WWE during their early days, Miz has gone on to enjoy a tremendous amount of success with the company. He is a former WWE Champion, main evented a WrestleMania with John Cena and defeated him, and has won the Intercontinental Championship several times. None of this comes as a surprise to Morrison:

“I’m not surprised. The Miz is someone who people are usually like ‘I can’t believe how well he’s doing. I can’t believe this, I can’t believe that.’ But to me he’s someone who really always defined what it takes to becomes a successful public persona and in-ring entertainer and to me that’s being authentic. The Miz is always emphatically himself. He’s always The Miz. He’s in my wedding party.”

Over the years in his professional wrestling career Morrison has wrestled under several names. He regrets doing this simply because he doesn’t own any of them:

“I don’t own any of these names. I don’t own Johnny World, Johnny Mundo, John Morrison, Johnny Nitro, Johnny Blaze or Johnny Impact. None of it. If I had my career to do over again, I think I would wrestle under my real name John Hennigan because if there was some sort of brand test associated with professional wrestling I would hardcore fail that test because I have so many names it’s confusing to me even. I don’t know how to introduce myself to people on the phone depending on who I’m talking to.”

Morrison also discussed the heat that has has with Vampiro:

“He’s always going to be a turd cutter. Are you kidding me? I believe he’s going to be back for Season 4. Him and I and Kevin Cross, Fantasma, Tejano and Dr. Wagner have some unfinished shenanigans in AAA. Pretty much if you ask the entire wrestling world they will agree with the turd cutter assessment as far as Vampiro goes.”

Its been a hectic schedule for Lucha Underground in preparation for the promotion’s fourth season. Morrision discussed what to expect from the organization when it finally drops:

“This is going to be an insane schedule. They’re going to try to get Season 4 done in 5 weeks. The entire season. I’m not even sure how it’s going to be scheduled, that has yet to be completely announced but I think we are going to be taping 3 days a week and so we’re probably going to be knocking out 6 episodes a week.”

Shawn Michaels Explains Why He Took Creative Control Of His WrestleMania 24 Match Against Ric Flair

Jon Fuentes
-
2

WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels recently joined the “In This Corner” podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. One such topic was his WrestleMania 24 match against two-time WWE Hall Of Famer “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. The pair put on one of the best matches in WrestleMania history. It was the last match Flair would work inside of a WWE ring.

During his interview on the show, Michaels divulged that he took creative control over the match and choreographed it himself. He described himself as a “control freak”:

“Truth be told, when it came to that kind of stuff, I am a bit of a control freak. Emotionally, I just knew where I wanted–especially with that match, that might quite honestly it was my ‘love letter’ to Ric Flair. My way of trying to show him, not only the friendship that we have, but also the impact that he had on a 15-year-old me, and trying to convey that to him through a wrestling match, and knowing that I couldn’t be the only guy that he had that effect on. You hope that the other 80,000 fans out there get that; clearly everyone did, and the millions at home did.

“It’s sort of making that decision as a performer to say, look, this is something I want to do, please let me do it. It’s not because you don’t want them to do anything to mess it up, it’s your feelings and emotion, so you have to be the one that is driving that match if it makes any sense. That is why I was so adamant about that match. Honestly, that is how most of my matches were. I probably wrestled only one way too much from my heart than to my head, but honestly for me that is what made the difference in those matches, which was for me to do it in more from a 15-year-old fan in me.”

You can listen to Michaels’ interview on the “In This Corner” podcast by clicking here.

H/T Wrestling Inc for the transcriptions

ESPN Makes An Awkward Mistake In Announcing Ivory’s HOF Induction

Jon Fuentes
-
16

Earlier this morning ESPN broke the news that former WWE Women’s Champion Ivory would be inducted into the 2018 WWE Hall Of Fame class prior to WrestleMania 34. If you saw the announcement initially from ESPN on Twitter, you may have noticed an awkward error the company made. ESPN accidentally tagged former WWE Superstar Victoria in the post instead of Ivory.

