New Japan Pro Wresting employee George W Carroll recently revealed that NJPW will be making a “major announcement” as part of their Power Struggle presentation on November 5th.
The nature of this announcement is not yet known however several rumors are beginning to surface including the in-ring return of Katsuyori Shibata, another round of United States based television tapings and the reveal of the ‘Switchblade’ character.
We’ll keep you updated as soon as more details come to light.
Cesaro has provided an update on his injured front teeth. At last month’s No Mercy pay-per-view, the Swiss Superstar took a slingshot into the ring post that lodged his teeth 3-4 centimeters into his jaw.
On the ‘UpUpDownDown’ videogame Youtube series, Cesaro said his teeth have been pulled back down and he’s now wearing a brace to keep them in place, which has already fallen out and had to be put back on. His doctors are waiting to see if the teeth will survive or if he’ll need implants. Cesaro added that his front teeth still hurt a lot and he can’t use them to chew anything.
Former WWE producer Jimmy Jacobs has made his first public comments about being released from the company last week. Jacobs will be a special guest on the Live Audio Wrestling podcast, which drops this Sunday night.
LAW released a teaser clip of the Jacobs interview featuring Jacobs talking about the now infamous photo he took with the Bullet Club during their recent invasion of Monday Night RAW. Host John Pollock asked about his initial reaction to the firing, Jacobs replied, “No mistake was made. I am ‘A-OK’ with the way everything went down.”
Since his release, several people have spoken about Jacobs being great to work with behind the scenes, including former WWE head writer Tom Casiello and Chris Jericho. In response to reports that WWE management had issues with Jacobs prior to the Bullet Club photo incident, he’s unaware there were any other issues brewing.
“[The Bullet Club photo] was given to me as the reason. I’ve read a couple sites saying there were things leading up to it, or this was the straw that broke the camel’s back, if it was, I’m not aware of any of that. It’s certainly possible, who knows.”
You can hear the audio here and make sure to check out Live Audio Wrestling this weekend for the full interview.
Johnny Mundo recently appeared on X-Pac 12360 to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:
Facing Eli Drake at Bound For Glory:
“I am really excited about Impact and I got Bound for Glory coming up, it’s me versus Eli Drake for the Impact title…I think that from the first taping in Orlando that I was at, to the last day; I feel like I saw his wrestling evolve. His mic work evolve, his confidence shot through the roof and he’s doing a really good job of carrying the brand of Impact on his shoulders right now. There’s a couple times we hung out and got food after the tapings and he busted his ass in the business for years and years and a lot of people don’t realize that. I can’t say enough good things about Eli Drake.”
Reuniting with Joey Mercury:
“Amazing! First of all, I’m jealous. He’s in better shape than I have…Did you see his abs? I was supposed to be the abs guy in the team. He’s got me beat, it was cool. I think that’s one of the cool things in wrestling. We had such a crazy career, the two of us. We we’re like best friends for 2yrs. We traveled together, we rode together, we wrestled together, like every show for 2yrs. He got let go, I stayed, he came back. We traveled together for a few months and got let go again. He came back as an agent and we had this long-term friendship. APW, in San Francisco, was the first time we tagged together in 10 years. It was super fun and it felt like we picked up where we left off. All the MNM references and our timing. It was cool, I look forward working with Mercury.”
Ring of Honor announced on Thursday that IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega has signed on to compete at Supercard of Honor XII, which takes place from New Orleans during WrestleMania 34 weekend.
Reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi is also confirmed for the show.
Tickets are now on sale for Supercard of Honor XII, which takes place Saturday night, April 7th and goes head-to-head with NXT Takeover.
“The Cleaner” Kenny Omega was victorious in the main event of Sunday night’s Global Wars: Chicago pay-per-view. That show wrapped up a 4-night sellout tour for ROH.
He’s advertised for ROH’s upcoming shows from Ft. Lauderdale, FL (11/11) and Lakeland, FL (11/12).
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels will serve as the special guest referee for an NXT Championship match during Survivor Series weekend.
Drew McIntyre will defend against Adam Cole with HBK as the referee on Friday night, November 17th at the NXT live event from San Antonio, Texas at the Aztec Theatre.
