WWE Superstar John Cena recently did an interview with a BBC talk show and talked about a variety of topics. Association football (soccer) expert Mark Lawrenson asked “The Leader Of The Cenation” who his favorite soccer player was. Cena named the only professional footballer he knows, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpCWNQUusBA
“If I had to name some famous footballers, I would start and end with Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s it.”
Cena noted that when he worked a WWE live event in London he was able to visit the Spurs stadium and walked on the pitch. When asked which position he’d like to play if he was a soccer player, Cena claimed he’d like to remain on the bench because he isn’t much of a runner:
“If I were to play myself, I would be on the bench because I have watched a few games, and it is a lot of running – I don’t run very well, or very far. I think being an inspirational coach might be my best role.“
– There have been rumors circulating that an XFL-like relaunch could be in the works from Vince McMahon. Deadspin reached out to WWE, and although they didn’t confirm an XFL relaunch specifically, they did admit McMahon is venturing out to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including football.” WWE Superstar Rusev took to Twitter to joke about the rumored XFL return:
– During last night’s (Sat. December 16, 2017) NXT Live Event in Largo, Florida, Hideo Itami wrestled his final match for NXT before shipping out for 205 Live this Tuesday. Itami took to Twitter to say his final goodbye to the NXT brand:
– For the past several weeks jokes have been made from Finn Balor about being “over” after rumors of Vince McMahon canceling a planned Brock Lesnar vs. Balor match at the Royal Rumble because Vince doesn’t think Balor is “over” enough. Now WWE is selling a shirt that says “Balor Club – Forever,” with some letters highlighted in red in which they spell the word “over.” Check it out:
– triple j posted a video of WWE Superstar John Cena testing out his voice acting skills by trying to do the voices of various characters such as Shrek, Marge from The Simpsons, and many more. Check it out:
The Big Show was recently interviewed by Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard to talk about a number of professional wrestling topics. The former WWE and WCW World Champ discussed the possibility of working on commentary for WWE in the future, if he’d go work on the independent circuit, WWE’s tendency to rush storylines, and Kane vs. Braun Strowman. You can check out the highlights here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyNWuPIKQ_c
Possibly working as a commentator for WWE in the future:
“That’s definitely a possibility. That’s something I’ve discussed quite heavily with Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and JBL. I need to sit down with Vince and Hunter to see what’s next for the Big Show. Vince is all about giving opportunity, and Hunter is, too. Doing color commentary to help get the talent over is not something I’m opposed to doing. I could speak from my experience, but my number one goal would be to highlight why you should pay attention to what you are seeing in the ring.”
If he’d work on the indies:
“That’s never crossed my mind, and it’s something I’ve never been asked. But let’s be clear–I don’t have the talent that Cody Rhodes has. I think Cody is one of the most underrated and underused talents that we ever let go. I was a huge fan of Cody, his ideas, and what he could have brought to the table, and I’m so happy that his success outside of WWE has been so good. Sometimes in this business, you have to go away to come back. You have to find out who you are.
“For me, at this stage in the game, I’m enjoying helping the next generation. I did everything I could to pass the torch to Braun. I had a hip resurfaced a couple months ago, so Vince and Hunter want me to finish on my main goal, which is getting healthy. Then we’ll discuss my future. There are a lot of projects I want to do with producing and acting outside of wrestling. As far as an indie run, I don’t know, but you never say never.”
WWE’s tendency to rush storylines and Kane vs. Braun Strowman:
“Sometimes, when stories are rushed or put together too fast, people can’t enjoy them. That’s the only criticism I have with our industry right now, it’s really tough to build stories like we used to. The writing was on the wall for my fight with Braun Strowman, because he looked like my replacement as the next dominant giant. When I came out in ’95, even though it was part of the storyline, I was known as the next evolution of Andre, the next giant. I was that young, athletic, trash-talking monster.
“That was my introduction to the industry, and I was able to build on that. Braun Strowman is the next evolution of that monster. He’s athletic and explosive. I think Kane is fantastic, but I don’t think people were ready for the angle between Kane and Braun or their match. Technically, psychologically, mechanically, there is nothing wrong with the matches, but people don’t like the story of the two opponents in the match. The crowd hasn’t been able to get into it yet, but with social media and our business, criticism is going to be a lot more prevalent.”
You can read The Big Show’s full interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard by clicking here.
Former WWE and IMPACT Wrestling star Ken Anderson was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Anderson discussed if politics were involved in his WWE release, what The Undertaker warned him about before he switched brands in WWE, and opened up about his Vicodin dependency in the past. You can check out the highlights here:
If politics was behind his WWE release:
“There was [a little bit of politics going on with his WWE departure], but anytime I sit and try to figure out… I want the students [at The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling] to learn from my mistakes as well as my successes and anytime I get a chance to open up and share stuff that I look [at] as missteps in the [pro wrestling] business, I try to share it with them,” Anderson said. “The big thing is that I was getting a really good push and I always tried to maintain that humility, try to be as humble as I possibly could, I know it all could be taken away from me tomorrow, but at the same time, you start to believe your own bulls–t a little bit.
