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AXS TV To Air 3-Hour Wrestle Kingdom Special On 1/6

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AXS TV has has announced that a 3-hour special featuring the top matches from New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 event will air on AXS TV on Saturday night, January 6th, just two days after the event takes place from Tokyo.

The special will feature the event’s three headline championship matches:

  • IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho
  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. G1 CLIMAX 27 Tournament Champion Tetsuya Naito
  • IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White.

AXS TV will continue its coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 12 following the 1/6 special over five episodes Friday nights starting January 12th.

Here’s the official announcement:

AXS TV PREMIERES NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING’S BIGGEST SHOW OF THE YEAR—WRESTLE KINGDOM 12—ON SATURDAY, JAN. 6, 2018 AT 8pm IN A THREE-HOUR SPECIAL EVENT

Championship Battles Between Kenny Omega & Chris Jericho, Kazuchika Okada & Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jay White Air Saturday Night

Additional Coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 12 Will Premiere as Part of AXS TV’s Weekly Series Friday Nights at 8pE Beginning Jan. 12

Los Angeles, CA (Dec. 3, 2017) – As the exclusive U.S. television home for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), AXS TV will premiere the promotion’s biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 12, in a three-hour special Saturday, Jan. 6 at 8pE/5pP. AXS TV FIGHTS CEO Andrew Simon made the announcement that the Wrestle Kingdom 12 national television broadcast marks the fastest turnaround time for the spectacular airing just two days after the event takes place at the Tokyo Dome. AXS TV’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 special will showcase the event’s three headlining championship matches: IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. G1 CLIMAX 27 Tournament Champion Tetsuya Naito, and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White.

“While NJPW has delivered some of the greatest matches in wrestling history over the past year, we’ve seen viewership growth on AXS TV thanks to New Japan’s expansion in the U.S. and our commitment to air matches closer to when they take place,” said Simon. “With Wrestle Kingdom as their marquee annual event, we thank NJPW and TV Asahi for their support and are proud to kick off 2018 with this historic primetime Saturday night special featuring the dream match-up of Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho.”

AXS TV will continue its coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 12 following the special over five episodes Friday nights starting Jan. 12 at 8pE/5pP on the network’s award-winning weekly series, including the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship match between RPG 3K (Sho & Yoh) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), the four-way IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship bout featuring Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi, and the ROH World Title Match between Cody and Kota Ibushi. The championship matches featuring Tanahashi vs. White, Omega vs. Jericho and Okada vs. Naito will also have an encore airing during this time.

Leading up to the Wrestle Kingdom 12 special on Jan. 6, AXS TV will air an eight-hour marathon of NJPW starting at 12pE/9aP. Episodes in the marathon will feature matches that set up the main card at Wrestle Kingdom, including Omega winning the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title versus Tomohiro Ishii at the G1 Special in USA; Omega vs. Naito in the G1 CLIMAX 27 Tournament Finals; Omega’s first U.S. Heavyweight Title defense at Destruction in Kobe; an encore of the three-hour King of Pro-Wrestling special headlined by Okada vs. EVIL; and two episodes from Power Struggle headlined by Omega vs. Beretta featuring a special appearance by Jericho.

AXS TV produces the English language version of “New Japan Pro Wrestling” in association with TV ASAHI CORPORATION, the distributor of NJPW.

Pontiac Silverdome Still Standing After Unsuccessful Demolition Job (Video)

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On Sunday morning, the Pontiac Silverdome stadium in Pontiac, Michigan was scheduled to be demolished via explosives. As seen in the video below, the venue withstood the planned implosion and remains standing.

The Pontiac Silverdome played host to WrestleMania III back in 1987, one of the most iconic events in pro wrestling history.

A representative from Adamo, the demolition company, said 8 charges became disconnected and didn’t go off.

Local officials told Detroit’s WXYZ news, “We just have to wait and let gravity do its job. It’s going to collapse, we just don’t know when.”

Alberto El Patron Explains Why He & Paige Are No Longer Engaged (Audio)

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Impact Wrestling star Alberto El Patron has confirmed that he is no longer engaged to WWE Superstar Paige.

On the latest episode of Konnan’s Keepin It 100 Podcast, Alberto explained that the main reason he and Paige ended their relationship is their conflicting schedules. Up until recently, Paige was living in Orlando and training for her in-ring return while he was based out of San Antonio, where his children live. They tried to see each other as often as possible, but ultimately decided it was too difficult to remain together.

