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The Miz on Being Disliked When he Joined WWE

Jon Fuentes
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5

WWE Superstar The Miz recently did an interview with Bleacher Report to talk about his career in the WWE, as well as his stint on MTV’s Real World before his pro wrestling career. You can check out what he had to say here:

Utilizing ‘The Miz’ character on MTV’s Real World:

“The Miz came in as a way to say exactly what I was feeling and not have any repercussions for it because it was a character I was playing. That character became very popular, not only with fans but with castmates.”

Being on ‘Real World’ helping him get ready for professional wrestling:

“It got me comfortable in front of the cameras. Whenever I had an interview, it wasn’t a nervous situation. That was something I’d done for a long time. It showed me I could play up to the cameras. The camera was my friend.”

Being disliked when he first joined WWE in 2006:

“I wasn’t liked. I think of WWE as a fraternity. You have the fans involved. You have the WWE Superstars involved. And you have me wanting to be a part of the fraternity and no one accepting me. …Every ounce of respect I have today, I had to earn. I guess I’m glad for it because it made me the person I am today and I like me.”

Check out the full interview here.

Jim Ross Reveals if He’d Ever Return to WWE Full-Time

Jon Fuentes
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4

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross has released another blog on his JR’s BBQ Website to comment on a variety of pro wrestling topics. You can check out some of the highlights here:

If he’d ever consider working a full-time schedule again in WWE:

“At this stage of my career, I am much more interested in the quality of my work rather then the frequency of travel of it which translates to; I am not interested in going back on the road every week as I did for so many years. Working on events such as the U.K. special, the occasional NXT booking, etc are right down my alley and are projects that I get to work with new partners and new talents which is always fun. As I mentioned on a recent Ross Report, I love ‘coming out of the bullpen’ and trying to throw a few strikes whenever WWE deems I’m needed.”

The legal battle between Impact Wrestling and The Hardys:

“Not overly conformable with official contract info, communications, etc being distributed to the pro wrestling media regarding the contract issues involving the Hardy’s and Impact Wrestling. Not sure what it proves or if it helps anyone’s cause other than keeping this private, business matter lingering in the eyes of the public. Just my two cents but most pro wrestling companies have bigger fish to fry than making a matter such as this click bait.”

You can read the full blog by clicking here.

Stone Cold Steve Austin Offers His Thoughts on Jinder Mahal’s WWE Title Win

Jon Fuentes
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25

WWE Hall Of Famer and former WWE Champ Stone Cold Steve Austin took to his podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to comment on Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship from Randy Orton at Backlash this past weekend. Austin says he’s a huge fan of “The Maharaja” gimmick and sees money in the former 3MB member’s future:

“He’s got a great look, a great body.” Austin continued, “oh dude, [the ‘Maharaja’ nickname] has cool factor written all over it. Plus, if you play that with arrogance, it works for you. But, dude, down the road, I think that it spells money. I think the kid [has] got a great look. Like [Helms] said, he’s got the great facials. And [Helms] know[s], dude, you’ve got to bring a few things to the table, whether it’s appearance or size, looks, handsome, ugly, are you a flat-out bad ass worker, just unbelievable talker? This kid has bits and pieces of the things [one needs to be successful]. And all of these things can be graded on a scale of one to 10 on what you’re bringing to the table. But, at first, one of the big things you’ve got to bring, dude, for Vince to get in that big spot, size helps and it just does.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Update on Emma’s Injury Status And When She’s Expected to Return

Jon Fuentes
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3

According to a report from Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, Emma is expected to get cleared to return to the WWE around mid-June. Emma has been sidelined due to a shoulder injury which she sustained during the WWE’s European Tour.

Emma tagged with Nia Jax and RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss against Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Mickie James during a Live Event in Liverpool, England after Banks landed on Emma wrong with a double knee drop off the turnbuckle. The referee subsequently threw up the ‘X’ symbol and the match ended earlier than expected.

We’ll keep you updated as we learn more….