The Tweet was deleted, but not before WrestleVotes could nab a screenshot of it:

Although Victoria, a former two-time Women’s Champion, is not part of the Hall Of Fame yet, she certainly deserves to be inducted one day. There are now rumors as of this writing of that happening this year.

More Information On WWE’s Possible Plans For Jeff Hardy’s Return

Jon Fuentes
-
11

Back in October former WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. A timeframe of six months was initially given for his return to the ring, meaning he would likely miss WrestleMania 34. With Matt Hardy now playing the “Woken” character on WWE TV since Jeff’s injury, many have been wondering how WWE will use the former WWE Champion once he returns.

Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live recently speculated that Jeff could possibly return using the “Brother NERO” character. With both Matt and Jeff using characters from their “Woken Universe” it’s hard not to see another run at the RAW Tag Team Titles in their futures. Jeff’s last appearance on WWE TV came on RAW 25 when he appeared in a backstage segment with WWE Superstars of the past.

Back in October Hardy posted this photo after undergoing surgery for his injured shoulder:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZz563fAc83/?utm_source=ig_embed

Chris Jericho On How Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg Affected His WrestleMania 33 Plans

Jon Fuentes
-
2

Former WWE Champion Chris Jericho recently took to his podcast, Talk Is Jericho, and discussed how Brock Lesnar and Goldberg’s feud with one another last year affected WWE’s plans for him at WrestleMania 33. Originally Jericho was supposed to feud with Kevin Owens for the Universal Title, and he would eventually win the strap from “KO” at WrestleMania:

“[I]t was in November [2016] maybe, Vince [McMahon] said, ‘Okay, at WrestleMania it’s you and Kevin Owens for the world title [Universal Title]. You’re gonna win the world title at WrestleMania,'” Jericho recalled. “‘Wow, winning the world title at WrestleMania?'”

Jericho would then immediately drop the title to Brock Lesnar at the next pay-per-view (PPV) which was Payback:

“[Vince] goes, ‘Yeah. You’ll lose it the next pay-per-view to Brock [Lesnar].’ I’m like, ‘That’s cool!’ And for me I’d never won the title as a babyface either, ever. It’s been six times but always as a heel,” said Jericho. “So this was kind of like, ya know, we’re not marks here, but it’s a pretty cool thing. Let’s be honest.”

After Goldberg defeated Lesnar at Survivor Series and WWE planned out a feud between the pair extending into WrestleMania 33, those plans of course changed:

“One week later Survivor Series happens, Brock versus Goldberg,” said Jericho. “Goldberg beats Brock in a minute. And that’s when Brock went, ‘I can work with this guy [Goldberg]. I want to work with him.

“I’ll lose in a minute, but only if I can beat him for the title at WrestleMania.’ And Vince had to make a decision: what’s the bigger box office? Ya know and obviously it was Brock and Goldberg, and Chris and Kevin take back seat.”

You can listen to Talk Is Jericho by clicking this link here.

Chris Jericho Tells The Story Of How He First Met Stone Cold Steve Austin

Jon Fuentes
-
1

Chris Jericho recently took to his podcast, Talk Is Jericho, and discussed several professional wrestling topics. One such topic was the hilarious story of how “Y2J” first met Stone Cold Steve Austin. This came during a time where Jericho worked in WCW and found himself sharing a plane with several WWE guys:

“I met [Austin] on a plane one time and [Austin] gave me the greatest line of all time. No, [Austin was not rude]. It was a great line! I was walking on the plane. It was one of those rare moments when you would see WWE and WCW on the same plane.

“And [Austin] walked by me and [Austin] said, ‘hey’. I only knew Steve Austin. I was like, ‘hey,’ he was like, ‘hey, there’s a gay guy on the plane.’ I said, ‘really?’ He goes, ‘yeah, give me a kiss and I’ll tell you who it is.'”

Later on Jericho would make the switch over to WWE and would join the ranks of Austin, The Rock, and Triple H. He found out right away that new heels weren’t allowed to call out guys such as Undertaker, Rock, or Austin in promos:

“I came in as a heel, so I had no problem. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to talk s–t about The Undertaker in a promo or talk bad about Steve Austin in a promo! That’s what heels do to babyfaces! Right? But I learned very quickly that that’s not what heels do when they first come in.