You can listen to Alberto’s comments here:

https://youtu.be/4KSzZ7DJYh4

WWE Announces Paige’s Return To Singles Competition, Undertaker To Make Appearance

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– WWE has announced that former Divas Champion Paige will return to singles action on RAW tomorrow night when she takes on Sasha Banks. Paige returned to WWE two weeks ago with NXT call-ups Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville at her side, forming the trio known as “Absolution”:

– The Undertaker is scheduled to appear at the Ace Comic Con in Uniondale, New York from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Taker’s appearance is scheduled from 4:30-8:30 PM on Friday, December 8th. You must have a ticket for admission, autographs and photo opportunities – and availability is limited. Click here for more information.

Candice Michelle On Lita Calling Her Out In The Locker Room

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Ahead of her retirement match at House of Hardcore 36 last night (Sat. December 2, 2017), former WWE Women’s Champion Candice Michelle spoke to On Milwaukee on a variety of professional wrestling topics. Michelle talked about getting called out by Lita when she first started with the WWE, injuries ending her career with the company, and her training for her retirement match. Here are the highlights:

Getting called out by Lita in the WWE locker room:

“It was brutal. I remember I was in the locker room with Lita, who is very intimidating. I went to put my makeup on; I thought I took the worst spot in the locker room. I thought I was being respectful. I sat on the floor by a mirror. And she got up in my face, and she was like, ‘What? Do you think you can walk in here and take the best spot in the locker room?’ And I was like, ‘I’m sitting on the floor!’ I was considered the Hollywood girl. These wrestling girls, they paved the way of going to these indie shows and training camps and putting their bodies through this for so long. And I just come from Hollywood and show up. So I get their side of it. I had to earn the wrestling respect side of it.”

Injuries ending her WWE career:

“We were coming back from a two-week European tour, and it was our last match in Nebraska before we got a break. It was a big match with me and Beth Phoenix, and I went up to the top rope for a spot where she was gonna hit the rope and I was gonna eat it. But my boot caught, and I nose dived. So I was knocked out, on live TV. The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance, and they said, ‘Your husband’s being flown in.’ When you’re in a neck brace, and you’re in an ambulance, and they’re flying your husband in, it’s pretty scary. Thankfully, I just had a broken collar bone and a concussion. But the hardest part is it shelved me. I worked so hard to get that spot, and that recognition from my coworkers, and from the fans. And now I’m shelved for six months.

“I think most wrestlers have a very relentless mentality. Somehow, I had to convince [Producer] Johnny Laurinaitis and the doctors there that my collarbone was not broken anymore, even though the X-rays show it was still. Somehow, I weaseled my way into a match, and the first drop kick, I shattered it. But, I finished the match. I was shelved another six months. Then I was coming back, and WrestleMania was coming up, just being in overdrive. I did a Superman punch, landed on my ankle and tore two ligaments. That was the final injury where I got the call to say, ‘All right, kid. You’re done.'”

Her training for her retirement match:

“I did training at Knox Pro Wrestling Academy, back in L.A. That first bump, woo! That s— hurts. You forget. And my body forgot. I trained for a month and a half there a couple times a week. I cried every time I was there. Whether it was because I was in pain or because I missed it, or because of facing those spirits.”

You can read Michelle’s full interview with On Milwaukee by clicking this link here.

Simon Gotch Talks ROH Debut, NXT Being WWE’s Third Brand, Aiden English

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Former WWE Superstar Simon Gotch recently made an appearance on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Gotch discussed making his debut for Ring Of Honor, his run with the Vaudevillians gimmick, NXT evolving into WWE’s third brand, and his backstage incident with Sin Cara. You can check out the highlights below:

Debuting for ROH:

“I was very glad to make my debut for Ring of Honor and if I could be totally honest about the video package, I was actually the one that shot and edited that. The music that I had used initially was copyrighted and I was waiting on a piece my older brother was composing for it and he couldn’t get it done so I passed it off to Ring of Honor and the whole video was about three minuets and it was edited down to about 90 seconds and the whole thing was it was supposed to be like a kind of dark and weird self destructive shall we say portion of the segment until it becomes almost like an 80s training montage and when the music got changed I felt that it was almost too heavy.

“On the front end it is still good but on the second half I feel like it lost that feeling because the second half was almost supposed to be ridiculous. It was almost like when you see the finished product it is good but it is not how I thought it would come off but it did resonate with the people so I guess that is good.”

His run with the Vaudevillians:

“We got along for the most part because in NXT it is more you travel with the people you are like your close friends so I traveled mostly with most of the amateur wrestlers like Sami Callahan and Chad Gable initially where English traveled with the FCW guys like Scott Dawson, Juice Robinson and Sami Zayn because those are the guys he was close with. For the sake of work we worked together as best we could but we got along fine. Sometimes we got along well and sometimes we were kind of like an old married couple and it was not so well but it was more because we both had this idea we were trying to get across and it didn’t always mesh with the other persons vision.”