This non-televised show takes place the night before NXT Takeover: WarGames. It’s worth noting that Ring of Honor will be holding a show in San Antonio that night as well.
Adam Cole of the Undisputed Era had this to say about the news:
What a way to meet HBK…beating Drew senseless and winning the NXT Championship. Couldn’t ask for a better story folks #AdamColeBayBayhttps://t.co/yfyMnnJdU2
As we’ve previously reported, it is expected that WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will meet at the WWE’s Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV) from Houston, Texas next month.
Mahal called “The Beast” out on this past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, and Lesnar is expected to respond to “The Modern Day Maharaja’s” challenge on RAW next week. Per a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE officials have discussed doing a WWE Champion vs. Universal Champion match for some time. It is not, however, considered to be a major match by officials backstage. This will simply give Lesnar the opportunity to be on a major show and set something bigger up for him down the road.
It is expected that inaugural Universal Champion Finn Balor will be Lesnar’s next opponent, likely at The Royal Rumble this January. “The Beast” is still expected to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34 in April. As for the finish to Lesnar vs. Mahal the WON notes that nothing is concrete yet but it makes no sense for Lesnar to lose to Mahal given his victories over Goldberg, Samoa Joe, and Braun Strowman. If Mahal loses, however, it makes SDL look like the ‘B show.’ A DQ or No Contest finish is very possible but WWE fans usually don’t take too kindly to these at major events.
WWE COO Triple H recently did an interview on Facebook Live to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. “The Game” revealed his favorite performers of the modern era and all time, how everyone that steps into the ring deserves to be respected, his all-time favorite opponent, and who named his finisher “The Pedigree.” You can see the highlights below:
His favorite modern performer being Shawn Michaels and his all-time favorite being Ric Flair:
“My favorite competitor of all time is probably Shawn Michaels, just I know he’s one of my best friends and I just think he’s one of the greatest performers of all time. If I had to pick somebody, overall it would be Ric Flair.” Triple H clarified, “modern Shawn would be my favorite, but if I had to choose an all-time favorite, it would be Ric Flair.”
Respecting everyone who steps into the ring:
“It’s funny – I don’t really have a least favorite competitor. Anybody that steps through the ropes, in my opinion, deserves respect.”
His all-time favorite opponent:
“I had a lot of tough battles with [Mick] Foley, but if I had to pick one, it would be The Undertaker. He’s just a legend and getting in the ring with him at high profile events, nobody’s better. Hell In A Cell, WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee, it’s probably one of the most significant matches of my career completely from a meaning standpoint. It was called ‘End Of An Era’ and it was.
“There was a moment with the three of us standing on stage together after that match was over and that was very real to us and it’s still very meaningful. I have that picture in my office and I made a plaque with all… for all three of us that has that picture and memorabilia from the match. It was very important and very meaningful to all three of us.”
Who named his finisher “The Pedigree”:
“The Pedigree was something that I came up with, but the name actually came from Michael Hayes of The [Fabulous] Freebirds. When I started in WWE, I was ‘The Greenwich Blue-blood’ and I was doing that move and they needed a name for it. And he thought it felt like handing someone their pedigree and that became the name, so Michael Hayes of The Freebirds, thank you very much.”
It looks like we’ve got the first confirmed match for the upcoming MLW: Never Say Never live event.
Earlier this month at MLW: One-Shot, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor defeated Olympian Jeff Cobb in a very physical and hard fought contest. Afterwards, Lawlor called out another popular grappler with UFC experience: Matt Riddle.
MLW confirmed that the “King of Bros” was in talks about signing the match for Never Say Never. On Thursday, they released a video of Riddle formally accepting Lawlor’s challenge.
The news of this money match comes just days after the Orlando Sentinel reported that MLW is seriously considering running monthly shows in Florida.
MLW: Never Say Never is scheduled for December 7th from Orlando, FL at Gilt Nightclub. Tickets for the big event go on sale Friday morning at 10am Eastern at MLW.Eventbrite.com.
Former WWE Superstar and former Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley recently did an interview on The Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast to talk about a number of professional wrestling topics.
Lashley discussed Kurt Angle opening the door for his professional wrestling career, rupturing his knee during a bank robbery he witnessed, doing his WWE tryout while his knee was still recovering, and non-athletic wrestlers.