“I had no idea! Nobody ever taught me that in WCW. They didn’t even tell me how to bump and feed a comeback. I had been in WCW for three years and I had no idea what that even meant as crazy as it sounds right now.”

Jericho also discussed changing the way people saw him, coming from WCW as one of the main guys in the Cruiserweight Division:

“I knew I can’t win with [Triple H] and DX, and Rocky was always cool and [Austin] was in and out. [Austin was] always on your own, but [he was] always cool to me. But what I did was I worked really hard always, but I knew if I could get over with the bullpen, with the mid level guys, that would bleed up to the top.

“Bob Holly, those type of guys, JBL, Bradshaw at the time, working with those types, Rikishi, having great matches night after night, after night, with those guys, where I was programmed, word gets around, ‘hey, that guy’s not an asshole. You guys are talking s–t about him, but he’s really good and he’s a really good guy.’ That really helped to alleviate some of the tension that was there.”

“Y2J” also revealed that the original inspiration for “The Highlight Reel” came from Gene Okerlund:

“My initial idea was learning from one of the greatest, I don’t know what you would call him, backstage interviewers, was Gene Okerlund who could lead you through a backstage promo even if you didn’t know what you were doing. Right?

“My idea when I started the Highlight Reel was I wanted to be the Gene Okerlund, have guys that didn’t get promo time, and let me do an improv promo. Let’s see what they’ve got. Of course, that did not fly with Vince. He wanted an actual promo segment with top level guys.”

You can listen to Jericho’s full episode of Talk Is Jericho by clicking this link here.

Tyler Breeze Reveals How WWE Superstars Feel About Overseas Tours

Jon Fuentes
-
0

SmackDown Live Superstar Tyler Breeze recently did an interview with Sky Sports to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Breeze discussed overseas tours with WWE and how much he and his fellow Superstars enjoy visiting places such as Britain and Ireland:

“We don’t get to go there too often so when we do show up, the crowds are a little bigger and they’re very, very excited to see everything that they watch every week on TV in front of their faces, live. When we go over there we’re so excited because the crowds are so excited and you can’t help but feed off that energy and give it back.

“As soon as we finish those tours, we can’t wait to go back. We’re literally sitting here waiting to see what the schedule is going to be and what cities we’re going to be going to. It’s something that we get to look forward to. Some of those shows are so much fun.”

The English crowds in particular always come up with some interesting chants at WWE events. Oftentimes Breeze finds himself in the ring wondering what exactly they’re saying:

“They all have a little trait that stays with you. You almost have to get people to explain sometimes when the chants break out. You’ll be in the ring wondering what they’re saying. It’s a big thing over there and it’s great that people get into it that much. It’s all part of the atmosphere and the culture and it’s really cool to see people that into what we do.”

You can ready Tyler Breeze’s full interview with Sky Sports by clicking this link here.

Top British Boxer Appears for WWE Superstar Paige’s Family Owned Promotion (Video)

Jake Skudder
-
0

This past Sunday saw World Association of Wrestling (WAW) hold an event at Norwich’s Epic Studios, the site of WWE’s United Kingdom network show tapings back in 2017. WAW is the promotion owned and run by British wrestling legends the Knight family, whose most recognisable name is WWE’s Paige.

During the main event of the show British Boxing superstar Anthony Ogogo ran down to the ring and cleared house, helping the British Hooligans by hitting a pretty impressive Rock Bottom and Five Star Frog Splash.

Self confessed wrestling superfan Ogogo is one of the stars of British Boxing, he holds a professional record of 11 wins and 1 loss. Ogogo also saw mainstream success as a cast member of the BBC’s answer to Dancing With The Stars: Strictly Come Dancing, so this is potentially a major mainstream story for WAW in the United Kingdom.