Eric Bischoff Fires Back at Fans’ Criticisms over ‘Evil Foreigner’ Portrayal of Jinder Mahal

Jon Fuentes
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5

Former WCW President Eric Bischoff took to his podcast, Bischoff on Wrestling, to comment on Jinder Mahal’s recent WWE Championship win and fans’ criticisms over Mahal being portrayed as the ‘evil foreigner.’ Check out what he had to say here:

Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship:

I loved it. I loved it. Great move. I didn’t know he was actually going to get the title. As far as getting him featured and giving him a spotlight it makes all the sense in the world to me for all the right reasons. Business wise, strategically and also as a character. As a new character and as something that is fresh. He’s not the same kind of recycled cookie coming out of the cookie press with a little different flavor. I think this is really unique and that’s what WWE needs right now.”

Fans being critical over Mahal being portrayed as the ‘evil foreigner’:

“He should be a bad guy because right now he’s the hottest thing in the hottest company on the face of the Earth! I absolutely fricking guarantee you there is no one in India going, “Oh! WWE is coming to India and Jinder Mahal is the champion and I’m not going to go see them because he’s a bad guy!” (Laughs) No. No. Stop, leave your social justice warrior stuff at home when you come into pro wrestling. It’s not applicable.”

H/T Wrestle Zone for the transcriptions

Chris Benoit Mistakenly Appears in Online Marketing Campaign

Jake Skudder
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14

UK-based potato chip manufacturer Walkers are currently running a social media campaign where Twitter followers can win tickets to the UEFA Champions League final that takes place in Cardiff, Wales on Saturday June 3rd. Walkers is asking people to upload selfies using the hashtag #WalkersWave to be superimposed into various promo spots. What could go wrong?

Unfortunately some users started tweeting images of infamous criminals, one of these being former WCW/WWE Superstar Chris Benoit.

Walkers mistakenly used at least one of the images of Benoit in a video which has been circulating online.

H/T to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet for spotting this bizarre story

Details On Jinder Mahal’s Push, Jinder’s New T-Shirt & Side Plates

Staff
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As you can imagine, a big factor behind Jinder Mahal’s unlikely WWE Championship victory is the company’s initiative to make headway in India. While company officials do not expect a big uptick in television ratings or merchandise sales. In fact, WWE Shop just released the first Jinder Mahal “Modern Day Maharaja” t-shirt.

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The real upside with pushing the company’s first Indian WWE Champion is with WWE Network subscriptions in the Indian market. WWE has a strong social media presence in India and will leverage the new champion to push Network subs there. We won’t really know if the plan was effective until August, when WWE releases the next round of quarter financial results (and network subs). WWE does not break down ‘International’ subscriptions by country, but an uptick in International subscriptions would suggest it was a good business decision.

Jinder Mahal will continue to work with Randy Orton in the coming months. As announced on SmackDown, the two will battle for the WWE Championship at next month’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view. In case you missed it on SmackDown, here’s Jinder Mahal’s Punjabi Celebration:

Finally, because you can never get too much Jinder, WWE released this photo of Jinder Mahal’s new championship title side plates.

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

The Latest On Adam Cole, Emma Injury Update, WWE Stacking Upcoming MSG Show

Staff
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– WWE Hall of Famer Lita is rumored to be joining Jim Ross on commentary for the upcoming Mae Young Classic women’s tournament, which airs on the WWE Network this summer.

– Emma is currently out of action recovering from a shoulder injury that took place during WWE’s recent European tour. The injury is not as serious as initially thought, so she could be ready to return around mid-June.

– Former Ring of Honor World Champion Adam Cole remains a free agent. There’s interest from both WWE and Impact Wrestling, but he will most likely wind up in NXT.

– WWE is stacking the card for the July 7th RAW-branded live event from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Two big SmackDown “special attration” matches have been added to the show: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles. The event is being promoted as Nakamura and Finn Balor’s first appearances at MSG.

H/T to Dave Meltzer of f4wonline.com for the information used in this report

NXT Highlights and Results: More Matches From Chicago

Chris Stephens
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6

NXT
airdate: May 24th 2017
Chicago, Ill

1. Aleister Black vs. Curt Hawkins

Hawkins got in some initial offence after faking a test-of-strength challenge, but otherwise this was all Black. The guy is fun to watch. He won here with a roundhouse head-kick. During the match he also did a really nice springboard moonsault onto a standing Hawkins.