“Chris Benoit, when Chris Benoit did what he did, for some reason, I felt like the entire world needed to know what Ken Anderson felt about that and I went on some news talkshows and things like that. And then, the whole steroids thing, which I felt was a huge misconception. People knew part of the story, but not the entire story and if you tell your side of the story, then you’re being defensive. But if you say nothing at all, you allow those people to fill in the spots.
“That’s what happens. It was that kind of stuff. When I went over to RAW, I sort of for some reason felt like, ‘oh, I’ve already earned that respect. That respect will just carry over with me [from SmackDown]’ and I didn’t take the time to humble myself again and start off as the new guy.”
The Undertaker’s warning to him backstage before flipping brands:
“And my style, I always tried to play it as a real fight as much as possible. If you watch UFC, nobody ever takes a crisp flatback bump. Guys fall into the ropes sometimes. You get punched [and] you land on your ass. You pop back up. I would also cover up a lot. Some of the guys striking me, I wouldn’t just give them the old school, clean punch. And they punch you and you put your head right back in the same spot or if someone chops you, I wouldn’t do that.
“And I remember Taker pulling me aside one day and he was like, ‘keep doing that stuff because it’s unique and it sets you apart,’ but he said, ‘I’m telling you now that you’re going to get over to RAW and there are people that you’re going to come into contact with that aren’t going to appreciate that. They’re going to think that you’re being difficult to work with,’ and instead of taking his advice, I just kept doing what Ken Kennedy was doing over on SmackDown and tried to open myself up. And I think that people, certain people, thought that I was difficult to work with, covering up and things like that.”
His Vicodin dependency issues in the past:
“Yeah, I would say when I was in WWE, I got into the pills a little too much. Yeah. I was really good at keeping it on the DL. Only a certain handful of people knew about it and I was able to keep that really quiet. It wasn’t public knowledge that Ken Anderson was a partier. But, yeah, I did. I regret it. Pain pills. All of it. Mostly the pain pill, Vicodin, was my vice just because I was able to function. You take a couple of ‘vikes’, especially when you’re running that hard that long, on the road five days a week. When it started becoming a problem, my ex-wife came to me with a piece of paper and she said, ‘you’ve spent $35,000 this year on Vicodin.’ No, I’m not kidding you. I’m not kidding you.
“I would order 1,000 ‘vikes’ at a time and I’d go through them in a couple of weeks. I was also giving them out to my friends. I was good at sharing. $35,000. How stupid is that? Do you know what? Interestingly enough, the WWE at one point, I remember I had surgery on my shoulder, I believe, and I was actually, when I came out of that surgery, I was in a lot of people. I could have done with some pain pills and Doc Andrews, he was very conservative.
“He gave me 20 or 30 10s and I went through those in a couple of days. And then, I called him back for a refill. Then he gave me like 10 more. I went through those right away. I went back. I was like, ‘I’ll get one more refill out of him’ and that ‘one more refill’ turned into Johnny Ace calling me. He said, ‘Kenny, they think you’ve got a pain pill problem and they’re sending you to rehab.'”
You can listen to Anderson and Austin’s full conversation on The Steve Austin Show by clicking here.
Alexa Bliss is steadily approaching a milestone as RAW Women’s Champion. “Little Miss Bliss” is currently in her second reign as RAW Women’s Champ, and that reign has lasted a total of 110 days thus far. If she can hold on to the title through Wednesday she’ll surpass former RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair’s record of 113 days and become the longest reigning RAW Women’s Champion of all time.
Bliss’ first run as champion lasted approximately 112 days, missing out on the record by just one day. If she were to lose the title on RAW for any reason she will have missed out on the record by a day or two for the second time in her career. Bliss also has a shot at making even more history in her current reign.
If she can hang on to the belt for the next three and a half weeks she will have the longest combined reigns of any other woman since the inception of the RAW Women’s Championship. This would be an incredible feat after holding the title only twice, as opposed to someone like Charlotte who has won it four times.
Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega are set to have one of, if not the biggest match in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s history on January 4th at Wrestle Kingdom 12. During a recent interview with Yahoo Sports in Japan Jericho alluded to not only potentially having multiple matches with ‘The Cleaner’ Kenny Omega but also not ruling out other matches for New Japan going forward.
Japanese wrestling writer Chris Charlton recently transcribed the interview with Jericho and the following statement speaks volumes: “Ive said maybe me and Kenny will never happen again. But I never said I’d only do one match. I never said this would be my last match with New Japan. Wait and see”
Whilst this could just be another promotional tactic from Jericho it is worth considering that with New Japan’s upcoming ‘United States Expansion’ and their ongoing growth with AXS TV he could be around for far longer than just the Tokyo Dome on January 4th.