Check out the full video below:

NXT Star Chad Lail Shows Off Nasty Injury (Photo), Carmella Gets Stuck In Hotel Room (Video)

Jon Fuentes
-
2

– WWE NXT Superstar Chad Lail recently took to Instagram to show off a nasty injury he suffered while training. His pinky finer seems to have bent the wrong way. Lail said in the caption of the photo:

“This ain’t a business for the weak. Tape me up and send me back to war @wwenxt #WWE #AWESOME #realMan“:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfAGcViAmz-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_ufi_test

– WWE recently posted another video on their YouTube channel as part of their “WWE Now” series in which they feature Carmella’s recent documentation on Instagram of getting stuck in her hotel room. Check it out:

205 Live Match Hits High YouTube View Count

Jake Skudder
-
4

This past week’s 205 Live bout between Kalisto and Lince Dorardo has (at the time of writing) hit 537,000 views on WWE’s official YouTube channel. When considering the fact that most 205 Live match replays average around 100-200k this can be considered somewhat of a win for the purple brand.

There has been a notable uptrend in match quality for the Tuesday night show over the past several weeks with fans describing the feel of the show as more akin to the Cruiserweight Classic. Recent rumors around Triple H’s involvement in 205 Live have added to the consensus that the show is in fact getting some much needed traction heading into Wrestlemania season.

This week’s episode also featured the 205 Live debut of Roderick Strong against Hideo Itami, last week’s episode also featured two great bouts in the form of Cedric Alexander vs Gran Metalik and TJP facing WWE UK competitor Tyler Bate.

ICW Square Go PPV Title Changes and Main Event Winner

Jake Skudder
-
0

This past Sunday saw ICW present their 7th annual Square Go from the The O2 ABC in Glasgow, Scotland.

The event saw Irish star ‘Session Moth’ Martina defeat Kasey to become the brand new ICW Women’s Champion, she will now defend against Mae Young Classic competitor Viper at tonight’s #ICWFightClub taping. ICW Undisputed Champion BT Gunn successfully defended his belt against former TNA star Bram, he will now face new Number 1 contender James Storm also as part of tonight’s Fight Club taping.

Stevie Boy became the seventh winner of the Square Go match, outlasting 29 other men. The Square Go is almost identical to a Royal Rumble match, 2 men start in the ring and a new competitor appears every 2 minutes, eliminations only occurring once a competitor has been thrown over the top rope and both feet have hit the ground. The only discernible difference is that 5 random competitors are given the opportunity to use a weapon of their choosing during the match.

Check out the rather strange rules video for the Square Go below, if you’re a fan of the film Battle Royale then you may get a kick out of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMZvJUH4_rk

PROGRESS Chapter 63 ‘Take Me Underground’ Results

Jake Skudder
-
0
PROGRESS’ 63rd Chapter event ‘Take Me Underground’ took place this past Sunday from the O2 Ritz in Manchester, England. The event featured some of the best matches on a UK card in quite some time, including a dream NJPW vs WWE bout between Zack Sabre Jr and Tyler Bate and a scintillating Tag Team title match between Havoc/Haskins and the Grizzled Young Veterans. Here are the full results:
Natural Progression Series V First Round Match – Drew Parker b. Spike Trivet
Charlie Morgan & Toni Storm b. Chakara & Nina Samuels
Mark Andrews b. Morgan Webster
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Tyler Bate
British Strong Style (Pete Dunne & Trent Seven) b. David Starr & Matt Riddle
PROGRESS Tag Team Title Match –  Jimmy Havoc & Mark Haskins (w/Vicky Haskins) b. Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson) (c)
PROGRESS Atlas Title Match – WALTER (c) b. Mark Davis
PROGRESS World Title Three Way Match –Travis Banks (c) b. Chris Brookes and TK Cooper

DEFIANT Wrestling vs IPW:UK Taking Place at Chain Reaction 2/18

Jake Skudder
-
0

DEFIANT Wrestling will be facing IPW:UK in a 5 on 5 match as part of the Chain Reaction PPV on Sunday February 18th, the event takes place from Manchester’s BEC Arena.