Here are some highlights of what Bobby Lashley said about:
Kurt Angle opening up the door for his professional wrestling career:
“Kurt had told me that he knows I loves the Olympics, but that I needed to think about something else, considering there is no pro sports,” Lashley said. “So, Kurt gave my number to Gerald Brisco for a tryout. My goal was always to win the Olympics so at the time, I had told Brisco to hold off on the tryout because winning the Olympics was my dream.”
Rupturing his knee after hitting the ground during a bank robbery he witnessed – ending his Olympic dreams, then getting a call from WWE:
“I’m sitting there thinking that this is terrible, with me and my leg brace being on,” he said. “Suddenly the phone rings and it’s Mark Carrano from WWE, and I was thinking, there’s no way. We hadn’t had any communication in like 5-6 months. He said to me that he understood that I was interested in the Olympics, but this is a big opportunity, and there’s a lot of buzz that has been passed down the office about you, so we really want you to come to Louisville and sit down with you to see if we can bring you on. I said that I was in, so he asked if I could come next week, I told him that I couldn’t, and I kept trying to push the date back because of my knee situation. There was no way I was going to tell them that my knee was ruptured.”
Doing his WWE tryout while his knee was still recovering:
“First time I even took a step was running the ropes, and it was one of the most ridiculously painful thing that I ever had to go through,” he explained. “Dr. Tom [Prichard] said that he liked the intensity as I was running the ropes, I was like, man, I wanted to cry because of the pain. The cool thing was I was there with Dolph Ziggler, we became friends, and every night we had the tryouts we would go back to the hotel and would have a couple of drinks.
“I’m icing my knee like crazy; it was four days of tryouts with my knee situation. I was learning all kinds of things, like running the ropes, taking bumps. When I left there I had left on a Friday morning after 4 days of training with those guys. I felt like I was in a car accident. I had bruised my heel, bruise in my back, my knee hurt, I walked home in so much pain. I thought that all they wanted to do was talk. I had done a lot of pushups, but I looked good, but actually had to do something, which was tough.”
Non-athletic wrestlers:
“Fit Finlay is believable, but he’s not the tallest guy, and I believe some people go in there to just want to do the art of wrestling vs the actual fight of wrestling, and I believe you have to do both,” he said. “If you are doing that certain style of wrestling, then there are certain positions that you just can’t get. I don’t want to see somebody beat Brock [Lesnar] just because there are certain moves that they can do. You can’t bury Brock just because they want to make a cool match. I don’t like that as much.”
You can listen to Lashley’s interview on The Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcasthere.
– On Twitter yesterday (Wed. October 18, 2017) WrestleCircus Tweeted at Cody Rhodes indicating that Zack Ryder doesn’t get the credit that he deserves. Rhodes responded to this by recalling how arenas used to chant “we want Ryder” for several months:
WWE Hall of Famer Sting was recently interviewed by Al Arabiya to promote the release of WWE 2K18. In addition to hyping the game, Sting spoke about Seth Rollins being one of WWE’s top in-ring performers, his character’s evolution throughout the years, WWE embracing WCW history with Starrcade and WarGames and more.
Sting spoke about his relationship with Vince McMahon, which goes back a lot farther than many people are aware of. Sting had on and off discussions with Vince about joining WWE dating back to the early 90’s all the way through the Monday Night Wars and after. He had several opportunities to jump ship to WWE during the prime of his career, but revealed why it didn’t happen until 2014.
“In the early years I always felt that [Vince] wanted me to undermine WCW as the number one reason. The number two reason was to have me on his roster. I didn’t want it to be that way. Maybe I was wrong. Then in later years, when I made a phone call and said, hey have you turned the page? The rest is history. He’s just treated me fantastic, every step of the way. Really, everybody has.”
A dream match that fans speculated about for years was Sting vs. The Undertaker. That ship has sailed and fans will have to play WWE 2K18 to see these two in the ring together. Sting was well aware that a match against The Undertaker would be big business and says he actually spoke to the Dead Man several years back about the possibility. For whatever reason, The Undertaker just wasn’t interested.
“We’ve had a brief conversation, and I just told him, I said, man, I just always wanted to have that match. It wasn’t necessarily reciprocated so I’m not sure where he stands or if he had any interest at all, to be quite honest. But I did. I don’t mind saying.”