Jericho 'Ive said maybe me and Kenny will never happen again. But I never said I'd only do one match. I never said this would be my last match with New Japan. Wait and see'
Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wresting tag team War Machine seem to have made their final appearance in ROH. During the company’s recent television tapings the team appeared to ‘bow to the crowd’ following a loss to Leon St. Giovanni and Shahdom Ali, signalling an imminent departure from Ring of Honor.
Rumors are now circulating as to where the team will be heading next, whilst NXT is certainly a possibility; Rowe is engaged to recently called up Sarah Logan and Hanson trained Sasha Banks, it is nowhere near confirmed and there is a good chance that the team are looking to establish themselves in New Japan full time or be readily available for the planned NJPW ‘American Expansion’ in the coming months.
The UK has been at the forefront of the wrestling scene throughout 2017, some of the hottest names in the United Kingdom have been signed to the WWE both on the main roster and the dedicated UK division.
It’s interesting to note that some talents have also been making their way from the main roster to perform at special one off events on the UK independent scene, Kassius Ohno and Noam Dar both performed for Insane Championship Wrestling earlier this year and now another RAW main roster star is set to make his way to Preston City Wrestling (PCW).
Apollo Crews was once a mainstay on the UK independents as Uhaa Nation, he has now been confirmed for a place in PCW’s Road to Glory event on February 10th. The company sent out a tweet thanking the WWE, Triple H and William Regal specifically for making the deal happen.
With Wrestlemania season fast approaching WWE will be looking to finalise their inductees into the Hall of Fame in April 2018.
It looks as though 5 names have already been leaked for the 2018 ceremony, blogger Brad Sheppard (who is well regarded and broke the potential XFL revival story) has revealed that the following names will be confirmed for a New Orleans induction:
Goldberg – The biggest home grown talent in WCW will finally be making his way to the WWE Hall of Fame following his short Universal Title run earlier this year
Bam Bam Bigelow – Long overdue an induction, Bam Bam will be the posthumous inductee for 2018
Ivory – One of the most underrated talents from WWE’s Attitude Era Ivory will be making her way to the Hall in 2018
Dudley Boyz – Arguably the most decorated tag team in professional wrestling history, the Dudleys will finally be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018
Kid Rock – There’s always a celebrity
Are you happy with the potential class of 2018? Who would you like to see inducted?
In a post on social media on Saturday addressing sexual assault, former WWE Women’s Champion Melina Perez revealed that she felt suicidal after being raped.
In response to a tweet from comedian Josh Wolf on actor Matt Damon’s controversial comments about sexual misconduct (in which Damon said that not all allegations should be handled the same way), Perez shared that she got raped in the past.
Been raped, been grabbed, been cornered and told things that a guy wants to do to me even though I told him to stop. All unwanted. All made me feel helpless, uncomfortable & scared of what's going to happen next. Different levels but ALL WRONG regardless.
A short while later, Perez posted a blog about her tweet on Instagram and Facebook saying that she felt suicidal after being raped.
“Granted being cornered to be harassed & being grabbed didnt lead me to want to commit suicide like rape did but all were life altering,” Perez wrote.
“All made me feel like I had no power, I wasn’t safe, I had no value and I wasn’t a human being. That I am simply a thing. My worth, my purpose, my existence altered. If I say anything I’m a liar, exaggerating or looking for attention. So many suffer this helplessness in silence. Which I did for years.”
Perez, however, declined to give specifics as she only wants to educate people on the subject of sexual assault.
“I’m not looking to point fingers, I want to educate people on the subject, be here for victims and get those suffering silence on the path to recovery. Sexual assault doesn’t just happen to women. Like @safehorizon posted on Twitter:
“Sexual assault doesn’t discriminate and neither should we. #MeToo has to include women of color, immigrants, LGBTQ, people living with disabilities, children and teenagers, the elderly, and yes, men and boys.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcyKpgVjPPZ/
This is not the first time in which Perez has addressed suicide and sexual assault as she touched on both subjects back in April during a podcast interview on how she dealt with online bullying. Perez said she watched the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why and the drama tracing factors including online bullying and sexual assault which led to a teenage girl committing suicide brought back painful memories.
“That was my experience as an adult, that’s the sad thing,” Perez said. “Now that I’m reaching 40, I have better awareness and ways of coping. In my 20s, I couldn’t see things as clearly, be as articulate and process as much.
“I can only imagine what it would be like to go through that in my teens, how much more insane the emotions,” Perez said.
There was a lot of concern about Justin Credible when he posted an alarming video this past summer. WWE stepped in and offered him a chance to go to rehab in Tampa Bay, Florida. Credible resurfaced on social media last month and thanked WWE for getting his life back on track.
Last night, Justin Credible showed up at a show put on by Blitzkrieg Pro Wrestling in Enfield, CT. Credible rushed the ring and demanded a microphone. Credible was visibly stumbling around and slurring his words.