Winner: Aleister Black

2. “the Velveteen Dream” Patrick Clark vs. Robert Anthony

The Velveteen Dream, Patrick Clark is certainly in good shape. This was a squash match to feature him, after weeks of his vignettes shown on NXT. They do appear to be dropping Patrick Clark from his name, and are just going with him as the Velveteen Dream.

He hit a beautiful big elbow drop from the top rope for the win.

Winner: the Velveteen Dream

3. Drew McIntyre vs. Wesley Blake

This wasn’t a squash match, meaning they might be looking at Wesley Blake as a mid to top heel in NXT’s men’s singles division.

Blake threw Drew into the post shoulder first and locked in a crossface. Drew powered out of it however, and ended up landing a reverse Alabama slam. Blake countered a double-arm DDT into an arm-breaker to go back on offence. He went to the top rope but Drew caught him and threw him off. Blake countered the running boot, but then took a big headbutt. After that, Drew finally hit a single-leg Yakuza kick and got the pin.

Winner: Drew McIntyre

Gerald Brisco’s Advice For Roman Reigns & Other WWE Talent

Staff
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6

WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco was a recent guest on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast. Brisco, who serves as a talent scout for WWE, knows a thing or two about what WWE looks for and what it takes to make it on the big stage.

As somebody who competed in the ring from 1969-1984, Brisco has seen the industry transform and evolve several times over. When asked about the core components of what it takes for talent to get over, Brisco says there are certain characteristics that are timeless and will always be beneficial.

“There are guys in this era right here and now that could get over back in mine and there are guys in mine that could definitely get over in this one here,” he said. “It’s not the gimmick. It’s not the storyline because our storyline’s are simple and it not that a lot of individuals didn’t have a lot of gimmicks but it’s the person behind it. It is that person that works his ass off every night in the ring and stays consistent and stays true to himself.”

Brisco’s son Wes is good friends with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Brisco says Austin has always told Wes to simply be himself while performing. Stay true to yourself and you’ll always have that going for you.

Brisco also had some advice for Roman Reigns and it ties into the ‘be yourself’ message he just spoke about. He’s seen John Cena get rejected by a large portion of the WWE Universe despite having all the tools to succeed. Love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge John Cena is talented, he knows his character and he’s going to keep doing what works best for him. Brisco feels Reigns should take the same approach.

“If he just stays himself and doesn’t change .. the people are going to hate him and the people are going to love him.. but look at John Cena. He is one of the most revered guys but in the beginning people loved and then hated and still they love / hate him, but he is still one of the most revered guys there is.”

“Stay true to yourself and don’t get off course and don’t let people talk you into changing, don’t let the fans convince you that you need Otto change. Just be yourself and pretty soon they will see this is who you are. That is my advice to these young guys and if you believe in something than make it yours and make it work.”

Other topics discussed include he and his brother Jack pioneering the amateur wrestling style in pro wrestling, why few other teams could match their toughness and skill inside the ring and why the Bisco Brothers never never fully got the ‘New York’ run that many feel was cut short in the early 1980s. You can listen to the full episode here:

Asuka Surpasses Goldberg’s Undefeated Streak, Reactions From Both

Chris Stephens
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33

NXT Women’s Champion Asuka recently won her 177th match in NXT, surpassing Bill Goldberg’s fabled 176-0 streak from the glory days of WCW. Both Asuka and Goldberg commented on her accomplishment:

Goldberg’s Streak vs. Asuka’s Streak

Goldberg’s streak, according to WCW storylines, ended at 176-0. In reality, that streak was only 158 wins and he actually lost a non-televised match to Chad Fortune at a WCW Saturday Night taping early in his career. In Goldberg’s autobiography, he stated that management were testing to see how he would react to losing a match, and when he didn’t complain, they continued pushing his undefeated streak.

Asuka has never been pinned or submitted in NXT, but she has been in matches where she didn’t win. In 2016, she didn’t win 3 straight fatal 4-way matches, which were all won by Bayley. She was also in a battle royal she didn’t win.

Tomohiro Ishii and Final 4 Competitors announced for Pro Wrestling World Cup Japanese Qualifier

Jake Skudder
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1

The much anticipated Pro Wrestling World Cup has now officially begun.

