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ROH War of the Worlds TV Tapings Results from Philadelphia (5/14)

Staff
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Thanks to SEScoops correspondent Michael Hottle for sending in the following results from Sunday’s ROH War of the Worlds TV tapings from the former ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA:

Dark Match

The Tempura Boyz (Sho & Yohei) defeated Coast 2 Coast (Leon St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali) by pinfall

Episode 1

The show opens with a promo from The Young Bucks and Hangman Page. They announce it’s a new era in the Bullet Club and welcome Marty Scurll to the ring. Marty talked about how stupid Adam Cole was at the War of the Worlds PPV. He continues and asks, “Who’s ready to have tea time with Marty?” Adam Cole interrupted asking, “Why have a tea party with Marty when you can have story time with Adam Cole?” Cole declares himself as the franchise player in the company. Page then says he’s going to run Adam Cole out of the company.

Match 1) Josh Woods defeated David Starr by submission with a rolling knee bar

Silas Young and The Beer City Bruiser come to the ring for a promo. Silas mocked Jay Lethal for being the franchise and asks what makes him special or better than him? Silas says he beat him clean in the ring in Milwaukee and claims he has his number. Lethal interrupted, walking down to the ring, saying this isn’t a company where we talk about our problems. This is a company where we fight. Silas informs Lethal, “You don’t get what you want. You get what I give you” as the Bruiser sneaks up on Lethal from behind and the next match begins. Silas joins the commentary team.

Match 2) Beer City Bruiser v. Jay Lethal

Lethal wins by DQ after Silas interferes. A beat down from both men commences on Lethal as Bobby Fish runs in for the save.

Cody comes to the ring and blames ROH management for not wanting a guy like him, a guy without an ROH contract, to be their world champion. Kazarian comes out, presumably early and by accident, as Cody continues his lengthy rant. He turns his attention to Colt Cabana on commentary asking what he said at the War of the Worlds PPV. Eventually Cody points out that Colt stated Lethal’s shoulders were down flat on the mat when Cody had him in the figure four and the referee didn’t do his job ignoring a pin.

TV Main Event

Match 3) Cody defeated Kazarian with Crossroads

Hangman Page comes down and they double team Kazarian. Christopher Daniels runs in for the save.

Women of Honor

Gabi Ortiz & Sumi Sakai defeated Tasha Steelz & “Bonesaw” Jessie Brooks after Sumi pinned Tasha following a northern lights suplex

Episode 2

Match 1) War Machine defeated Will Ferrera & Cheeseburger by pinfall

War Machine cut a promo talking about their IWGP tag title reign and then challenged The Young Bucks.

Match 2) BUSHI, Sanada, EVIL, & Naito defeated Mark & Jay Briscoe, Bully Ray, & Dalton Castle after Bushi nailed Mark Briscoe in the face with mist and Naito capitalized for the win.

TV Main Event

Match 3) Hangman Page defeated Adam Cole by pinfall following two reverse Tombstone Piledrivers

Lots of “Thank you Adam” chants before the bell. Following the match Page pushes referee Todd Sinclair down, takes his belt, and begins whipping Cole. Kazarian runs in for the save. Page & Kazarian quickly vacant the ring area. “Thank you Adam” chants break out again throughout the arena. As Cole raises his hand thanking the fans Marty Scurll attacks Cole from behind. Marty says he just stole his moment like he did at the War of the Worlds PPV.  It is then announced that the non-televised main event of the evening will be Marty Scurll v. Adam Cole in a Philadelphia Street Fight.

Intermission

Women of Honor

Kelly Klein defeated Jenny Rose by submission with a dragon sleeper

Episode 3

Match 1) Roppongi Vice & “The Kentucky Gentleman” Chuckie T (Chuck Taylor) defeated Hangman Page & The Young Bucks when Taylor pinned Matt Jackson

Match 2) The Rebellion (Rhett Titus & Shane Taylor) w/ Caprice Coleman v. Jay White & Jonathan Gresham

The match appeared to be a no contest after Kenny King and the Motor City Machine Guns interfered. King attacked Gresham first directly in front of the ref but let the action go. There was no official announcement. After the melee, the babyfaces stood in the ring and challenged The Rebellion to a match at the next ROH PPV on June 23rd. They declared that the losing team must disband. So the match is set- Search & Destroy v. The Rebellion at ROH Best in the World.