There’s a lot more to the interview, which you can read in its entirety over at alarabiya.net.
Neville appears to be done with WWE after things came to a head last week.
Sean Waltman noted on his X-Pac 1-2-360 podcast that he spoke to Neville earlier this year and he seemed very frustrated with his role in WWE. It’s one thing to be making good money, but someone like Neville who is very passionate about wrestling has not been satisfied with his creative direction. Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated went as far as to say Neville has been “miserable” since January.
Waltman added that he thinks Neville did not handle the situation well, despite being unhappy for so many months. If you’re a WWE contracted performer looking to leave, walking out is the wrong approach and the company is not going to make it easy for him moving forward.
Neville, like Austin Aries, was unhappy that his WrestleMania 33 match was moved from the main card to the pre-show. The pre-show was not included on the WrestleMania DVD release, which cut him out of royalties from that event.
As we’ve been reporting for some time, Neville also didn’t like being on 205 Live, feeling that the show and the entire Cruiserweight division are perceived as inferior to the main roster. For what it’s worth, Neville was still featured in the opening video package on this week’s 205 Live.
While his future remains uncertain as it relates to becoming a free agent, people close to Neville say he’s very happy with his decision to leave.
– Zelina Vega interrupted a backstage interview with WWE NXT Champion Drew McIntyre on tonight’s NXT episode, likely setting up a match between Drew and Andrade “Cien” Almas at the “Takeover: WarGames” event during Survivor Series weekend.
Vega asked McIntyre why he has been avoiding Almas and Drew said he’d fight anyone at any time, he’s just been busy. Drew also told Vega to go to NXT General Manager William Regal and get the match, and that if Almas wants the match he should come face him instead of sending just his business partner.
– It was believed that Ruby Riot may have suffered an injury at the October 4th NXT TV tapings during the Triple Threat Takeover qualifier with Ember Moon and Sonya Deville, which aired tonight and saw Ember win to advance to the NXT Women’s Title Fatal 4 Way at Takeover with Kairi Sane, Peyton Royce and another competitor to be determined next week via Battle Royal. It appeared that Ruby injured her ankle after a top rope crossbody to the floor. Deville then put her ankle lock on Riot and it looked as if she was injured but Riot was back in the ring two nights later at a NXT live event and she’s worked a few live events since then. WWE’s website made mention of the injury in their NXT recap but they have not announced anything on Riot’s status.
– As noted, this week’s NXT show saw The Authors of Pain and WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering make their first TV appearance since losing the NXT Tag Team Titles to SAnitY at “Takeover: Brooklyn III” in August. Akam and Rezar attacked Eric Young, Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe during their six-man main event with Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish of The Undisputed Era, forcing the finish of the match. The Authors then closed the show by standing tall over SAnitY with the titles in the air as The Undisputed Era looked on from the stage.
Below are post-show comments from Akam, Rezar and Ellering, who mentioned the two-ring, three-team main event of next month’s “Takeover: WarGames” event:
– Below is video of Ember Moon talking to Christy St. Cloud after defeating Sonya Deville and Ruby Riot on tonight’s WWE NXT episode to earn the third spot in the Fatal 4 Way at “Takeover: WarGames” that will crown a new NXT Women’s Champion. The War Goddess would like to say she feels good but there’s no reason to celebrate until she wins the title. She says every woman in NXT thinks they are in the running for the title but the person they need to worry about is Ember Moon.
– As noted, a Battle Royal will air on next Wednesday’s NXT episode to determine who will go against Ember, Peyton Royce and Kairi Sane at Takeover. Participants include Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, Taynara Conti, Lacey Evans, Sarah Logan, Dakota Kai, Bianca Blair, Billie Kay, Nikki Cross, Zeda, Mercedes Martinez, Sage Beckett, Vanessa Borne, Santana Garrett, Aliyah, Abbey Laith and Reina Gonzalez.
– The Authors of Pain and WWE Hall of Famer Paul Ellering returned to NXT TV on tonight’s show during the six-man main event that saw NXT Tag Team Champions SAnitY (Eric Young, Killian Dain, Alexander Wolfe) fight The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish) to a No Contest. This is the first TV appearance for Akam and Rezar since they lost the titles to SAnitY at “Takeover: Brooklyn III” in late August.