“The joke I used to tell was me and English had to hate each other a little bit or we were going to get broken up. If you like each other you are broken up immediately. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were genuinely friends and Gable was part of Jason Jordan’s wedding and they split the team up.”

“A lot of people assume that if you are a tag team you must be friends and for whatever reason if you say you are not than it becomes a whole thing. Most tag teams (even successful ones) hate each other because in the end no one gets into wrestling to be in a tag team. That is kind of the weird thing about it that when you are a kid very few people if any dream of being tag team wrestlers, they dream of main eventing WrestleMania and winning the World Title and going to the Superdome and wrestling in front of 70,000 people or going to the Tokyo Dome and wrestling in front of 120,000 people and nobody goes I hope that I am tagging in a match in Largo, Florida in front of 500 people.”

NXT evolving into WWE’s third brand:

“Not really. I don’t think they would ever officially make that change. Part of the reason that NXT is as profitable a brand that it is (and it is very profitable) and don’t let them tell you it is not is because of the amount they have to pay those guys is much less. A friend of mine who was in the video game and still in NXT and I guess the NXT guys because of the number of guys on the roster this year were paid I think $3,000 and no residuals for the video game and their choices were basically accept the $3,000 and accept the no residuals or don’t be in the video game.

“I was in developmental for 2k16 and on the main roster for 2k17 and in 2k17 I got paid a very nice sum for it and even just recently got a check for it for the second quarter and to put it bluntly it was significantly more than three-grand. But that is sort of why they are able to profit with NXT because they can always (and I hate to say this) screw those guys on money. They do the outside shows and they don’t get any extra for them regardless of what the house is.”

His backstage incident with Sin Cara:

“He threw a coke can at me. That was it. Basically he and I would go back and fourth and throw sort of little digs at each other and I didn’t realize how sensitive he was and I found that out later that with the stories about him they all have the same basic set up. He goes back and fourth with someone and they get the upper hand verbally and he goes and takes cheap shots at them when he gets angry. The famous one about him beating up Sheamus, what actually happened was Sheamus was on the trainers table getting his ankle taped and Jorge ran up and punched him.”

“With me and him, we were sort of trading little digs and I got one in that was stiff and I found out later after the fact that I apparently hit a nerve with some stuff that had happened to him personally that I didn’t know about and looked back down at my plate and all of a sudden I look back up and yell what the f*ck because my face started hurting and I couldn’t see anything and completely didn’t know what was going on and as I’m piecing it together I smell Diet Coke, why is my shirt wet? And as my vision started to clear I see Jorge running from around the table and he tried to do almost a double leg and out of instinct I reached around his neck and shoot head locked him.”

“We were struggling for maybe 10-15 seconds until people got involved and pulled us apart and I was still wondering what was going on and I obviously have a concussion having been hit in the face and he’s just yelling. We talked about it after the fact and I complimented him on his throw because he hit me dead in the eye. Someone on Twitter said when I guess he threw a chair at (Baron) Corbin in a match that if you believe Simon Gotch, Sin Cara has really good aim with that chair.”

You can listen to Gotch’s interview on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast here.

AJ Styles Hits The Styles Clash On Jinder Mahal Cutout (Video), WWE Posts “Woken” Matt Hardy Video

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– At a recent WWE Live Event in Lima, Peru, WWE Champion AJ Styles successfully defended his title against Jinder Mahal. After the match Styles took a cardboard cutout that one fan had of “The Maharaja” and brought it into the ring before hitting it with the Styles Clash. Check it out:

https://twitter.com/coupdebanks/status/936479249325686784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwnerd.com%2Faj-styles-gave-cardboard-cutout-jinder-mahal-styles-clash-video%2F

– WWE continues to tease “Woken” Matt Hardy after posting the following video after their Salt Lake City, Utah Live Event in which Hardy let a “Delete” chant with the crowd:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcOYzsIA4gQ/

Mandy Rose And Sonya Deville Reveal How They Found Out They’d Be Going To The Main Roster

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As we’ve noted, ESPN recently spoke to all five of the women recently called up from NXT to the WWE’s main roster to get their reactions to the news. Two of those women included Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, who were moved to RAW and paired up with Paige to form the new Absolution faction.

Rose and Deville revealed how they found out they’d be moved to RAW, and discussed their reaction to realizing they’d been called up together. Here are the highlights:

Finding out they’d been called-up to RAW:

Deville:

“As the days unfolded, you hear rumors and you hear things flying around. You don’t wanna believe anything until it’s set in stone, because it’s the entertainment industry at the end of the day and things change. Come Monday, around 3:00, 3:30, I found out what I was doing. I think I’m still in disbelief. I don’t know if it’s really set in yet.”