TV Main Event for the ROH Television Title

Match 3) Kushida defeated Marty Scurll by pinfall after Adam Cole came to the ring dressed as Marty Scurll, distracted Marty, and Kushida capitalized for the win becoming the new ROH TV champ.

Episode 4 (TV Episode 300)

Match 1) Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser defeated Bobby Fish & Jay Lethal after Silas scored the pin on Lethal

Match 2) The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & Matt Taven w/TK O’Ryan) defeated Dalton Castle’s Boys

Following the match Mark Briscoe enters the ring and confronts Castle in what was a heated verbal exchange. Jay Briscoe comes down to intervene followed by Bully Ray. After talking him down, Mark then leaves through the crowd.

Match 3) Punishment Martinez destroys Joey “Diesel” Daddiego in under two minutes

Cody comes out to join the commentary team

TV Main Event

Match 4) The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Kazarian) & Tanahashi defeated Gedo, Goto, & Will Ospreay after Daniels nails Gedo with the Best Moonsault Ever

Following the match Tanahashi vacants the area and Hangman Page and Cody attack Daniels & Kazarian


ROH Web Exclusive – Philadelphia Street Fight

Marty Scurll defeated Adam Cole with the chicken wing after countless interference from The Bullet Club

“Thank you Adam”, “Please Don’t Go”, & “Speech” chants filled The 2300 Arena as Adam Cole asks, “Who’s ready for story time with Adam Cole baybay?” A “We will miss you” rang out. Cole then delivered his farewell address to the ROH crowd.

“I fell in love with pro wrestling at the young age of nine years old and I was infatuated with guys like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock and all the countless superstars that I saw. But what really made me decide that I wanted to be a professional wrestler was Ring of Honor. [applause]

I’ve said this countless times and it’s the truth, this place- not just the locker room, not just the camera men, not just the referees, but all of you, we are one big, giant family. The love and respect that each and every one of you have shown me is the reason I can stand before you here today nine years a pro wrestler, three times a world champion traveling the globe because you guys thought I was good enough. No matter what happens going forward, I just want each and every one of you to know that I deeply love you and Ring of Honor will always be my home. And I’ll end it with this, since she’s here, Mom- Happy Mother’s Day!”

Cole’s music hits as the crowd applauded. Cole held up his index finger indicating “one more time”. Cole bent down and throws ‘em up as the crowd let out a thunderous, “ADAM COLE BAYBAY!!!” The crowd chants “Thank you Adam” as he departs.

WWE RAW Preview (5/15): Ambrose vs. Miz IC Title Match

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With WWE’s European tour wrapped up, tonight’s WWE RAW takes place from Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center.

In a bout originally slated for WWE Extreme Rules, The Miz looks to become a 7-time Intercontinental champion when he challenges Dean Ambrose.

WWE.com is also advertising:

  • What’s next for Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman? (Braun Strowman Injury Update)
  • “The Bar” is officially raised. Sheamus & Cesaro continue their quest for tag team gold.
  • Alexa Bliss’ “new best friend” stands tall. With Nia Jax on her side, RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss may be unstoppable.
  • It’s over when Samoa Joe says it’s over. Seth Rollins

Join us here later tonight for our weekly WWE RAW Results & Live Discussion.

After RAW goes off the air, a new episode of WWE 24 premieres on the WWE Network focusing on Finn Balor and his “triumph and tragedy” after SummerSlam 2016.

Here’s a look back at the top moments from last week’s RAW:

PROGRESS Chapter 48 Results

Jake Skudder
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PROGRESS’s latest Chapter show ‘Bang the Drum’ took place today at Manchester’s O2 Ritz venue. The show featured a debut appearance from one of the UK’s most in demand teams and confirmed more contestants in the Super Strong Style 16 tournament. Here are the results:

‘Flash’ Morgan Webster b. James Drake – Webster hit a variation of the Destino to confirm his place in the Super Strong Style 16 tournament. This is James Drake’s first loss in a PROGRESS ring.

Jinny b. ‘Session Moth’ Martina – Jinny hit Martina with an X-Factor in the corner, Martina had a supermarket bag over her head.

Chuck Mambo & Pastor William Eaver b. The London Riots – In somewhat of an upset the ‘Sweet Jesus’ team took the win following a Crucifix Bomb from the Pastor.