IPW:UK invaded DEFIANT during the fourth episode of Loaded, DEFIANT’s weekly YouTube show. Austin Aries and Mark Haskins made their way to the ring to declare that IPW:UK would be taking over the Loaded programme, leading to this eventual 5 on 5 bout with a Loser Leaves Town Stipulation; if DEFIANT win then IPW:UK owner Billy Wood is banished from Loaded, however if IPW:UK win then former WWE Intercontinental champion and DEFIANT GM Stu Bennett will find himself out of a job.

Check out DEFIANT’s show for free each and every Friday on their YouTube channel, it features some of the best performers from the UK independent scene taking on international stars such as Mike Bailey, Austin Aries and David Starr.

New Japan Legends Announced for OTT Scrappermania IV, Possible Implications for New Japan’s G1

Jake Skudder
-
0

Irish promotion Over The Top Wrestling (OTT) has announced the first two matches for their upcoming Scrappermania IV show. Scrappermania is OTT’s Wrestlemania, it is the biggest wrestling show in Ireland and will again be held in Dublin’s National Stadium. These two matches are more than worth of the honor, as Keith Lee will be taking on Minoru Suzuki and Jeff Cobb will be facing Tomohiro Ishii.

The speculation following these two match announcements is that both Keith Lee and Jeff Cobb are being looked at as possible entrants in this year’s G1 Climax tournament. Jeff Cobb has already made his debut for New Japan as part of 2017’s World Tag League tournament where he teamed with Michael Elgin (he was originally scheduled to team with Matt Riddle). Keith Lee has yet to make his way over to NJPW but he does have the pedigree for a run over in Japan, having faced Tomohiro Ishii in an absolute barnburner back at Rev Pro’s Global Wars 2017 as well as his incredible runs in PROGRESS, EVOLVE and PWG.

Tickets for OTT’s Scrappermania will be available to purchase as of March 2nd.

 

PROGRESS Confirm Dahlia Black as Their First Ever Full Time Female Commentator

Jake Skudder
-
0

PROGRESS Wrestling has announced that longtime Women’s roster member Dahlia Black will become a full time member of the promotion’s commentary team.

Dahlia is a member of the popular South Pacific Power Trip stable alongside Travis Banks and partner TK Cooper. The SPPT have seen themselves rise from the tag team mid card of the PROGRESS roster to fully fledged main event stars, this past weekend saw Banks and Cooper compete for the PROGRESS World Title. Both TK Cooper and Dahlia also appeared on WWE’s Axxess shows last year as part of Wrestlemania weekend.

The company has touted Dahlia as the “1st full time female commentator in wrestling” and whilst this may not be strictly accurate (Alison Danger worked as a commentator for Ring of Honor) it is certainly a huge achievement for Dahlia and offers an extra dynamic to their on demand content.

ICW Legends Congratulate Drew McIntyre on Hall of Fame Induction

Jake Skudder
-
0

Former NXT Champion Drew McIntyre will be inducted into the ICW Hall Of Fame later this evening. The icon of Scottish wrestling helped grow and define Insane Championship Wrestling into the phenomenon they are today.

McIntyre (known as Galloway on the independent scene) had two stints for the company, his first back in 2006 when he appeared at the company’s inaugural event and became their first ever Heavyweight Champion and his second followed his 2014 release from WWE. Drew’s run from 2014-2017 completely reignited his career and fundamentally changed the course of ICW’s already incredible success story.

Two of ICW’s biggest stars Lionheart and Wolfgang took to Twitter to congratulate the ‘Chosen One’ for his many accomplishments. Wolfgang, who is currently a member of the WWE United Kingdom roster paid special tribute to the legend, stating that “He was there my first day of training in 03 Without him laying the ground work before leaving in 07 returning in 14 to put Scotland on the world map we may never have got this far.”

https://twitter.com/LionheartUK/status/961266981797289984

https://twitter.com/DMcIntyreWWE/status/961299107288674304

 

Sasha Banks vs Bayley Confirmed for Raw Tonight

Chris Stephens
-
5

Mondy Night Raw General Manager, Kurt Angle, has signed a match between Bayley and Sasha Banks for tonight.

While Angle claims the match will be “friendly competition”, there are signs Bayley and Banks’ friendship is breaking down. After all, Banks eliminated Bayley from the 1st ever women’s Royal Rumble last month.