Rose:

“I actually wasn’t in Houston for NXT, I was home in Orlando. I was ready to actually go home a little early for Thanksgiving, since we didn’t have any Florida shows. But I received the email that I’d be going to Raw and SmackDown, which was really exciting news, but I had to change all of the travel stuff. Was this going to be me just kind of showing my face, or just maybe… I really didn’t know what to think. I thought about all different scenarios.”

Getting called-up together:

Deville:

“I think one of the best parts about this entire journey is that me and Mandy got to share it together. We started together about two and a half years ago on Tough Enough, on the reality show where some odd thousand number of people tried out and me and Mandy were just two of those thousands applying for an opportunity to change our lives, never thinking it would come to this… We’ve tagged together in NXT, we fought each other in NXT — it’s just been this crazy roller coaster ride that I’ve gotten to take with my best friend. It’s the best possible scenario I could ever ask for.”

Rose:

“We hit it off from day one. I don’t know if it was because we were both from the Northeast, but we automatically became best friends. We were there for each other, and we’ve been there for each other ever since. We live together. We do everything together. We drive to shows and train together. Finding out that we were both debuting the same night, and moving to Raw together, it was just insane.”

You can check out the full interview with ESPN by clicking here.

SmackDown Star Leaves Tour Early, Latest UpUpDownDown Madden Tournament Match (Video)

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– According to a report from PWInsider, Mojo Rawley was forced to team up with Erick Rowan at a WWE Live Event in Mexico after Luke Harper flew back home to the U.S. Harper did appear at the WWE’s Live Event in Lima, Peru, however, there’s no reason on why he left yet.

– In round two of the UpUpDownDown Madden 18 Tournament, The Miz (using the Cleveland Browns) took on Curtis Axel (using the Minnesota Viking). Miz teased Axel by saying that if he enjoyed being in the Miztourage then he’d let him win. That didn’t work, however, as Axel took home the 17-0 win. He will now face Jason Jordan to determine the RAW Madden 18 Champion:

Matt Hardy Hints At ‘Brother Nero’ Return (Video)

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With recent news revealing that Matt Hardy’s “Broken” gimmick is likely coming to WWE, many have begun to wonder whether or not that includes the return of Jeff Hardy’s alter ego, “Brother Nero,” as well. Jeff is currently nursing a shoulder injury and isn’t expected to return until around WrestleMania 34. Matt recently released a teaser trailer on social media for the return of the gimmick, and it hints at the return of “Brother Nero” as well.

Matt is chanting “Delete” while Jeff is in a bit of a trance behind him sitting on the ring. Check it out:

UpUpDownDown Features Fifa 18 Tournament (Video)

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While UpUpDownDown’s main tournament features Madden 18, an alternative tournament has been created for the other sport known as football… you know… the one that is known for using feet and balls… (can you tell I’m English?)

Anyway! All joking aside, Tyler Breeze, Finn Balor, Becky Lynch and Noam Dar make their debut in the new FIFA 18 tournament on UpUpDownDown that also introduces the appropriately named “Backflip Master” – Apollo Crews.

The first match was between Prince Pretty and Two Feet:

While Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze produced a close 1-0 match between Manchester United and Real Madrid, Becky Lynch had to face the experienced Noam Dar as Manchester City VS Ateltico Madrid.

It’s difficult to tell whether Noam Dar is genuine in this video as he constantly looks to engage with “banter”, but it’s also difficult to not enjoy his antics.

Bonus:

Check out the previous final from the FIFA 17 tournament on UpUpDownDown between Neville and Rusev; they are both outrageously hilarious and worth watching just for their mockery of Austin Creed right at the beginning.

Two WWE Stars Reveal They’re Dealing With Injuries

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– WWE Superstar Sheamus took to his official YouTube channel to announce that he has been dealing with a neck injury for the past six months. Here’s what “The Celtic Warrior” had to say about the injury:

“For the last six months I’ve been suffering with Spinal Stenosis, neck issues and today I am going to talk about rehab and recovery.”

Sheamus then went on to explain his rehabilitation process. You can check out the video here:

– R-Truth has been missing from WWE TV and live events for the past several weeks. The former Tag Team Champ took to Twitter to offer an update on his status and revealed he’s dealing with an injury:

Tyler Breeze Gets Into A Deep Twitter War With A Fan

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NXT star Velveteen Dream has been a hot topic of discussion as of late, and he has been drawing a lot of comparisons to SmackDown Live star Tyler Breeze. Breeze was a hot singles competitor coming into the main roster from NXT in late 2015, however, that hasn’t translated over after his call-up. He has seen great success with his tag team “Fashion Files” gimmick alongside Fandango. Fans are worried that if Velveteen Dream is called up to the main roster he’d “just be another Tyler Breeze.”