The wrestlers can also be heard asking whether this was a shoot or not. The promoter for the event then got involved and told Credible that he was his hero growing up and now he is a disgrace. The promoter added that he asked Credible not to show up tonight because he reeked of alcohol and is not sober, despite telling everyone that he is.
Credible eventually left the ring, only to return a few minutes later to try and get a microphone again. He was once again denied and finally left.
WWE Clash of Champions 2017 airs this Sunday on the WWE Network from the TD Garden in Boston, MA. Every title on the SmackDown brand will be on the line. Mojo Rawley will face Zack Ryder on the Kickoff Show. Here are 5 predictions for WWE Clash of Champions 2017:
Gable & Benjamin Will Win The Tag Titles
Photo Credit: WWE.com
This match was originally supposed to be a Triple Threat, but Rusev and Aiden English earned their way into the match after defeating New Day on the December 5th edition of SmackDown.
Gable and Benjamin have had their shot against The Usos before but they were unable to cash in. There will be four Superstars in the ring at all times, so I can see Gable or Benjamin winning the match with a pinfall over Aiden English or Rusev.
The Usos deserve to hold onto the titles for a long time, but WWE likes to flip-flop the tag titles. It would be silly if the New Day recapture the titles so quickly after dropping them to The Usos. The two teams are just coming off of a long feud.
Rusev and Aiden English are a fun team and I wouldn’t mind seeing them steal a victory in this match. It would at least be something new on SmackDown. I think Gable and Benjamin make the most sense to walk out of this match victorious.
Charlotte Will Escape With The Women’s Championship
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Charlotte will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship tomorrow night against Natalya in a Lumberjack match. The Riott Squad, Carmella, Tamina, Naomi and Lana will surround the ring.
On this past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown, Charlotte faced Ruby Riot. Natalya was on commentary for the match, but she wound up attacking Charlotte at ringside and Ruby Riott was disqualified.
The Riott Squad then beatdown Charlotte and launched her into the barricade. The trio was about to slam the steel steps on top of her when Naomi made her her return. Naomi chased off Riott, Logan and Morgan to the top of the entrance ramp. The remaining Lumberjacks then attacked the Riott Squad from behind.
I don’t see a scenario where Charlotte loses the title here. There will definitely be chaos throughout this match and the Lumberjacks will brawl with each other. I’m sure some of them will attack Charlotte at some point. There have also been rumors of a women’s Royal Rumble for some time now. It will be interesting to see if that comes to fruition over the next few weeks as the Royal Rumble PPV is next month.
Carmella does still have her MITB contract and maybe tomorrow night is the night that she finally cashes in. I still think that the most likely outcome is that Charlotte retains after the Lumberjacks take each other out ringside.
Dolph Ziggler Will Take The Pinfall
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Baron Corbin will defend his United States Championship against Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler tomorrow night at Clash of Champions. Dolph Ziggler was a late addition to this match and it seems obvious that he is going to be the Superstar that gets pinned on Sunday.
If Bobby Roode pins Ziggler to win the title, Baron Corbin can complain that he was never pinned to the lose the title. If Corbin pins Ziggler, Bobby Roode can wiggle his way into another shot at the title because he was never pinned.
Everything about this match is wrong and I have very little interest in it. Roode is boring as hell as a face on SmackDown. Corbin looks like a monster, but every time he gets rolled up in a match I think he is going to lose. Dolph Ziggler is a terrific in-ring performer, but it seems like his purpose now is just to make the new Superstars look good during their matches. I think Corbin will wind up retaining at PPV and I’m confident he will pin Dolph Ziggler to do so.
AJ Styles Will Overcome Mahal & The Singh Brothers
Photo Credit: WWE.com
AJ Styles will defend his WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal tomorrow night at Clash of Champions. The rematch was originally supposed to happen on an episode of SmackDown, but Mahal pushed it back to the PPV.
The Singh Brothers tried to convince AJ Styles that they no longer were associated with Mahal after he attacked them on a recent episode of SmackDown. AJ didn’t buy it and wound up beating down Samir and Sunil Singh this past Tuesday night as Mahal looked on from the entrance ramp.
AJ Styles should hold onto the title until WrestleMania. The only reason I can see WWE giving the title back to Mahal is if they want to have Cena versus Mahal at WrestleMania 34 for the WWE Championship. I’d much rather see AJ Styles have a dominant title run until we get to April 8th, 2018.
As for Jinder Mahal, I thought all along that this would have worked better if he was the United States Champion. The whole thing would have made much more sense and I would have enjoyed it more. I honestly wouldn’t even care if Mahal became the United States Champion next Tuesday night on SmackDown. It would be more interesting that what is going on with that title now. I think it is time for AJ Styles to be in the main event every week on SmackDown and for Jinder Mahal to slide back to the midcard for now.