Trent Seven b. Travis Banks – WWE UK Star Seven took the win following a rollup with a handful of tights. Travis Banks is becoming a big star in PROGRESS and is one of the favourites to win the Super Strong Style 16 tournament.

Nathan Cruz b. Rockstar Spud – This was the free live stream match for the afternoon and Cruz took the win following a Facebuster. Cruz has now been entered into the Super Strong Style 16 tournament.

Matt Riddle b. Tyler Bate – The PROGRESS Atlas Champion Riddle took the win via DQ after Trent Seven interfered on Tyler Bate’s behalf.

PROGRESS Title Match: Pete Dunne (c) b. Mark Andrews & Mark Haskins – Dunne hit a Pedigree on Mark Andrews to retain his PROGRESS title. After the match he took the microphone and claimed that there was no one left for British Strong Style to defeat. This lead to #CCK (Chris Brookes & Kid Lykos) making their PROGRESS debuts to thunderous applause.

Paige Says Her Engagement Ring Was Stolen

Jon Fuentes
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WWE Superstar Paige took to Instagram to note that her engagement ring from former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio had been stolen from their hotel room. Del Rio went out and bought the former Divas Champ a brand new rock as a result, which you can check out below:

“Also he just keeps killing it with these rings. Unfortunately mine got stolen from our hotel room so he knew how heart broken I was and went and got a brand new one! This one is obviously different but it’s even more beautiful. He had me crying on the plane. This is my hubby ladies and gentleman, isn’t he just perfect?!?!?! After over a year and still have butterflies for my man. Always have and always will…”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BT9oX9YFPf6/

The Rock Discusses The Reason he Didn’t Appear at WrestleMania 33

Jon Fuentes
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Yesterday (Sat. May 13, 2017) The Rock was interviewed by Entertainment Reporter Chris Van Vliet at the world premiere of Baywatch in Miami Beach. During the interview, The Rock discussed why he wasn’t at WrestleMania 33 last month and also noted how his time in WWE helped him in the film (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):

Why he wasn’t at WrestleMania:

“No I didn’t get a chance to, I was shooting at that time. We were just wrapping up Ballers in LA so I didn’t get a chance to make it.”

If his improv skills from the WWE helped him in Baywatch:

“1000%. That was the fun part of this movie. We wanted to make sure that we nailed the tone we also wanted to make sure that we took advantage of the rated R platform. If you’ve seen the movie, there’s a lot of things that are very funny and they’re clearly rated R.”

Bray Wyatt Reveals How Much Longer He’d Like to Wrestle

Jon Fuentes
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Former WWE Champion Bray Wyatt was recently a guest on Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast to discuss his WWE career. Topics of discussion include his WWE title reign, who he’d like to begin a program with next, and how much longer he has inside the ring. You can check out the highlights here (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):

Always expecting to have become WWE Champion:

“I think people expected it of me and I definitely expected it of myself and it was everything that I wanted to obtain.” Wyatt added, “it is huge for me. It has made my life’s work complete.”

Planning to wrestle for 15 more years:

“There’s a lot of stuff I have to do yet. It’s just [winning the world title] was something very important to me and this is something that will cement me. Forever I will be remembered as something special, but my body is ready to roll for another 15 years, so I’m not looking at stopping. I’ve got a lot that I want to do and a lot that I want to achieve.”

“I just know [I will last 15 more years]. I’ve got nowhere else to go. This is where I belong and as hope would have it that I would last that long. That’s how I see myself.”

Wanting future title feuds with various Superstars:

“There are a couple that I haven’t got to that I would be very, very interested in. Seth Rollins, I haven’t got to. AJ Styles, and just kind of a throwback, that I’ve been at war with my entire [pro wrestling] career, Dean Ambrose. I wouldn’t mind getting back in there with him because we create wonderful chaos together. We’ve both spent our entire career trying to kill each other, so it’s very fitting for us to carry on.”

Paul Heyman telling him he’s the first person in his family to have become WWE Champ:

“I actually didn’t know that. Paul Heyman told me that. He congratulated me, called me, and told me I was the first one and I didn’t know that. I never really measured my success with titles because I never really had any titles. I was just working hard and trying to be the best me that I can be. But when he told me that, it was a big ‘wow’. Out of all of us, I was the one to do it. I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

JBL Responds to Roman Reigns Being The Future of WWE

Jon Fuentes
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During a recent episode of Bring It To The Table on the WWE Network, WWE commentators JBL and Corey Graves spoke on a variety of topics in today’s WWE product. One topic of discussion was the rivalry between Roman Reigns and “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman.