Breeze has seen these criticisms on social media, and responded to one fan in particular about them. This led to a huge back-and-forth between Breeze and the fan as they discussed the current state of the WWE. Both sides brought up some very good points. Check it out:

Hulk Hogan Teases WrestleMania Rematch With The Rock

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Earlier this weekend WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan teased a WrestleMania rematch with The Rock on Twitter. The pair initially went head-to-head in one of the featured matches of WrestleMania 18 back in March of 2002, which “The Great One” came out of with the win.

The Rock told a story earlier this week about catching one of Hulk Hogan’s headbands as a kid back in the 80s at an event in Madison Square Garden. Hogan responded to the Tweet by saying he’d give the former WWE Champ another headband if he gives him his WrestleMania rematch:

NJPW Star Questions Money Driven Superstars

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Among the many talents currently in NJPW, Will Ospreay features as a young British professional wrestler who consistently puts on entertaining and high quality matches outside WWE.

If you’re unaware, check out The Aerial Assassin’s match up against Kushida:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI0Sfr9ZODA

In the last few hours though, Ospreay has featured on Twitter with a picture that highlights why he may be able to produce such fantastic spectacles.

Will Ospreay suggests that money isn’t everything in the world of sports entertainment, which comes across as a veiled criticism to those who appear to “sell-out” by joining the number company in professional wrestling – WWE.  Ospreay implies that good wrestling comes from those who are happy, not necessarily rich.

An example of this might be Dolph Ziggler who has recently spoken out about his role in WWE.

Of course The Aerial Assassin isn’t stupid; the tweet is suggestive and extreme general, therefore any connection made is pure speculation, but it’s not too hard for onlookers to connect the dots.

But this doesn’t mean that Will Ospreay won’t eventually move on to the company, it is merely a comment on his lifestyle choices between happiness and money.  He also posted this tweet:

As of writing, there have been no responses by WWE superstars.

Bonus:

 

NXT Special Airing On USA Network Later This Month

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The USA Network has released its programming guide through mid-December and a WWE NXT special is scheduled for Wednesday, December 13th at 7pm (Eastern).

While it is unknown what WWE is planning to air in this block, the belief is that it will be part of the annual “WWE Week” that airs on the network each December.

WWE Week on the USA Network begins with RAW on Monday, December 11th and continues with SmackDown Live on Tuesday, December 12th and the annual Tribute To The Troops special on Thursday, December 14th.

Video: First Look At Ronda Rousey’s In-Ring Training

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Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey is about to launch her official website, RondaRousey.com. In a teaser clip she tweeted hyping the site, we can see the first (brief) footage of Rousey’s pro wrestling training.

It’s no secret that Ronda Rousey is gearing up for her first big pro wrestling match, rumored to be taking place at WrestleMania 34 this coming April. In the video she posted on Friday, Rousey is shown training at the WWE Performance Center and also what appears to be Brian Kendrick’s pro wrestling school at Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy in Southern California.

You can see the video she posted below. Hopefully we’ll get an extended look at her in-ring training soon.

Charlotte Flair To Make Acting Debut

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Charlotte Flair is one of the most successful women in WWE.

If in doubt, check out this playlist that was released by WWE to relive all of her Championship wins; including highlights from the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match against Sasha Banks, and Charlotte’s win against Nikki Bella that ended a 301 day Diva’s Championship reign.

The Queen of WWE now looks to showcase her other skills by taking on a villain role in Psych: The Move which debuts December 7th on the USA Network.

Charlotte joins the likes of John Cena, The Miz, The Bella Twins, Big Show, Stacy Keibler and Mickie James who have all appeared on the USA Network as well.

Updated Card For WWE Clash Of Champions

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After Survivor Series, but before January’s Royal Rumble, SmackDown Live hosts Clash of Champions.  The PPV is set to feature title challenges for all 4 Champions.

The WWE Universe is already aware of Jinder Mahal’s announcement last Tuesday to invoke the contractual rematch clause for Clash of Champions, which seemed to make the most sense after he lost his WWE Championship to AJ Styles:

WWE has now released a video of Byron Saxton providing the details for the other 3 title matches at Clash of Champions.

Women’s Champion, Charlotte, is set to take on Natalya, while the US Title and Tag Team Titles are being competed for in triple threat matches.

The Usos have to fend off The New Day, and Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin who have been pushed as the next tag team to threaten Jimmy and Jey’s reign.  Chad Gable has already won the tag team title with his previous partner, Jason Jordan, as part of American Alpha, and enter the match as the underdogs:

In the final Championship match, Baron Corbin will defend his US title against Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode.

Roode has already proven his ability to defeat Ziggler, and goes into the PPV with strong potential.