Owens & Zayn vs Orton & Nakamura Will End In Controversy
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will face Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE Clash of Champions this Sunday. Shane McMahon announced that he will be the special guest referee for this match and that if Owens and Zayn lose, they will be fired from all WWE. SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan announced on this past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown that he will serve as a second referee in the match.
It seems obvious that it will and the storyline will continue after Sunday’s PPV. Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye recently on SmackDown. It all started when Shane McMahon invaded RAW with the SmackDown roster before Survivor Series. The SmackDown Commissioner failed to inform the SmackDown GM of his plan to invade RAW.
Owens and Zayn have been a thorn in Shane McMahon’s side as of late. Owens brutally attacked Vince McMahon back in September. This led to Shane McMahon facing Owens at WWE Hell in a Cell. Sami Zayn interfered in that match to save his best friend, Kevin Owens. Zayn and Owens were then left off of Team SmackDown for Survivor Series.
Owens and Zayn interfered in the Survivor Series main event and Orton and Shane chased the two Superstars off. Since then, Shane McMahon has made it a mission to make Owens and Zayn’s life a living hell. He recently barred Sami Zayn from ringside during a match between Kevin Owens and Randy Orton. Sami Zayn found a loophole and attacked Orton on the entrance ramp.
Sami Zayn then had to face Randy Orton while Kevin Owens was handcuffed to the ring ropes on the December 5th episode of SmackDown. Owens used bolt cutters from under the ring to break free, but Nakamura came down to the ring to make the save. Orton and Nakamura then beat down Zayn and Owens. It was after that when Shane announced this match and stated that Owens and Zayn will be wrestling for their careers. Daniel Bryan once again didn’t seem to agree with Shane’s decision.
On this past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn started the “Yep! Movement”. They handed out flyers calling for Shane McMahon to be ousted as SmackDown Commissioner. Daniel Bryan came down to the ring and announced that he will be the second referee in the tag match at Clash of Champions to ensure it is a fair match.
Daniel Bryan then joined commentary during the main event between Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura. Byron Saxton repetitively accused Daniel Bryan of betraying Shane McMahon and siding with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. During the match, the referee was knocked down and Daniel Bryan ripped off his referee shirt and put it on. Bryan then refereed the rest of the match that saw Kevin Owens get the victory over Nakamura with a Pop-Up Powerbomb. Nakamura was distracted by Sami Zayn hopping up on the ring apron and Kevin Owens took advantage. Daniel Bryan counted to three as Saxon shouted that this proves that he will side with Owens and Zayn at the PPV.
This match is all about the power dynamic between Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon in my opinion. Shane McMahon wants nothing more than to get Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn off of SmackDown. Daniel Bryan thinks Shane McMahon is starting to abuse his power and thus has inserted himself in this match.
I don’t think we are going to see anything crazy during this match on Sunday night. I doubt we are going to see Daniel Bryan hit the running knee to Shane McMahon’s face out of nowhere. I think that Sami Zayn or Kevin Owens is going to take out Shane McMahon while Daniel Bryan is distracted. Daniel Bryan will then be left as the lone referee in the match and Owens and Zayn will pick up the victory. The storyline will then continue as Shane McMahon thinks Daniel Bryan is against him, even though he simply didn’t see that Owens and Zayn attacked him.
It was announced during a segment on the latest episode of 205 Live that Cruiserweight Star Noam Dar has suffered an injury and he would require a knee surgery.
Now WWE has revealed that Dar suffered a meniscus tear during the November 27th episode of Raw and underwent successful surgery in Orlando on Thursday.
Commenting on his status, the Raw star revealed that while the exact timeframe for his return is yet to be decided, he is expected to stay out of action for almost 5 months:
“We don’t have any confirmed time frame just yet because I obviously need to see the post-op, but it’s more than likely going to be around the five-month mark, that would be with me working extensively at the [WWE] Performance Center, so that will make a huge difference. Staying on top of everything so we can hopefully take that time down a little bit.”
WWE notes that the injury had been bothering Noam for weeks but his knee went out again this past weekend. He competed in a Fatal Four Way match during the mentioned Raw episode.
We’ll update you once a confirmed schedule for Noam Dar’s return to WWE programming is revealed.
While Chris Jericho attacking Kenny Omega at World Tag League Finals has become one of the hottest topics among wrestling fans in no time, it appears former WWE Star Taz is not impressed with a part of this segment.
During the latest episode of his podcast, Taz explained that he didn’t like the way the announcers Kevin Kelly and Don Callis, sold the whole angle. Below are some highlights from his podcast:
How Kevin is an underrated commentator:
“I love Kev. I think he’s a really good, underrated play-by-play man… When I first started as an announcer in the WWE, Kevin Kelly was in the WWE, and Kevin helped me out my first couple of days with the gig. He’s just a good guy, a real pro’s pro. I think he’s a great fit there with the New Japan stuff”
Disagreeing with the way the commentary team handled Jericho’s appearance:
“But, I don’t know if he was directed this way or not, he and [Don Callis] started screaming, ‘It’s Jericho. Oh my God, it’s Jericho!’ I can understand them getting hung up on the emotion, they’re there in the building. I get it. I just disagree with the way this was handled. If it was something that was done from someone in their holding area, whatever they call their Gorilla Position.'”