If you have not yet heard of the tournament or are unaware of the format then check out the statement from WCPW below for full clarification:

“Run over ten separate dates beginning March 21st, the Pro Wrestling World Cup will see competitors from six continents compete in eight preliminary tournaments – to be held in several different countries.

The preliminaries will see eight men competing in a single fall elimination tournament. Each preliminary tournament will consist of competitors from a single country: Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, USA. A tournament will also be held for competitors from the Rest Of The World, with eight further countries represented. Two winners will proceed from each tournament.”

WCPW has now announced the final 4 competitors entering the Japanese Qualifying leg which takes place July 7th in Manchester’s Bowlers Exhibition Centre. They are Tiger Mask IV, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yohci Komatsu and Sho Tanaka.

The complete line up of competitors in the Japanese Qualifying leg are now as follows:

  • Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger
  • KUSHIDA
  • Hiromu Takahashi
  • BUSHI
  • Tiger Mask IV
  • Sho Tanaka
  • Yohei Komatsu
  • Ryusuke Taguchi

One of the pioneers of modern Strong Style and New Japan legend Tomohiro Ishii has also been announced for the event and will compete in non-tournament action.

The English, Scottish and Mexican Qualifying legs have already taken place and you can check these out below for free on YouTube.

Post-Backlash SmackDown Viewership Bounces Back From Last Week’s Year-Low

Scott Lazara
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35

This week’s WWE SmackDown episode bounced back from last week’s 2017 low with the fallout from Sunday’s Backlash pay-per-view. Last night’s show drew 2.328 million viewers, up from last week’s 2.175 million viewers for the Backlash go-home episode.

SmackDown featured Backlash fallout including new WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. The main event saw Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles defeat Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler.

SmackDown was #8 in viewership and #3 in the 18-49 demographic this week. The NBA continues to top the charts during playoff season.

By comparison, this week’s RAW averaged 2.615 million viewers.

Here are WWE’s Top 10 moments from this week’s show.

Jinder Mahal Congratulated In Canadian Provincial Parliament

Chris Stephens
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13

Yesterday, Jinder Mahal’s WWE championship win was commended in Canadian Provincial Parliament in Alberta. The congrats were delivered by Graham Sucha (NDP), MPP for the Calgary-Shaw riding in Alberta.

Amazingly, Sucha got the line “Don’t Hinder Jinder” into the official transcript. The MPP posted video of his congrats on his YouTube channel. Sucha has been in office over 2 years, and this was just the 5th video he has chosen to post.

Jinder Mahal is Canadian?

Yuvraj “Raj” Singh Dhesi was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is of Indian Punjabi origin. His Uncle was the Great Gama Singh, who wrestled under a similar gimmick in Stampede Wrestling. Gama Singh led the Karachi-Vice stable and feuded with members of the Hart Family.

Jinder’s grandfather emigrated from India to Canada with his family in 1963. The Great Gama Singh was 9 years old at the time.

205 Live Highlights: Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick – Street Fight

Chris Stephens
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6

205 Live
airdate: May 23rd 2017
Toledo, OH

1. Rich Swann vs. Ariya Daivari

Before the match we were shown highlights of Daivari from the last few weeks. In general, he has been involved in backstage scenes that play up the idea he comes from a wealthy background, and is a little uppity about it.

Swann took the brunt of Daivari’s offence for the first part of the match, but began to make a comeback after breaking out of his opponent’s cobra clutch. He hit a somersault axe-kick and then a spinning roundhouse head kick for a near-fall. After that he hit his Phoenix Splash and got the win.

Winner: Rich Swann

  • Following the match Noam Dar and Alicia Fox hit the ring. Dar attacked Swann from behind and threw him out of the ring.

Austin Aries and Neville Interview Segment

  • Neville and Aries discuss their upcoming submissions match at Extreme Rules in 2 weeks.
  • Aries was eating a banana to start the interview.

2. Cedric Alexander vs. Johnny Boone

I really hope WWE doesn’t figure this out, but Johnny Boone is the name of the leader of the old “Cornbread Mafia”, a famous Minnesota marijuana-growing outfit from 1980s. Perhaps they’ll do a season of Fargo on him. Poor guy is serving life in prison. His namesake didn’t do much better here.