However, Baron Corbin as a heel champion has the advantage and upper hand.

Opinion:

Gable and Benjamin seem likely to steal a win, and I think WWE will be looking to start a Roode vs Corbin feud coming out of Clash of Champions.  As always, keep an eye out for Carmella who is still holding on to her Money in The Bank briefcase.  And I expect AJ Styles to win his match, with a speculative Styles vs Nakamura at WrestleMania 34.

WWE Superstar Reveals Hatred For Current Role

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It’s quite clear to see that Dolph Ziggler has not had the best of times in WWE since fighting for The Intercontinental Championship.  He has been used as the SmackDown Live Welcome Mat for superstars who have moved up from NXT.  Both Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode have started out against Dolph Ziggler in feuds that have appeared more underwhelming than anything.

Unfortunately for Ziggler, he has come out looking worse in both of these cases.  In fact, his entire in-ring persona is one of apathy, which he has made extremely believable – because it’s genuine.

Dolph has now appeared on The Pod of Awesomeness, hosted by Edge and Christian and has revealed a lot of information about his role and attitude towards the industry.

The interview almost seems therapeutic as Ziggler explains his frame of mind and how he thinks:

“I hate it […] But also I’m someone who, I hate that I’m not the champion. I hate that the show is not about me because that’s the mentality you should have if you’re in the business. If you’re the ‘Hey I want to be the opening guy who works for 10 years and saves a bunch of money,’ (guy) that’s great. But there’s a thousand other guys in the back that say, ‘I want to be the best. I want to main event WrestleMania, I want the show to be about me.’ […] So you have to have that mentality. But also I’ve been around enough to know the score, to know what’s going on. So I hate being in that position. I think I should be a bigger part of the show. But so does everybody else.”

Dolph further explains how he’s made a career out of losing, but how this has had a negative impact on his position and how he is being used in the WWE as a helping hand for those coming up from NXT:

“I see it both ways. Like, I don’t know, I’m not a giant guy so maybe in some other world I would have worked here for a year-and-a-half as a caddie and a cheerleader and then went away. So I see the positive, like, hey, man, I’ve been here for 12 years, almost always regularly on TV but I think at a point that becomes a burden of not going away, of always getting passed over. You get passed over a handful of times for a couple of years then you start to have more of a cult following and it gets hot but after a couple of years of not having the trigger pulled and the 8-year-old kids now know that you’re in that role… I’ve noticed in the last two years that my, even my live event matches are a little hard for me to do my job because when I come out a 10-year-old kid goes “I know you’re losing.” … It’s one thing to have, you know, 40-year-old guys going ‘I know what’s going to happen.’ That’s fine, I’m here to put on a show and we still have fun. But when you get in that role and you miss years of not going with it, it becomes a burden. Now my job of making somebody that should be ready for a world title picture becomes harder and it’s not as much of a shove and if you see the last six months or year of TV basically I am a gatekeeper to the guy from NXT coming up who they have high expectations for but if I lose for eight consecutive months before they show up, they’re no longer getting that pat on the back from me to go up a notch. So I feel like it’s almost taking back from my role.”

He makes a great point, how good does Bobby Roode look if Ziggler has lost most of his previous matches?

In the end, Ziggler is aware of his role in the company and is extremely experienced in what he does.  The revealing interview is either a cry for help from within the company, or a sign that he’s looking to move on and becoming something new.

“So I don’t know what the change would be, to switch things up or disappear here and there or… I’ve said this to the boss on several occasions, I go ‘I’ve made a career out of almost never winning, which is awesome. But at some point I have to be seen as someone who could win, not just like pulling a needle out of a haystick or a lottery ball and finally that being the night because it loses all that luster.  […]  Wins and losses don’t matter unless you’re the guy who loses every single night and if you’re that guy, then you should be maybe in the dark match, you know, not fighting someone to see who goes for the world championship the next night. And even if you do pull that rabbit out of the hat, people know that it’s not long term.”

Opinion:

It’s also very possible that this is a fantastic publicity stunt before Dolph Ziggler challenges for the US Champion at Clash of Champions.

Edge Talks About Life After Professional Wrestling

Jon Fuentes
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WWE Hall Of Famer Edge was recently interviewed by ESPN to talk about a number of professional wrestling topics. “The Rated R Superstar” discussed life after professional wrestling, starting up E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness with his former tag team partner and longtime best friend Christian, and their recent interview with SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan who discussed his in-ring future. You can check out the highlights here:

Life after wrestling:

“I had no aspirations after wrestling. I truly just assumed I would retire, grow a big beard, sit on my deck and figure out what was next. If it was nothing, I was OK with that. I pretty much immediately did ‘Haven,’ but still had no kind of false aspirations that this was something that I’d be good at, or would want to do outside of just a couple episodes. It’d be fun, and that will be that.”