How they should have played dumb until they saw Chris on their monitors:
“I don’t agree with that move, because, and I’m saying that respectfully because I love Kevin, but…I just don’t agree with it because I can’t see who it is. Yelling ‘It’s Chris Jericho,’ well the announcers, the number one rule for the announcers, at least from what I was taught for many years by some pretty high-end guys, you gotta look at your monitor. And what the monitors sees, the fan at home sees, or vice versa… You have to play dumb, and do the job, until you can see him [in the monitor].”
Rumors have starting circulating through Twitter on a planned revival of the XFL professional football league.
If you aren’t aware, the XFL was a league created by Vince McMahon during the height of WWE’s Attitude Era, the venture was a huge failure on all counts as the presentation did not appease fans of wrestling or pro football, not knowing what either demographic wanted and subsequently the project ended up costing the WWE reportedly in the hundreds of millions.
SEScoops contributor David Bixenspan of Deadspin contacted WWE to confirm if there were any truth to these rumors and he received an interesting response. It appears as though McMahon is personally funding a separate entity from WWE named ‘Alpha Entertainment.’ The goal is to “explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football.”
While this is nowhere near confirmation of an XFL return it is interesting to note that “professional football” is on the cards, and it is highly unlikely that Vince is looking to work alongside the NFL…
This past week on USA Network was billed as WWE Week and NXT was broadcast on the network for the very first time. The show was headlined by Aleister Black taking on Adam Cole and also featured appearances from the NXT Champion Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas, The Authors of Pain and NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon.
The number for the show was in the region of 841,000. This equates to being the 22nd highest rated cable show of the night and the highest rated programme on all of USA Network on Wednesday night.
As a comparison, the more established Total Divas show on the E! Network drew 517,000 viewers on Wednesday night, gaining the 43rd highest cable spot.
Zack Sabre Jr recently faced Chuck Taylor in a ‘no ring, falls count anywhere’ match in a Brooklyn bar. The Tender Trap bar played host to one of the most unique bouts in recent times and saw one of the world’s most technically gifted wrestlers in ZSJ perform about as far outside his wheelhouse as is possible.
Check it out below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Former WWE Star and Manager of the Attitude Era faction Kaientai, Yamaguchi San has been hospitalized following a stroke and is fighting for his life, as reported by The Mirror.
Yamaguchi’s Brother Shunsuke Yamaguchi, who currently works for WWE as one half of their Japanese announce team, posted the following update on his status on Facebook:
“Some of u might have heard but my brother Yusuke, aka Yamaguchi Wally or Yamaguchi San, had a stroke, This is a pic from 1am est. Don’t know how long he has. Some of his friends from school and Gong Magazine have visited him. Love you brother!!!”
Kan’s managed faction Kaientai made their debut on Japanese wrestling promotion Michinoku Pro Wrestling back in 1994.
The group originally contested Shiryu, Dick Togo, and Mens Teioh, and was later joined by Sho Funaki and Taka Michinoku.
However, Yamaguchi San only started managing them once the stable made their WWE debut in early 1998. The group also had a short stint with ECW prior to their run with the company then known as WWF.
No further details about his health are available at this point but we’ll keep you posted if anything comes to light.
WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair recently had an interview with Starsport where he talked about John Cena getting negative fan reaction and more. Below are some highlights from his interview:
Randy Orton having the ability to play John Cena’s role in WWE:
“If you look at John Cena, you have to look at the whole scenario of John’s career. John is just an in-ring performer. He’s very good in interviews, number one. Number two, he exhausts himself giving his off time to stuff he doesn’t get paid for. Kids love him. Randy [Orton] doesn’t want that role. Randy is happy, he wants to be home with his wife and kids. Could Randy pull it off? Of course. But Randy isn’t interested in working in his days off. I don’t blame him, not everybody is. That’s a tough role, you sacrifice a lot of personal time and that’s what my daughter [Charlotte Flair] is doing right now, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Cena getting booed by fans:
“If you don’t respect John Cena, you don’t respect anybody. I’m not sure how I feel about that [the boos]. Look what they say to Kurt Angle when he walks out: ‘You suck’. It doesn’t make sense. Because Kurt’s very popular and of course John is the flagship of the company. He’s working in a limited schedule now and pursuing other avenues that he’s earned the right to do. He conducts himself, carries himself, he’s very classy, he is very, very well-read, very intellectual, and that speaks volumes. We don’t have a lot of people like that.”