Tonight they attacked SAnitY and ended the show by standing tall with the belts while The Undisputed Era looked on from the stage. Below are videos of the six-man and the return:
– Ember Moon is now confirmed for the Fatal 4 Way to crown a new WWE NXT Women’s Champion at “Takeover: WarGames” during Survivor Series weekend in Houston. She qualified by defeating Sonya Deville and Ruby Riot in a Triple Threat on tonight’s NXT episode. Ember joins Peyton Royce and Kairi Sane as confirmed names for the match. The final slot will be filled next week with a Battle Royal. Below is video from tonight’s qualifier:
– Johnny Gargano vs. Fabian Aichner has been announced for the November 1st NXT episode.
– Aleister Black remains undefeated after picking up a win over Raul Mendoza on tonight’s NXT episode. Black’s feud with The Velveteen Dream continued tonight as he taunted Black during and after the match. Below is video:
NXT Women’s Championship Qualifying Match: Sonya Deville vs Ember Moon vs Ruby Riot
All three Superstars locked up to start off the match. Moon tried to rolled up Deville but Sonya kicked out. Deville then knocked Ember out of the ring and leveled Ruby Riot with a Clothesline for a two count. Riot connected with an Arm Drag and followed it up with a Dropkick for a two count.
Ember got back into the ring and knocked Deville off the ring apron. Moon hit a springboard Crossbody for a two count and Deville got back into the ring. Deville connected with a series of kicks that knocked Ember to the canvas as NXT went to a commercial break.
When NXT returned, Deville was still in control of the match. Deville planted Moon with a Gutwrench Suplex and then hurled Ruby Riot across the ring. Riot booted Deville in the face but Moon tossed Ruby out of the ring. Ember went for a quick cover on Deville but Sonya kicked out at two.
Moon springboarded off the second rope and jumped into a massive Spear from Deville for a two count. Riot got back into the ring and was greeted by a flurry of punches from Deville. Sonya went for a knee but Riot got out of the way and Deville tumbled out of the ring. Riot went for a Suicide Dive onto Deville outside the ring but Sonya was ready and punched Ruby in the face as she reached the ropes.
Deville leaped off the ring apron towards Ember Moon but Ember leaped as well and booted Sonya in the face. Riot hit a Crossbody onto both Moon and Deville outside the ring. Ruby landed hard on her ankle on the entrance ramp. Back in the ring, Sonya Deville locked in an Ankle Lock and Ruby Riot. Ember Moon leaped off the top rope and hit the Eclipse on Deville and then pinned Ruby Riot for the victory.
Winner: Ember Moon
NXT GM William Regal announced that there will be a Battle Royal next week to determine the final Superstar in the Fatal 4-Way for the NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: Houston.
Aleister Black vs Raul Mendoza
Velveteen Dream came down to the ring just before the match and grabbed Black’s vest and put it on. Mendoza capitilized on the distraction and knocked Black to the canvas for a two count. Black quickly took control of the match and connected with a series of kicks. Aleister then connected with the Black Mass for the quick victory. After the match, Velveteen Dream stared at Black from the entrance ramp. Velveteen Dream walked backstage and Black finally looked towards him as he was walking away.
Christy St. Cloud interviewed NXT Champion Drew McIntyre. Drew discussed things not working out when he originally signed with WWE. McIntyre stated that he was released four days after getting his apartment with his wife. Zelina Vega interrupted and asked Christy to leave.
Zelina stated that McIntyre has a target on his back now and there is no threat bigger than Andrade “Cien” Almas. Vega accused McIntyre of avoiding Almas. McIntyre told Vega that Almas should tell him he wants the match face-to-face instead of sending his business partner to ask for it. Vega then walked away.
Bononi connected with a couple of shots to start off the match. Ohno responded with a few chops to the chest but Bononi shrugged them off and hit a Dropkick for a two count. Kassius battled back and connected with a Senton. Ohno charged at Bononi in the corner but Cezar was ready and booted Kassius in the face.
Ohno connected with a big boot that knocked Bononi out of the ring. Kassius then hit a Wrecking Ball Dropkick through the ropes and then brought Bononi back into the ring. Ohno then hit a sloppy looking rolling elbow to the back of Bononi’s head for the pinfall victory.