When asked if Reigns has been carrying Strowman throughout their matches, Graves said that Reigns bringing the fight to Strowman has forced him to perform on another level (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):

“Listen, I think absolutely it takes two to tango. Roman Reigns definitely helped and forced Braun Strowman to step up his game and what they created was magic. This is one of my favorite rivalries going right now in some time.”

JBL praised “The Guy’s” work inside the ring and went on to say that Reigns is the future of the WWE:

“Roman Reigns has good match, after good match, after good match. I mean, the guy is the future of this company. And people who want to hate him, please continue to do it. It certainly is your right, but you’re hating him for the wrong reason. This guy goes out and puts out quality after quality [match] every single night.”

On another subject, JBL offered his thoughts on Titus O’Neil beginning to switch over to a manager role with Apollo Crews. While Graves likes the move for O’Neil, JBL isn’t fond of it as he believes a manager shouldn’t tower over their talent:

“Look, the guy looks like a million freaking dollars. He looks like a hall of fame athlete, which he is a world class athlete, but who in the world is he going to manage that he’s not going to dwarf?” JBL said, “Titus O’Neil is too big to be a manager because he dwarfs everybody because when you look at Titus O’Neil, you go, ‘wait a minute! I don’t want to see that guy! I want to see the guy who looks like a million freaking dollars in a suit! That’s who I want to see.'”

ROH War of the Worlds PPV Report: Kenny Omega appears, New Bullet Club Member, more…

Chris Stephens
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ROH: War of the Worlds
Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC
May 12th 2017

  1. Silas Young vs. Kushida vs. Dalton Castle vs. Bobby Fish

Kushida came out in a Yankees jersey. Silas Young cut a promo on Kushida pandering to the crowd and attacked him to start the match.

Everyone got some offence in but Kushida in particular seemed to be made to look strong. He got armbars on both Bobby Fish and Dalton Castle, with each having to be broken up before the guy tapped. He will be participating in the Best of the Super Juniors next week.

The finish of the match started when Kushida was taken out by a clothesline by Silas. Then Fish took Silas out with a legsweep. This left Fish and Castle in the ring alone, Castle hit Bang-A-Rang and got the pin.

Bobby Fish successfully defended the ROH TV title against Dalton Castle earlier this year, so there could be another match between those two coming. They shook hands after the match.

Winner: Dalton Castle

  • A video package of the history between Kazarian and Hangman Page/Bullet Club is shown. Kazarian had convinced Bullet Club he had joined the faction and had betrayed Christopher Daniels, his longtime tag partner. It was a swerve however, and Kazarian helped Daniels beat Adam Cole to win the ROH Championship. Now Kazarian is feuding with Bullet Club.

  1. Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)

Kazarian hit Page with a diving cannonball before he could enter the ring, and the match started with a brawl on the outside.

There were a couple of fun moves early; Page hit a standing shooting star press from the apron to the floor on Kazarian. Then Kazarian hit an unprettier (aka Christian’s finishing move).

Eventually they started spitting at each other. Literally they took turns spitting at each other similar to how strong-style wrestlers exchange forearms. They had a similar gross spitting spot on television recently.

Finish of the match came when Page hooked the ropes in the corner while Kazarian was going for a sunset flip. Page continued to hold onto the ropes as he had Kazarian’s shoulders pinned and got the 3-count. Kevin Kelly made sure to mention that there will be more to come between these two.

Winner: Hangman Page (Bullet Club)

  1. Evil & Sanada (Los Ingobernables) vs. War Machine vs. Chris Sabin & Jonathon Gresham w/ Alex Shelley (Search & Destroy)

There were a lot of fun spots here. Rowe gave an overhead belly-to-belly to both members of Search & Destroy at the same time. Evil then wrapped Hanson’s head in a chair, and then hit that chair with another chair. War Machine definitely looked strong. They just defended their tag titles last month in NJPW, and are scheduled to do so again next month against the Guerillas of Destiny.

The beginning of the end started when Sanada took everyone out on the outside with a plancha. Sabin then ended up alone in the ring with both members of War Machine, who gave him a pop-up powerslam for the win.