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Sasha Banks and Bayley have wrestled each other in single’s action on 12 prior occassions. 10 of those matches took place in NXT, while the other 2 took place last year on Raw.

In NXT, Bayley won 7 of 10 matches against Banks including their 2 matches for the NXT Women’s Championship. On the main roster, Banks defeated Bayley on the March 3rd, 2017 Raw from Chicago but Bayley beat Banks in a #1 contenders match for the Raw women’s championship on July 24th, 2017 Raw from Washington.

Ivory Announced for WWE Hall of Fame

Chris Stephens
-
6

Ivory has been announced as the latest member of the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.

Ivory’s Career in Wrestling

Lisa Mary Moretti (aka Ivory) got her start in pro-wrestling in 1986 when she auditioned for the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling television show. Despite having no prior wrestling experience, Moretti was one of the women chosen. The Netflix series “GLOW” is based on the experiences of women who were on the show.

After training for six weeks, Moretti adopted the ring name Tina Ferrari and performed on the show. GLOW ended in 1992 and she would wrestle sparingly with other promotions after. In 1999, however, she returned to pro-wrestling in a big way when she signed with WWE. The promotion would rename her “Ivory”.

Ivory was the perfect heel woman in WWE’s Attitude Era. She would win the WWE (then WWF) women’s championship on 3 occasions before opting not to renew her contract with the company in 2005.

The 56-year old now runs a pet-sitting and grooming business in Washington State.

Ivory joins Bill Goldberg and the Dudley Boyz in the Class of 2018.

The 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place on Friday night, April 6th from New Orleans during WrestleMania 34 weekend.

AJ Styles: Ronda Rousey Could Be The Next Kurt Angle In WWE

Staff
-
14

TMZ caught up with WWE Champion AJ Styles over the weekend and asked him about Ronda Rousey joining the promotion. Styles, widely considered one of the top pro wrestlers in the world, has high expectations for Rousey inside the squared circle. Notably, he compared Rousey to Kurt Angle, who made the jump from Olympic wrestling to WWE back in 1998.

“Let me tell you about someone who came in kinda like Ronda did and learned [snaps fingers] like that,” Styles said. “Kurt Angle! I don’t know if you remember Kurt coming in like that and went straight to the top.”

Styles put over Rousey’s athletic credentials, claiming that she’ll be a quick learner who has the potential to learn pro wrestling like Angle famously did during his rookie year.

“Now he was an Olympic Champion but he didn’t have the name recognition that Ronda has. Ronda though, she’s an athlete man. She can adapt, that’s what she does. She’ll learn quick. She’ll be a sponge. She will be up there with the Kurt Angles and everyone else that has gone into the Hall of Fame.”

The Phenomenal One named Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks as opponents he’d like to see Ronda Rousey work with You can check out Styles’ comments about Ronda Rousey joining WWE here:

Dean Ambrose Update, Spoiler For Tonight’s RAW & Elimination Chamber

Staff
-
8

– RAW Superstar Dean Ambrose has been out of action since December after undergoing surgery to repair a torn triceps. Ambrose was spotted in Birmingham, Alabama over the weekend, according to PWInsider, most likely to get an update on his recovery.

At the time of his procedure, WWE.com noted that he would be out of action for nine months. The company typically overestimates recovery times, but he is not expected back in time for WrestleMania on April 8th.

– Tonight’s edition of WWE RAW will feature a “Second Chance Fatal 4 Way” match, with the winner qualifying for next weekend’s Elimination Chamber match.

Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Matt Hardy and Apollo Crews will battle for the final Chamber pod, but it appears WWE.com spoiled the result of that match over the weekend.

Several fans sent in word that Finn Balor was featured as one of the Elimination Chamber participants, so expect him to emerge victorious on RAW.