Bobby Fish and Alexander Wolfe started off the match and locked up. Wolfe shoved Fish into the corner and went for a punch but Fish avoided it and connected with a kick. Fish went for another kick but Wolfe caught him and headbutted him in the face. O’Reilly was tagged in and Wolfe greeted him with a giant Body Slam.
Eric Young was tagged in and hit an Elbow Drop onto O’Reilly. Killian Dain was tagged in and he continued the beatdown on O’Reilly. Young got back into the match and O’Reilly finally escaped and tagged in Bobby Fish. Bobby booted Young into the corner and then connected with a roundhouse kick that knocked Eric Young out of the ring as NXT went to a commercial break.
When NXT returned, Adam Cole was in the ring and had Eric Young in a Chin Lock in the middle of the ring. Young battled to his feet as the crowd cheered him on. Cole launched Young into the turnbuckle and then tagged in O’Reilly. Kyle continued to attack Young and then tagged in Bobby Fish.
Bobby Fish went for a cover but Young powered out at two. Fish then brought Young back to the corner and tagged in Adam Cole. Cole booted Young in the chest and Eric fell to the mat. Cole then hit a knee and then sent Young back into the corner. O’Reilly and Fish then connected with a double Suplex and O’Reilly went for the cover but Young kicked out at two.
O’Reilly slung Young into the turnbuckle and then booted Wolfe off the ring apron. O’Reilly then tried to leap on Young against the turnbuckle but Eric got out of the way and O’Reilly slammed into the ring post. Bobby Fish was tagged in and he leaped across the ring and prevented Young from tagging in Dain. Young escaped Fish’s grasp and tagged in Dain who cleaned house.
Dain connected with a big Dropkick to O’Reilly that sent him flying into the turnbuckle. Dain lifted O’Reilly onto his shoulder and Fish went for a Crossbody but Dain caught him as well. Dain then hit a Samoan Drop and a slam to Fish and O’Reilly at the same time. Dain then hit a Vader Bomb onto Bobby Fish.
Wolfe and Young hit a jumping Neckbreaker onto O’Reilly. Wolfe, Young and Dain surrounded Adam Cole and Dain threw him back into the ring. They were about to slam Cole the canvas but the Authors of Pain’s music hit. Rezar and Akam came down to the ring and beatdown SAnitY as Undisputed Era retreated up the entrance ramp. AOP hit the Super Collider onto Wolfe and Eric Young and then celebrated with the NXT Tag Team Championships in the ring.
Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) spoke with RealSport to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:
If they have a dream match: Fandango: “Earthquake and Typhoon? We pretty much based our entire careers, our whole tag team style, on Earthquake and Typhoon.” Breeze: “Alright, it’s like, I don’t see the connection there, but okay [laughs].”
How the Fashion Files sets them apart from other Superstars: Fandango: “I think we’ve obviously had segments and wrestling matches on Raw and SmackDown just being single competitors, but I think doing the Fashion Files weekly right now brings a different entity to the SmackDown show. It’s something different, it’s comedic relief between matches, so it’s kind of something that separates us from the rest of the roster. It’s bringing something different to SmackDown every week, and we take pride in making these skits as funny as possible every week. We really take it seriously. But I think, like, when we’re getting ready to film the Fashion Files every week, we’re just two dudes having fun backstage. And it’s not overly micromanaged, where we have to perfectly hit everything on the script. It’s pretty much us getting some material and just having fun with it and trying to make it our own. I think it really comes across as us just having a good time. The looser it is, the more fun it is, and that’s when the best material comes out.”
Finn Balor spoke with Metro Sport this week to promote WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view. Balor will channel the Demon King this Sunday for his showdown against ‘Sister Abigail’ (Bray Wyatt).
Balor said he’s enjoyed working with Bray Wyatt and the whole feud is “starting to click” because they’re understanding each other’s in-ring styles. He feels their matches are getting better, but doesn’t know how much longer they can keep the program going.
The most interesting topic was Balor stating that he wants to work with WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar next. Despite Lesnar’s size and the destruction he unleashes in the ring, Balor said “I would absolutely love to be in there with Brock Lesnar.”