Top performers in the company today:
“I think the two best performers in the company right now are Randy Orton and AJ Styles – Seth Rollins being close right there.”
As noted before, Dolph Ziggler recently joined Edge and Christian for their E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness podcast where he discussed a number of wrestling related topics. Below are some more highlights from his interview:
Zack Ryder’s weird backstage outfit:
“[Ryder] is just as weird now, just so you guys know. But he wears a suit at TVs now, so I don’t know if he’s getting groomed to be like an agent or something. There’s a lot of [purple]. He has a lot of suits now! I think there’s a suit guy that goes around here, but purple is often times almost a… I’m trying to think… almost like an H&M slim fit version of a Michael Hayes costume that you’d get.”
The recent Starrcade event:
“I walk into Starrcade and Flair is there, of course, and social media Nikki goes, ‘hey, you two guys should cut a promo! Are you ready? Okay, you do it and then he comes in.’ And I’m like, ‘what? Okay!’ So I kind of cut a Ric Flair promo in the arena in Greensboro [North Carolina], next to Flair, threw it to Flair, and then, he finished it off, and it was so cool. And then, meanwhile, I got to go out with Bobby Roode. Bobby Roode and I had plenty of time to tear it down and ‘The Enforcer’ was out there and he just did a couple subtle things that turned the crowd around.”
Having the same feeling at Starrcade as WrestleMania:
“Backstage, even before the specials guests start filling in, and [Ricky] Steamboat shows up and Rock n Roll [Express] shows up. There was already a special [feel]. In the weirdest, weirdest way, had a feel to it like a couple of hours before WrestleMania.”
How he tried to stand out after the cancelation of the Spirit Squad:
“When I was trying to get back to TV after they canceled The Spirit Squad, I go, ‘what are things that no one’s doing? Okay.’ At the time, it was really cool to be Randy Orton. And by that I mean short buzzcut, black trunks (almost Austiny), and everybody was, like, working, but everybody wanted to be tough. Everybody wanted to be straightforward. Nobody wanted to give anything. And I went, ‘how can I stand out?’ I went pink trunks, I dyed my hair blonde and grew it out. I said, ‘okay, nobody wants to do that? I’ll go above and beyond. And I started watching genuine boxing knockouts. And I would try to take where your knees buckle and apply that only to finishers, or, like, the strongest false finish of a match. At the beginning, I was kind of trying to be Mr. Perfect and do everything big. But then I go, ‘okay, hang on. Now we’ve got to make things count.'”
You can check out some more highlights from the same interview including Dolph Ziggler hinting at possibly leaving WWE here.
Ring Of Honor’s Final Battle 2017 takes place on December 15th at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, NY.
ROH Final Battle 2017 Results
– Matt Taven def. Will Ospreay:
– War Machine def. the Addiction: War Machine gets the win via pinfall with a tandem top rope leg lariat/slam.
– Jay Lethal def. Marty Scurll: Lethal hits a low blow and follows up with the Lethal Injection for the win via pinfall.
– The Motor City Machine Guns (c) def. the Best Friends: The MCMG’s retain the ROH Tag Team titles after a jackknife pin to Baretta.
– Silas Young def. Kenny King, Punishment Martinez, & Shane Taylor: Young wins in a Four Corners Elimination match for the ROH Television title. Young gets the pin after he hit Misery on Punishment Martinez for the final elimination.
– The Briscoes def. Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray: This one was a New York Street Fight. Bully set up a table and was pouring gasoline on it, but Mark kicked him and then the Briscos delivered a 3D to him on the table. The table didn’t break, so Mark also hit a top rope elbow that drove Bully through the table.
– The Young Bucks & Adam Page def. Flip Gordon, Dragon Lee and Titan: The Bucks retain the ROH Six Man Tag Team championship with a double Indy Taker/Rite of Passage. After the match, Scorpio Sky and the Addiction attack both teams.
– WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash will be donating his brain and spinal card to the CTE Center at Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation after his death. Nash spoke with Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com this week about the decision.
“Chris Nowinski started the program, and I’ve had several concussions throughout my life and had scans done and stuff and knew that somewhere down the line, I’ve already had short-term memory problems,” Nash said. “I decided to go ahead. The only way you can diagnose this is after you’re dead.”
Former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski said, “It’s so powerful when icons like Kevin Nash are willing to pledge their brain for research and talk about it publicly. Brain donation is really driving our growing knowledge of CTE and the long-term effects of brain trauma. And so I’m hoping that we solve this problem before Kevin’s time comes, but Kevin announcing this means that other families are aware that this research is important and that if they lose somebody, they may think of the concussion legacy foundation.”
– Cruiserweight Superstar Noam Dar underwent successful knee surgery in Orlando on Thursday, according to WWE.com. Darr recently suffered a “bucket handle tear” of his left meniscus and underwent an MRI prior to Monday’s RAW. According to Darr, he will most likely be out of action for around 5 months.