Tickets Now On Sale For MLW: Spring Break (Mar. 8)

Staff
-
0
TICKETS ON SALE THIS MORNING AT 10AM ET FOR MLW’S MARCH 8TH RETURN AT MLWTICKETS.COM
ORLANDO – Tickets go on sale this morning at 10am ET at MLWTickets.com for Major League Wrestling’s next event, MLW: Spring Break ’18.
College spring break kicks off with MLW: Spring Break ’18 featuring a night of pro wrestling and partying! Highlighted by the semi-finals of the World Heavyweight Championship and some exciting new MLW additions to the roster! MLW will return to Gilt Nightclub in Orlando, FL on Thursday night March 8th.
Don’t forget to set a reminder to ensure you get your tickets today for MLW: Spring Break ‘18.
Ticket prices range from $15-$45 with a limited number of “VIP Packages” also available.
Matches and wrestlers will be announced in the coming days and weeks at MLW.com.
MLW: Spring Break ’18 is an all ages event.
GILT is located at 740 Bennett Rd. in Orlando.
Dress code: There is no dress code for this event. If you stay for the after party at GILT there is a dress code of no hats, shorts or tank tops.
Parking: The venue has a parking lot. Space is available on a first come, first serve basis. There is a small fee for parking at the venue’s lot. Valet parking is also available at GILT.
MORE ABOUT MLW:
Major League Wrestling (MLW®) is a sports media holding company with a focus on professional wrestling sporting events/programming, digital content and ancillary entertainment.

Betting Odds For WrestleMania 34 Headliner Revealed

Roderick Stedman
-
4

Rumours and speculation have spread over the last few months about what matches will make up the WrestleMania card in April.  And now that things are starting to fall into place, with Shinsuke Nakamura winning the Royal Rumble, betting odds for which match will mainevent WWE’s biggest PPV of the year have been revealed.

The odds have been provided by Grosvenor Casino’s who also have betting options on Daniel Bryan’s next match, the end of Asuka’s winning run in WWE, as well as when Carmella will cash-in her Money In The Bank contract.

The conditions, stipulations, and odds can be found below:

Exact combination of participants in the last match on the show

Bet refers to the exact combination of participants advertised to compete in the match that starts last on the show. Settlement will be based on the card as advertised 24 hours before the start of the specified event and will disregard any previous or subsequent announcements as much as the match actually takes place. Impromptu/unannounced matches will not be taken into consideration for settlement purposes. Bets will remain valid in case of multi-person matches and regardless of any changes to previously advertised match stipulations as much as these do not involve a change from the advertised participants. Stakes will be refunded if the event is cancelled, moved for more than 7 days than the originally scheduled date and/or moved to a different location. Bets placed after any announcement on any WWE/official social media platform will be declared void. No refunds on non starters. Others on request.

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns -150

Any Women’s Match +100

Any Match Featuring The Undertaker +100

AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura +200

Any Match Featuring The Rock +300

Braun Strowman & Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon +300

Any Match Featuring Daniel Bryan +500

Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar +800

Brock Lesnar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura +1500

Opinion:

It seems most likely that Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns will headline, unless The Undertaker returns; but WWE wouldn’t repeat an Undertaker WrestleMania mainevent retirement two times in a row, would they?

Personally, I’d like to see Asuka headline WrestleMania but I think that’ll be in the books for 2019, and it’d be an opportunity for her to end her winning streak.

I also love that Brock Lesnar vs Shinsuke Nakamura has been thrown in, just in case!

EC3 Explains Why He Decided To Depart From Impact Wrestling

Andrew Ravens
-
7

Former Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion EC3 has addressed his decision to leave the promotion.

Newsweek.com has an article up looking at Impact Wrestling’s new management, several talents departing and how they will overcome these obstacles this year.

Alongside Bobby Lashley, EC3 was able to get out of his contract early, which in turn allowed him to sign with WWE. The sports entertainment company placed him in NXT, where he made his first appearance on the WWE Network at NXT Takeover: Philly last month.

“My decision to leave Impact had nothing to with their business or finances and everything with me wanting to challenge myself to something new. Leaving Impact was a very difficult decision as I had six months left on a very lucrative and talent-friendly contract. Anthem lived up to that contract and always treated me with the utmost respect as a businessman and a person.”

1...1,7631,7641,765...3,097Page 1,764 of 3,097