“Once I handle Bray Wyatt, I need to be going after the Universal Championship which I was never beaten for. Yes, Brock Lesnar is the current champion, but make sure you don’t forget that I relinquished the title due to injury, I was never beaten, and I definitely think that I deserve a title shot.”
Lesnar is a very physically imposing talent, but that doesn’t scare Balor away. He said he was always a fan of ‘David vs. Goliath’ matches when he was growing up and their clash of styles would make for some entertaining matches.
“Right now, there’s a lot of interesting matches that could happen in WWE right now, but for me personally I think that Finn Balor vs Brock Lesnar is the most interesting match from a fans perspective that can happen right now. It’s something that has never happened before, with completely different styles inside and out of the ring. This could be a really big spectacle.”
Other topics discussed include WWE 2K18 and the possibility of UFC’s Conor McGregor getting involved with WWE one day. You can read the full interview at Metro.co.uk.
Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega have had arguably one of the greatest trilogies in wrestling history this year, and now their third match from this year’s G1 Climax tournament will be aired on AXS TV this Friday night.
As always commentary will be provided by Jim Ross and Josh Barnett, if you have not yet seen this bout then I urge you to check this out on Friday night.
New Japan has unveiled the full card for their upcoming Road To Power Struggle event that takes place this Saturday from Togane-shi, Chiba.
NJPW has also confirmed that a special attraction match will be taking place between Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debuts. New Japan released the following press release on the historic bout: With careers that have seen them compete all over the world, in pro-wrestling’s greatest competitions, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi are set to face off in a special singles match commemorating the 25 year anniversary since their debut! While Nagata and Nakanishi have faced off against each other numerous times in tag battles, it’s in singles competition where their rivalry truly burns white hot.
Here is the rest of the card:
Tomoyuki Oka & Katsuya Kitmura vs Yujiro Takahashi & Leo Tonga
Shota Umino, Tetsuhiro Yagi & Ren Narita vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi & El Desperado
Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask, Dragon Lee & Titan vs Ryusuke Taguchi, ACH, KUSHIDA & Hirai Kawato
Toru Yano, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka & TAKA Michinoku
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs Kota Ibushi, Juice Robinson & David Finlay
– WWE fans haven’t seen Summer Rae on WWE TV since last August, but it appears that she may be making her return to the squared circle soon. Back in May Rae was cleared to return to the ring after suffering injuries to her neck and back. She Tweeted the following earlier today (Wed. October 18, 2017):
– Brie Bella recently did a Q&A video on her YouTube channel to answer questions from fans. Bella confirmed that she is planning an in-ring return in 2018 and also commented on training again. She is set to work with a personal trainer in the first week of November and is hoping to be ready by January of 2018.
She also noted that she and Daniel Bryan are hoping to try for their second child in late 2018:
– As we saw earlier this week on Monday Night RAW, former WWE Champion Kane made his return to TV when he interfered in Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman’s Steel Cage match main event – assisting “The Monster Among Men” in picking up the victory. As a result, Kane will join the team of Strowman, The Miz, and The Bar to take on The Shield at Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) this weekend.
The belief on Kane’s return is that it will only be for a short period of time. WWE was very careful about keeping his return a secret Monday night with many talents backstage not even knowing that he was in the building. Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) is currently in the midst of a campaign for mayor of Knox County, Tennessee in 2018.
– SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan responded to WWE Creative Humor on Twitter regarding his in-ring future, indicating that a return in 2018 is what he has planned next for himself:
"I'm still an in-ring performer. @WWEDanielBryan, you're not anymore…until September" – Sami Zayn #SDLive
— WWE Creative Humor (a sub of TKO Creative Humor) (@WWECreative_ish) October 18, 2017
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Ryback took to his podcast, Conversation With The Big Guy, to talk about a number of professional wrestling topics. During the show Ryback made yet another sexist comment, which he has done several times before, claiming that female professional wrestling fans have mental issues. “The Big Guy” explained why he wouldn’t date a female pro wrestling fan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdthUKg1qDg
“That’s how I feel about a wrestler dating a girl that’s a huge wrestling fan. I don’t know if I would…” to which Marie said, “Oh my God, did you watch the match, that’s all they would want to talk about.” to which Ryback replied, “Yea, amongst other things – mental issues. I would just…it would be scary to me.”