Winners: War Machine

  1. Jay White vs. Will Ospreay

This match is interesting from an NJPW perspective, as Jay White was a young lion and is now on loan/excursion to ROH. Meanwhile, Ospreay won the Best of the Juniors last year, so a win for Jay White would indicate they have big plans for him. Cabana mentioned on commentary that White is putting on weight to wrestle as a heavyweight however.

Jay White got in a lot of offence, including a Muta-clutch, brainbuster on the apron, and a flying dropkick. Ospreay got in a lot of his office as well, including a standing spanish fly, reversing a move into a cutter, and lots of kicks and his normal array of impressive offence.

An interesting part of the match was when White reversed a springboard move by Ospreay into a position where he had both of his arms trapped, allowing him to freely land elbows to Ospreay’s head. It looked as though the ref was going to step in, but White ended up getting free.

Ospreay hit the most ridiculous springboard shooting star press to the outside that you will ever see. He then rolled White into the ring, hit a springboard cutter and picked up the win. The crowd was very into this.

Winner: Will Ospreay (CHAOS)

 

  • After the match Punishment Martinez hit the ring and took out Osprey. White tried to help, but he got hit with the South of Heaven Chokeslam.

  1. ROH 6-Man Tag Team Championship
    Bully Ray & the Briscoes © vs. Hirooki Goto, Rocky Romero, & Beretta (CHAOS)

Roppongi Vice recently won the IWGP jr heavyweight tag titles, so they had a chance to become double champs in this match.

Bully Ray came out in the rafters and announced this will be a no DQ match. He has a lot of history in this building, and there were ECW chants periodically throughout the match.

There were a lot of diving moves to the outside and chairshots early here, with each team getting in time on offence. There was some throwing of chairs to the head, but not unprotected swinging chair shots..

Aside from the early chair useage, the match wasn’t that hardcore for the most part. It was high paced however. At one point Jay Briscoe hit a double doomsday device, followed by Mark hitting an elbow from the top to Goto. Bully Ray then called for the tables. Ray powerbombed Berretta through a table from the 2nd rope, then they hit 3-D on Romero for the win.

Winners: Bully Ray & the Briscoes 

 

  • We were shown a replay of earlier this month on television, when Marty Scurll was cutting a promo about being out of opponents. Sydal came down to the ringside and simply pointed at Scurll’s belt to let him know he was challenging him for a title shot.
  • Last week on ROH TV, Sydal had just won a singles match when Scurll ran to ringside and attacked him from behind, but Sydal was able to fend him off.

6. ROH TV Title
Marty Scurll © vs. Matt Sydal

Each guy got in the majority of their offensive arsenal, and Sydal even added a new move.

Sydal reversed Scurll’s chickenwing at least twice. The first time he reversed it, Scurll transitioned into that finger-breaking move he does. Sydal hit a hurricanrana and a flying knee shortly after that however.

Not long after Sydal countered the chickenwing for the second time, he landed what looked to be a Gory-bomb, i.e the Guerreros. After that, he went to the top for the shooting star press. Scurll got his knees up however, then was finally able to lock in the chickenwing and got the tap.

Winner: Marty Scurrll 

7. ROH Tag Team Championship
The Young Bucks © vs. Tetsuya Naito & Bushi (Los Ingobernables)

It seemed as though the Bucks were getting the majority of the offence in the first part of this match. They did a lot of their innovative tag team moves, but were eventually slowed down when Naito hit a tornado DDT on Nick, followed by a reverse hurricanarana on Matt.

Naito then went for Destino on Matt but it was reversed to a piledriver position, and the Bucks started to go for the Meltzer Driver. Bushi prevented Nick from springboarding into the ring however, and then with the ref out of position he sprayed poison mist into Matt’s eyes. Naito rolled him up for the pin, but Matt kicked out just in time.

When Matt got up he was blind and walking around the ring, but he could still hit super kicks! He hit Naito, Bushi, then his own brother Nick, and then the referee because he didn’t know who was who. He finally got a bottle of water to clear out his eyes. Then Naito hit him with Destino, but Nick broke up the pin with a swanton.

Matt Jackson took out Naito with a tornado DDT on the apron, which allowed Nick to go to the top and Matt to roll Bushi into the ring. Matt hit a standing moonsault, and Nick came off the top in unison. Nick covered Bushi for a near-fall only.

Finally, Nick took Naito out on the outside with a flying cannonball, allowing Matt to grab Bushi and put him in position for the Meltzer Driver. The Bucks hit their finish and got the win.