– NJPW high flyer Will Ospreay released this list of wrestlers he hopes to work with for the first time in 2018.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star and IWGP United States Heavyweight Champ Kenny Omega recently did an interview with Rolling Stone to discuss his upcoming match with Chris Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom 12 next month.
“The Cleaner” discussed NJPW executives being okay with the use of blood in his segment with Jericho, his feud with Jericho standing out in a somewhat family-friendly NJPW product, and how he thinks things will be this time next year with NJPW rolling out to the United States. Here are the highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Qp-Yy7WpQ
NJPW executives being okay with the use of blood in his segment with Jericho:
“I’ve been lucky where I’ve asked for a little bit of trust from the company. When you put yourself in a situation like that, you either hit consecutive home runs or you’re dead in the water, because there’s a lot of money on the line, there’s a reputation on the line. And a lot of times I really forced them to step out of their comfort zone. Between last year’s G1 and now with Jericho, I have done a lot of things the company isn’t necessarily comfortable with, but they’re seeing positive growth from it. Drawing blood is a faux paus. They don’t like it at all. Our parent company makes its money through anime and card games.”
His feud with Jericho standing out in a family-friendly NJPW:
“Yeah, and even if it wasn’t what they’ve been expecting, we want to give them something completely different from what’s gonna be on the rest of the card. And not just different because, ‘Hey, it’s a WWE legend coming in to invade New Japan.’ From how we went about it, how we’re going about it and how we will execute the match, we want it to stand out from anything in recent memory. It’s really important for us to do that.”
How he thinks things will be this time next year with NJPW rolling into the United States:
“It’s hard to picture what the situation is gonna look like. [Omega Vs. Jericho] is a real self-contained story that can maybe only happen once, but I’m excited to see where it leads because it’s showing more of my range and a little bit of self-discovery on my part. I’m able to explore now this side of pro wrestling that is generally regarded here as taboo, but it’s the wrestling I grew up watching.
“It goes back to the territorial stuff with Ric Flair, the way he’d promote his matches. You can’t do it anymore. There’s always an A, B and C point you have to hit, and things are overly scripted and micro-managed, and now we’re gauging by how everything feels. Everything that this match evolves into has been an organic evolution, and that’s why we haven’t lost people yet.”
You can check out Omega’s full interview with Rolling Stone by clicking here.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross was recently a guest on Submission Radio to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Ross discussed if there’s a chance we see Brock Lesnar not resign with WWE, and if so, where he’d go instead. Ross also discussed why he doesn’t think Lesnar will go back to MMA. Here are the highlights:
The possibility Lesnar doesn’t re-sign with WWE and where he’d go if he doesn’t:
“I don’t know the answer to your question, but I’ll tell you this, if I were advising him – I’m not by the way – I would say, you’re going to leave to do what? Are you going to leave to retire and not do anything but hunt and raise your sons and be a good husband to your wife? I don’t know, are you going to launch another career? Some guys like to do that, sometimes they need new challenges. I read that he might be the son of the, in the Rocky movie, (Apollo) Creed’s opponent that got beat by the Russian guy and he may play that Russian guy’s son.
“I read that. I had no idea if that was even true, but I don’t know why you’d even want to leave. He’s got a beautiful schedule, he’s making well north of seven figures a year, and he works part-time and he has fun. I don’t know why you would… I would say this, it might answer your question with a question, leave to do what that’s better? Plus, he can still be contracted to WWE and make movies or things like that. I don’t see him getting back into MMA. Now, I might be wrong on that one, but I don’t see that being a fit for him going forward.
“But I can certainly see him in Hollywood, I can certainly see him doing other things like that, but that’s not really his style either. He likes to be home or working at the wrestling, so I don’t know why he would want to leave, other than the obvious with scheduling and so forth, my boys are getting older. But he’s got a great gig, man, and I think he really embraces it and appreciates it.”
Why he doesn’t think Lesnar will return to MMA:
“Well, he’s been there, done that. He got that one more match when he beat Mark Hunt at UFC 200 – I was there by the way, so I saw it in person – he’s 39, what is he 40? You know, MMA fans jones about Lesnar being gone because the MMA in general is lacking superstars, they’re lacking box office attractions. They’re no different than any pro wrestling promotion in the world, their job is to create superstars that people demand to see more of.
“And right now, of course with the fighting as it is, you’re lucky to have three fights a year if you stay healthy, and there are no major stars that are early 20’s, young guys who are like the next big thing. I don’t know who that is. And everybody’s got an opinion, but the MMA world in general, the reason people are jonesing for Lesnar is because they’ve got nobody better to cheer for right now. That’s why they wanted Georges St-Pierre back, that’s why they want Cain Velasquez back in the ring, they want Conor McGregor to fight again. We’re not missing any new names here. I’m mentioning all these dudes that have got some mileage and track records.”