Alexander won with the Lumbar Check.

Winner: Cedric Alexander

3. Street Fight 
The Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa

Since this brand has no Takeovers or PPVs (aside from the title match being on Raw PPVs), Tozawa and Kendrick concluded their feud in the main event of 205 Live this week.

Kendrick went immediately to the outside to get a weapon but Tozawa hit him with a suicide dive. They started the match brawling around the outside. When they got back in the ring, Kendrick used a role of purple duct tape to tape Tozawa’s mouth shut. Then he locked in the Captain’s Hook, but Tozawa got to the ropes and used them as leverage to get out of the hold.

Kendrick set up a table on the outside, but Tozawa recovered and started whipping him with a leather belt. Tozawa went for his diving Senton, but Kendrick countered and once again locked in the Captain’s Hook. Tozawa got out of the move by diving to the outside, bringing his opponent with him.

After brawling on the outside for a bit, Tozawa set up Kendrick on the table and climbed the ropes. He then hit his high-diving senton onto Kendrick through the table. He rolled Kendrick back into the ring and pinned him.

Winner: Akira Tozawa

Jerry Lawler Talks About Rushing to Owen Hart’s Side After His Fall in 1999

Jon Fuentes
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14

The most tragic moment in WWE history occurred 18 years ago at WWE Over The Edge 1999 when WWE Superstar Owen Hart suffered a tragic fall from the rafters that subsequently led to his death. One man who witnessed the account firsthand was longtime WWE commentator and WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler.

Lawler took to his podcast, Dinner With The King, to reflect on that night, which occurred 18 years ago this week:

Owen’s accident being 18 years ago:

“It just seems hard to believe it’s been 18 years since that night. Because that night is still so vivid in my mind. For some reason I was looking around as the promo was playing. I glanced up and was looking around. And as the promo was going, I just saw something. I couldn’t say that I saw it; saw Owen actually fall. I just saw a blur.”

Rushing to Hart’s side after it happened:

“Once your heart is no longer beating anymore, I could just see his face turn gray, from the tip of his nose all the way down his face as the blood was settling in his body. I knew, I realized that moment right then, that Owen was gone.”

You can listen to the episode here (King begins speaking on the incident around the 11:30 mark).

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcribed quotes

Jinder Mahal Explains How he Can Solidify Himself as a Legitimate Champion

Jon Fuentes
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12

Newly crowned WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently did an interview with USA Today’s “For The Win” to talk about his recent title win over Randy Orton at Backlash. Check out the highlights here:

How he can solidify himself as a legit champ in the eyes of fans:

“I see Randy and A.J. Styles (as opponents), but I’m hoping for Cena when he gets back (from hiatus). I know some people don’t see me as championship material. I haven’t fully gotten their confidence. Beating someone like Cena would solidify me in their eyes as champion.”

Not referring to himself as “The American Dream” anymore moving forward, as he used it once on an episode of Talking Smack: 

“Nobody told me to say that and nobody told me not to say it. It was just how I felt. I am the new American Dream because I have worked so hard to get to where I am. Many people don’t give me the credit I deserve. No one in WWE is out-dieting me, no one is out-training me. It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m the WWE champion. Simply put, I am working the hardest.

“I could say that again. It’s something I just believe. I enjoy being Talking Smack. It’s an open forum. But literally not one person said, don’t say that again.”

Shane McMahon Reveals Vince’s Reaction to Stone Cold Walking Out on WWE

Jon Fuentes
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20

WWE SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about a variety of topics. You can check out the highlights here:

Vince’s reaction to Steve walking out on the WWE back in 2002 after refusing to job for Brock Lesnar:

“[Austin was] the guy that was drawing the houses and everything was built around [Austin]. So when you have that much equity at stake and you have your number one player in there and that’s the one who draws money all of a sudden say, ‘I’m out,’ well, it’s very devastating, obviously, to everyone else underneath and everyone felt it, just like, ‘wow’, so [Austin] specifically, you let a lot of people down.”