Winners: the Young Bucks

  • A Very Interesting announcement after this match! NJPW has created a new championship: The IWGP U.S Championship. There will be a tournament for the title shortly, with Jay Lethal already announced as participating.
  • NJPW will be running a G1 show in LA on July 1st. They also announced the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental championships will also be defended on that show. This is all apart of NJPW’s US expansion plans.

8. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Adam Cole (Bullet Club)

Commentary talked about how this match is between arguably the greatest champion in modern day NJPW against the same in ROH. Cole is a 3x ROH champion, and Tanahashi ruled NJPW for the last decade. After his loss to Okada at WrestleKingdom Tanahashi has fallen out of the IWGP heavyweight title picture, but will wrestle Naito for the Intercontinental championship next month.

Each guy got a lot of offence in. Cole hit the Last Shot, countered Tanahashi’s High Fly Flow,  and even his own version of the High Fly Flow at one point. Tanahashi finally landed his patented High Fly Flow frog splash and got the pin.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi

  • After the match, Cole remained in the ring while some fans chanted “thank you Adam!” (has Cole signed with someone?) The Young Bucks then hit the ring and played it up like they were going to finally superkick Cole after weeks of building towards a split. Cole turned around and the Bucks acted like everything was fine and gave him the 2 sweet signal. Kelly referred to it as them doing their own version of a curtain call.
  • Then the lights went out and we cut to a video of Kenny Omega. He says he was disappointed in the Bucks for standing with Cole after he tried to fire them from Bullet Club. He tells Adam he has had a long and storied career, but just like all fairy tales there “has to be a hero and a villain”. The camera fades back to reveal the bird mask worn by Marty Scurll. Omega then tells Cole he is officially fired.

  • The lights go back on in the building and Marty Scurll is in the ring. He reveals an umbrella with the Bullet Club logo. Then the Young Bucks superkick Adam Cole. Scurll then reveals a Bullet Club shirt.

9. ROH World Championship
Christopher Daniels © vs. Jay Lethal vs. Cody (Bullet Club)

Commentary was playing up how Cody is a free agent, and looking to achieve as much as he can all over the world.

Lethal began favouring his shoulder after landing a suicide dive, but it didn’t seem to impact him too much. Later in the match Cody would bring out a table, though it wouldn’t be used immediately.

Cody ended up hitting Daniels with the Cross Rhodes, but when he went for the pin Lethal came off the top for an elbow. Cody got out of the way just in time, and Lethal ended up hitting Daniels. He stumbled onto the apron, and Cody ended up hitting him off the apron and through the table. This left Cody and Lethal alone in the ring.

There was a ref bump, followed by Cody hitting a low blow on Lethal. When Cody went for the Disaster Kick, Lethal countered into a cutter for a nearfall. Lethal then went for the Lethal Injection, but Cody countered into the Cross Rhodes, but Lethal kicked out just in time.

Cody then put Lethal in a figure-four, but Daniels got back into the match, hit the Best Moonsault Ever on Cody and pinned him while Lethal was still trapped in his figure-four. The crowd was into it. They were into most things on this show.

Winner: Christopher Daniels 

John Cena Says He’d Like To Play Role Of Vince McMahon In Possible Movie

Jon Fuentes
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17

As mentioned, there is a possibility that TriStar could be making a movie based on WWE’s Vince McMahon’s life. WWE Studios President Michael Liusi is involved in the project as one of the film’s producers, however, it should be noted that items in the script are not historically correct and have been changed.

During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, WWE Superstar John Cena noted that he’d love the opportunity to play McMahon in the film:

“There is a story out there about the life and times of Vince McMahon. Man, I think it is a wonderful script from word one. But unfortunately, that would be something I’d love to do, but I feel maybe a different actor should do that movie, just because of how powerful the story is, and I would hate for the audience to feel that it is a WWE-produced product. And that’s not in a bad way, it’s just I want them to feel the emotion that I felt reading the script. I can just tell you that it’s out there and that it’s awesome and man, if it were all different, I would certainly love to step into Vince’s shoes.”