Starting E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness with Christian:

“It was one of those deals where Christian had approached me, because the company had approached him.I said I didn’t know — there’s like a thousand podcasts out there, what can we do that’s different? How do we make ours different than the other hundred out there? It’s different because it’s us. Because of our banter and our chemistry, and the fact that we’ve been best friends for 33 years. You can’t manufacture that. I think you can tell from listening to us that we’re just two idiots having a good time, shooting the breeze like we would anyway, just more wrestling centric.”

Daniel Bryan being very open about his in-ring future on their show:

“We’ve just ended up talking, and what has come out has been what you’ve heard. I think the only instance so far where I was surprised with how candid he was, was Bryan talking about the concussions. And a lot of that I didn’t even know, so it was really eye-opening and interesting to see all the steps that he’s taken with that.

You can read Edge’s full interview with ESPN by clicking this link here.

Brandi Rhodes Opens Up On The Pressure Of Being In The Rhodes Family

Jon Fuentes
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Brandi Rhodes, wife of Ring Of Honor (ROH) World Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes, recently spoke with Fansided on a number of professional wrestling topics. Rhodes talked about ROH’s Women Of Honor division, the pressure of being a member of the Rhodes family, and if she has spoken to Kelly Kelly about being on E!’s WAGS. Here are the highlights:

Her thoughts on ROH’s Women Of Honor division:

“Since I’ve only been a part of Women of Honor for a short time, I’m going to speak to the girls that have been there for a while. Folks like Mandy Leon, Sumie [Sakai], Kelly Klein, those are the girls who really built this division and made it what it is today. And they have worked with nothing, basically, and then got it somewhere, and now are hopefully taking it other places. Then, at this point, here I am coming in and hoping to help. But I think it’s definitely a testament to their talent, to their abilities and just their ‘gung-ho-ness’ — wanting to work with this and make it something that can stand on its own.

“That was the most important thing to Women of Honor, to be able to stand on their own, not to kind of coattail off of Ring of Honor. They’re doing their own thing, they’re not part of the Ring of Honor show. Women of Honor is its own separate sect. So, I think they’ve done a great job. They definitely have contoured an audience, and we’ll see where we can take it from here.”

The pressure of being a Rhodes:

“I’ll say one thing, and that is that being married to Cody does not help me in any way as far as confidence goes, because he’s a fantastic wrestler and he comes from a family of fantastic wrestlers. Here I am, a girl — the only girl in the bunch — and there’s all this lineage to try and keep up with and push the name along in a positive way. It’s a lot pressure. Of course, where it does come in handy is that, he’s an amazing wrestler. So, I’m able to get in the ring with him, I’m able to bounce ideas off of him and then things that I, of course, wouldn’t have available to me, I do because of him and because he loves wrestling so much.

“I’ve never had him say ‘Hey, hon’, I can’t go with you today, I can’t do this, I can’t help you train.’ Or if I want to learn something or I’m probably going to end up popping him in the face or something ridiculous, I’ve never heard him once say ‘Uh, maybe we shouldn’t do this today,’ or ‘Maybe I’m not the person to do this, someone else can show you.’ He’s always there and he will do whatever it takes to make me happy with what I’m learning. It’s great.”

If she has spoken to Kelly Kelly about being on WAGS:

“No, actually. Barbie, actually, she was friends more so with Cody than me. I really don’t know Barbie very well. I was on my way in when she was on her way out. I feel like it would’ve been weird for me to reach out to her. I’m sure at some point we’ll run into each other. I think she and Cody even trained together at [Ohio Valley Wrestling], so they’ve known each other for a long time, which is cool. But, I guess if there’s anything I learned from Barbie and watching her on the show is, she, in my opinion, was herself, which is great.

“There are always going to be people who, I think, miss the mark because they try so hard to be something on a show like this, what they think other people expect them to be or whatever. I feel like the people who resonate the most are the one’s who are themselves, rather than trying to be somebody they’re not. And I think Barbie was herself on the show, which is why she’s had success with it.”

You can read Rhodes’ interview with Fansided by clicking this link here.

Cesaro Explains When He Found Out He’d Be Tagging With Sheamus

Jon Fuentes
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One-half of the WWE Monday Night RAW Tag Team Champions, Cesaro, was recently interviewed by Al Arabiya English to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. “The Swiss Superman” discussed finding out he’d be tagging with Sheamus, why he initially didn’t want to be in another tag team, and his mouth injury at No Mercy. You can check out the highlights here:

Finding out he’d be tagging with Sheamus:

“The moment I found out I was teaming with Sheamus was the moment the fans did. It was when Mick Foley announced it on [Monday Night] Raw. I didn’t know much before that, and actually anything you saw on TV since then, and even before that with the best of seven series, was essentially art imitating life. Sheamus and I did have a rivalry, and then became a team, and we went from being work acquaintances to becoming best friends. That’s what makes this team so special and what makes the fans connect with us—that they were a part of this whole journey with me and Sheamus.”