“Vince was hurt professionally and personally because you guys had been building a good relationship. If you guys did have a disagreement, you’d settle it quickly and talk about it. But at the end of the day when it got down to ‘alright, this is the vision we’re going with when I said we’d paint the room blue, well, you didn’t want to paint the room blue at that time, so you took your paint and went somewhere else.’ So that was a big blow personally as well because, again, it’s the machine and we all put effort into building ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, and the company, and everything else around it. And when that cog leaves, it’s like, ‘oh wow! Jeez, that didn’t feel good!’ It didn’t make any of us feel good. [Austin] let us down, man.”

Shane’s brutal match with Kurt Angle at King Of The Ring 2001:

“It’s safety glass, yeah.” McMahon added, “by the third time, I said, ‘you Olympic wuss’ or something along those lines. ‘I can’t believe you can’t even throw me through it.'”

“I wasn’t concussed or anything, so I was straight up. I mean, I was hurting.” McMahon added, “Kurt was calling for a suplex and I called it off. It was in the middle aisle. It was just cement. He says, ‘no suplex, suplex.’ I was like, ‘no, Kurt.’ He says, ‘go, go.’ And he did something to me and I didn’t have much of a choice. I’m like, ‘alright, suplex.’ So as we did it, he hit and he went, ‘oh my God!’ He cracked his tailbone.”

“Vince almost came out about three times during that match. He was going to call it off. I had no idea. Chioda was the ref. Chioda was usually always my ref because we go back in the day, like I said. And it takes three, not just two. It takes three. In the IFB, I guess Vince is talking, saying something. Chioda’s talking to me, but I think he’s just saying gibberish because, again, I got whacked in the head a couple of times. So anyways, Vince thinks that I’m shooing him off, that I’m disobeying an order, that I’m ignoring the order from Chioda, but I never got the order because I would never disobey him. So [the] gorilla [position] was silent. Vince was going ballistic. I mean, throwing stuff.”

Vince being outraged cause he thought Shane was disobeying his orders during the match:

“[Vince] was fuming and he said something very nice to me. He put the match over and that’ll stay private. And he said, ‘but don’t you ever blanking do that ever again.’ He was so hot. We were supposed to ride together, but he got his own car. I was like, ‘wow, I had heat’ because he was nervous, so it was two things: being a father and seeing your son go through a train wreck and waiving him off, which really made him hot, in front of everybody, because he was giving the order in front of everybody, so he thought I was disobeying on top of all that and everyone around knows I was disobeying.”

Being backstage after the match:

“Kurt and I come back through [the curtain] and it was one of the first-ever standing ovations because that wasn’t given back in the day. And I’m not saying that to brag. I’m saying it because of how appreciative I was and how appreciate the fans were that we put ourselves through that. And it was like, ‘oh my God, that was awesome.’ We get through gorilla, [and] it’s like a morgue. I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on here.’ So Kurt and I keep going. I mean, it was silent. My dad was nowhere to be seen. He was so fuming. As we get through the back, there was a whole line of guys, all the boys were applauding.” McMahon remembered, “as I turn around the corner on my way to the trainer’s room before we go to the hospital, and then, here comes Marissa, just eyes bawling. She has no idea because I didn’t tell her anything. That’s the one I got huge heat for.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcribed quotes

Update on Why WWE is Staying Clear of the Matt Hardy – Impact Dispute

Jon Fuentes
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8

According to a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, the WWE is distancing themselves from the battle between Matt Hardy and Impact Wrestling for the rights to the “Broken” gimmick because they don’t want to set a precedent for attempting to buy gimmicks from other companies.

Meltzer also stated that if WWE was truly not interested in the gimmick, they would tell Hardy to stop pursuing the character’s rights and utilizing “Broken” mannerisms on WWE TV.

WWE does want Matt to use the Broken gimmick in WWE, but has no interest in getting involved in the process to acquire its rights.

  • Matt Hardy Responds to Impact President Releasing His Contract Online

Matt Hardy Responds to Impact President Releasing His Contract

Jon Fuentes
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15

The battle between The Hardys and Impact Wrestling over the famed “Broken” gimmick continues to get uglier. Impact Wrestling President Ed Nordholm just fired off the latest shot in the battle by sending PWInsider a long list of communications between Impact and Matt Hardy.

He also included a four-page excerpt from Matt’s Impact contract, which stated that the company owns all intellectual property after their relationship ends. An email exchange with WWE was also included, in which WWE claimed they have “no interest” in getting involved in the battle for the gimmick.