Not wanting to be in another tag team:

“I was lucky enough to have many different tag partners. I was partners with Kassius Ohno as the Kings of Wrestling [in the indies], and in WWE I was with Jack Swagger. I thought we were the best tag team to never win the WWE Tag Team Championship. Next, of course, my partnership with Tyson Kidd, which was tragically cut short after six months. I wasn’t looking to be in another tag team, and I know neither was Sheamus. Now we’re having the time of our lives.”

His mouth injury at No Mercy in which he lost his teeth:

“As soon as the blood started gushing, I was actually afraid they were going to stop the match. I was hoping they wouldn’t, because it’s a live WWE Network special and it’s for the WWE Tag Team Championships, and those mean a lot to Sheamus and myself. As you said, those teeth went up my jaw, and it hurt, but I also didn’t really know what I could do at that moment to make it better, so I thought, well, let’s continue, and win this match.”

You can read Cesaro’s interview with Al Arabiya English by clicking this link here.

Young Bucks On The Elite Possibly Leaving Bullet Club, RAW Invasion, Kevin Owens

Jon Fuentes
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Ring Of Honor World Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks recently joined Colt Cabana’s podcast, The Art Of Wrestling, to talk about a number of professional wrestling topics. The pair discussed The Elite possibly leaving The Bullet Club, their invasion of Monday Night RAW, advice received from current WWE Superstar Kevin Owens, and so much more. You can check out the highlights here below:

Nick on The Elite possibly leaving The Bullet Club:

“Trust us, the three of us have said, ‘let’s split’, but no one will allow it because the merchandise is too big. That’s the reason why it hasn’t split and probably won’t split up.”

Matt on the current version of The Bullet Club being his favorite:

“When [Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and AJ Styles] left, that’s why we formed The Elite. We were planning the next phase. And this is easily the biggest The Bullet Club has ever been and it’s my favorite [lineup]. I just tweeted this last night, this is my favorite version of The Bullet Club by far! It’s the most chemistry we’ve ever had, I think.”

Matt on getting online hate for their invasion of Monday Night RAW:

“Oh my God, yeah. I’d say probably 50-50. I mean, the hatred was probably from people who don’t follow me on Twitter anyway or don’t even know who I am. They just heard about me from the invasion and all the people who love our show loved it. Do you know what I mean? So it’s either, ‘we love you,’ ‘you’re the greatest,’ ‘you’re changing the [pro wrestling] business’ or ‘I hate you and I want you to die.’ It’s one of the two.”

Nick on Kevin Owens telling them to expect more hate as they get more famous:

“Matt and I have had that specifically a lot lately and it’s crazy. I get comments that actually hurt my feelings. We actually talked with Kevin Owens about this and he was like, ‘the more you grow in popularity, [the more hate you get].'”

Matt on their RAW invasion being more about advancing their Being The Elite storyline:

“It was more about us blowing that storyline off, so it almost bothers us, like, ‘no, no, you didn’t watch the show for what it was for – you’re just watching the show because we did an invasion’ and it was the first time they’d ever seen it, so watch the whole show. Like, we found the stooge now. Come on! Like, it wasn’t just about, ‘let’s cause a stir and get heat with WWE officials.’ No, it was more about the show.”

Nick on the effort put into the invasion angle:

“We had this planned months and months and months ago and we built the story on Being The Elite for months. And we knew that they would be there that day. We planned it all. We have storylines planned for the next six to eight months that [Cabana] already know[s] about. We think of these things ahead of time, more than most major wrestling companies, which is crazy.”

You can listen to The Young Bucks on The Art Of Wrestling by clicking here.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

WWE Employee Released After Over 30 Years With The Company, Charlotte Flair To Appear In Film

Jon Fuentes
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– After over 30 years with the WWE, longtime musical composer Jim Johnston has been released by the company. Per a report from F4WOnline’s Daily Update, Johnston was released after his contract with WWE expired. He had been with the promotion since 1985 and has created the themes for Superstars such as The Undertaker, Mr. McMahon, The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and hundreds more.  WWE has yet to officially announce the news.

– Charlotte Flair will be appearing as one of the main villains in Psych: The Movie. Flair will be playing Heather Rockrear in the film, which airs on the USA Network on December 7th at 8 P.M. ET. WWE posted the following video:

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