Check it out:

Good afternoon,

In response to on-going speculation concerning our position with respect to the “Broken Brilliance” creative, I am providing this detailed log of our communications on the subject and the contractual structure of our relationship with Matt Hardy with respect to intellectual property matters (which is standard to our roster and in the industry).

There has never been any argument from Impact Wrestling that the Hardy’s were key contributors to the development of the characters and story line, or that Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy executed on their roles in spectacular fashion. But the position taken by the Hardys is a massive disservice to the contributions of the rest of the creative team at Impact Wrestling, including Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagano (sic), Matt Conway and Billy Corgan, and is totally at odds with the terms of their contracts.

The Hardys would have you believe that Anthem is somehow avoiding their lawyers to address this. This is the log of our communications with the Hardys and/or their lawyers. It is clear that we have not been avoiding them.

* March 10 – EBN speaks with executives at ROH about “Broken Brilliance” being used in ROH shows. I indicated willingness to provide an arrangement that would allow the creative to be used in ROH shows and encouraged ROH to have Matt speak with me if he wanted to pursue that discussion
* March 11 – EBN spoke at length with Matt by telephone about the structure of an amicable arrangement for use of the Broken Brilliance creative
* March 14 – Matt sent text message to Ed Nordholm at 4:05pm:

“Tried giving you a call, it rang & went busy. I’m open to working things out amicably as we spoke about. The lawyer who represent me is interested in seeing your offer. My lawyer’s email is {redacted} which you could send the offer to for review. Thanks.”

And I responded by text at 6:41 pm

“Thank you Matt. I was supposed to be [flying] into NYC today and am a little twisted. I will pull something together with [our] lawyers and try to get it over to your lawyer tomorrow or Thursday at latest”

* March 16 – At 8:25 pm I sent an update text to Matt:

“Hi Matt. My lawyer got me a draft too late to get reviewed for today. I will look at it in the morning. Sorry for the delay”

And he responded at 9:16 pm

“Ok, he’s ready for it. Thanks for the update.”

* March 17 – counsel for Anthem Wrestling delivered draft proposal to counsel for Matt Hardy
* March 24 – counsel for Anthem Wresting followed up with Matt Hardy counsel requesting comments on the proposal
* March 27 – counsel for Matt Hardy responds that they have been away and have not reviewed the proposal but will be back “in the next few days”

After which no further communication until

* April 18 – counsel for Matt Hardy leaves a voice mail message for counsel for Anthem Wrestling asking to arrange a meeting
* April 20 – EBN contacts WWE by email to determine veracity of internet rumours concerning WWE interest in Broken Brilliance
* April 21 — WWE respond by email that there “is no interest on our end” {redacted email exchange attached}
* April 21 – counsel for Matt Hardy sends a follow up message requesting a meeting
* April 27 – lawyers speak to arrange a meeting
* May 16 – lawyers meet but no agreement reached

Finally, I am attaching a copy of the relevant provisions of Matt’s contract with Impact. The clause is virtually identical to the corresponding provisions of every wrestler under contract with Impact.

The facts are that we tried to accommodate the Hardys for their Ring of Honour engagements, and have tried to elicit an indication from WWE whether they have an interest in using the Broken Brilliance creative in WWE. We are not hoarding it from WWE; WWE is not interested in it.

We fully respect the decision of Matt and Jeff to return to WWE and appreciate all of their contributions to Impact Wrestling. We wish them every success.

Our focus is on the future and we will not have any further public comment on this matter.

Ed Nordholm

Reby Hardy took to Twitter to respond to Impact’s latest move and even threatened to release phone calls between the two sides:

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867166443451760640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867167309089062913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867168559851479040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867168754190344192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867169023695376384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867169491028803585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867169657425244162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/867169988079001600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fwi%2Fnews%2F2017%2F0523%2F626497%2Fhardys-impact-wrestling-fight-gets-even-uglier%2F

Matt’s response was much more direct and to the point, saying that his evidence will be released via the correct venue:

Update on Braun Strowman’s WWE Return

Jon Fuentes
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28

According to a report from PWInsider, WWE officials are expecting Braun Strowman to return much sooner than the storyline given six-month timeframe. As we previously mentioned, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that “The Monster Among Men” is expected to return around mid-July to begin building up his match with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.

Strowman was injured by Roman Reigns during their meeting at WWE Payback, where the big guy suffered an elbow injury that required surgery to fix. Strowman posted the following picture on Instagram showing off his badly bruised elbow, and vowed to return the pain two-fold when he sees Roman Reigns again:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUaN_CGjw7B/

CM Punk Takes Verbal Lashing On MTV: Challenge Show

Chris Stephens
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17

CM Punk is taking part in MTV’s reality show “The Challenge”, and was on the receiving end of some hate from one of the other contestants apparently.  The MTV program posted the following video to their FB page last night:

Is CM Punk Still in the UFC?

CM Punk has said he has been trying to get another fight in the UFC, but there has been some stalling on behalf of the promotion. After his unfortunate performance in his bout with Mickey Gall, UFC President Dana White indicated that perhaps Punk’s next bout shouldn’t be in the UFC.

Mickey Gall defeated CM Punk via rear-naked choke in 2:14 of the 1st round at UFC 203.

Petition To Remove Wrestling From YouTube’s “Offensive Content” List

Chris Stephens
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18

A Change.org petition to remove pro-wrestling from YouTube’s offensive content list is gaining traction. So far over 2000 people have signed.

Last March, YouTube responded to advertisers complaints that their ads were running over offensive content, such as hate speech or other offensive content. Somehow, pro-wrestling got grouped in with offensive content. As a result, many pro-wrestling YouTube channels have taken a hit financially.

It is believed YouTube is still tweaking their policy however, which makes the current petition all the more important.

Lost Revenue for WCPW and “Being the Elite”

The change in YouTube’s policy greatly reduced the amount of revenue earned by What Culture Pro-Wrestling, leading to the cancellation of several tapings for their YouTube shows. The Young Bucks have also expressed the policy has caused their revenue to “take a beating” from “Being the Elite”.

Similar wrestling channels on YouTube have also been hurt by the move. There is also a worry that such policies set a dangerous precedent regarding the value of pro-wrestling content to advertisers.

You can sign the petition here.

Pete Dunne Names Brock Lesnar & William Regal As Dream Opponents

Staff
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9

WWE’s new United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne spoke with ESPN this week about his show-stealing match with Tyler Bate at NXT Takeover: Chicago and which WWE Superstar he considers a dream opponent. 

The 23 year-old-grappler from Birmingham, England told ESPN that he’s very proud of his match with Tyler Bate not only because of what they did in the ring, but because of their history together.

“I’m really glad I got to share that one with him. I had a big hand in training Tyler. I got him his first ever booking, which was against me in a tag match. As proud as I am of myself for being able to hold this WWE title, I was incredibly proud of him, as well. The two Brits on such a huge show of this magnitude.”

There’s a good chance we’ll see more matches between Dune and Bate, but that hasn’t stopped Dunne from thinking about potential ‘dream matches’ for himself down the road. Two names that came up were Brock Lesnar and NXT General Manager William Regal.

“I’d love to wrestle Brock Lesnar,” he said. “It’s the realism, the way he carries himself. It’s 100 percent believable because he’s real. That’s someone who I’d love to get in the ring with someday. I don’t think there’s a possibility of it ever happening, but I’d also love to wrestle William Regal one day.”

Dunne added that competing at WrestleMania is also a dream of his. Now that he’s a champion in WWE, that dream is closer than ever to becoming a reality.

Head over to ESPN.com to check out the full interview.

Money In The Bank: WWE Championship Match, MITB Participants

Staff
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13

Following Tuesday’s SmackDown Live, the top two matches for next month’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view are set.

SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon announced that this year’s Money in the Bank participants will include AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler. The match was initially slated to involve 5 participants, but Kevin Owens talked his way into the 6th spot.

Also at Money in the Bank, newly crowned WWE Champion Jinder Mahal will defend against the man he defeated for the gold at Backlash, Randy Orton.

No announcements yet regarding the rumored Women’s Money in the Bank match.

WWE Money in the Bank takes place Sunday, June 18th from St. Louis, Missouri.

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