Ron Simmons Comments On The APA’s Success, What It’s Like Working With JBL, More

Jon Fuentes
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2

Former WCW World Champion Ron Simmons was the latest guest on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling Podcast to discuss his historic WCW title win, working with JBL and the success of the APA. You can check out the highlights below (quotes via WrestleZone):

Being the first African American World Champion in WCW 25 years later:

“First, I like to phrase it like this. I have no ill-respect for the country or nation of Africa but I label myself as the first Black American Heavyweight Champion. As far as I’m concerned my ancestry is here in this country and that is the way I look at it and of course that holds a special meaning and interest in my heart and I can’t tell you that I don’t relive it every day of the month. Anybody that has been in this business whether it be male or female strive to get to the pinnacle in their career and that is becoming World Champion.

“It will always hold a special place in my heart and who better than to be in the ring with like somebody like Vader where you know it is going to be a brawl and it was. It continues to this day to resonate with me like it happened last week and not only because it holds a special place and meaning and even more than just becoming World Champion is to have others come up to me now and say; “Hey Ron, thank you for inspiring me not only to get into this business but inspiring me to go on to do things that I had reservations about doing.” You cannot ask for a better compliment than that.”

The Baltimore crowd’s overwhelming reaction:

“People often ask me about that. That came across like it was a real moment in professional wrestling history. People think that it was a pre-planned thing well it wasn’t. Ron Simmons had no knowledge that was going to take place until he got to the arena and I think it did come across like that. I had no knowledge of it, Vader had no knowledge of it and obviously the crowd had no knowledge of it. It was special and no only special for me and I hope for Vader as well but it was special for the people and that is why you saw such a positive reaction of people crying and the adulation that came across when that match was over. It was I believe was one of the best moments in professional wrestling history and certainly for myself.”

The reason for APA’s success and what JBL is like off-camera:

“I can’t even express it into words what it was like to be tagged up with someone like Bradshaw. It was just like a natural and like a hand to glove. It had no other way than to go than to be a success. He and I were like two peas in a pod, we shared the same things out of the ring and since we came from similar background since he was football player and an athlete with a college scholarship and all of these things plus all of the out of the ring antics were similar to each other and we had a natural feel for each other as well in the ring and our personalities.

“There didn’t have to be a lot of verbal conversations between us and it is that way sometimes with tag teams when you get a mixture of people together sometimes it doesn’t come across on the screen if they don’t work together and there was a natural flow with us. We absolutely loved and cared for one another and I think that what resonated the most when people would watch us on the screen.”

His thoughts on today’s WWE vs. The Attitude Era:

“I am a little prejudice towards that era back then. I believed about the in the ring wrestling over spending times with out of the ring shenanigans and talking and all of these things. Our stuff was settled in the ring and I think people want to see more of that if you ask me. But times change and I am just prejudice towards that era because guys got in the ring and actually wrestled and that is what the people liked to see.”

The APA’s physical style:

“You have to make what you are doing as believable as possible and I’ll tell you right now that was our intentions in doing exactly what we did. We have come across and like I said we are both football players so obviously contact was no big deal to us and professional wrestling is all contact since you are using your body. I always prided myself on being the best at whatever I had done (football or professional wrestling) if you are gonna do stuff, do it to the best of your ability and that is what myself and Bradshaw had intentions of doing for the people since that is what they wanted to see. That is exactly what I like to think we did and that is why I think it continues to give me something that works in my favor when I continue to get praised today and it is the highest compliment to be removed from your business and still have people say thank you for all the memorable moments. You can’t get any better compliment than that.”

Alexa Bliss Reveals Why She Wasn’t Allowed To Watch The Attitude Era

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As we previously noted, WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss recently joined fellow WWE Superstar Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk Is Jericho, to talk about her journey through the business of professional wrestling.

Bliss commented on going from a ‘bubbly’ baby face to the slick and sly heel she plays today on Monday nights (quotes via WrestleZone):

“It’s a lot of fun. Like when I first found out that I was going to be a heel I had really bad anxiety because the character I portrayed before that was very bubbly, very Princess, completely not relatable whatsoever, so when they told me I was going to turn heel I had very bad anxiety because I don’t know how to be mean and make someone hate me so I had anxiety over it. We would have heat drills inside the Performance Center and I would just stop and start crying. In heat drills, you practice being mean to somebody. You grab your opponent, put some heat on him, say something mean and just keep going. It’s a really cool drill, but I would just have really bad anxiety, but then once I got used to it it just became so much more fun.”

She also spoke on what it was like to go from the WWE’s developmental system in NXT to the main roster, comparing the transition to that of going from high school to college:

“It’s like going from High School to College, for sure. It was really cool because it was kind of that moment when you realize what all that hard work over the years went into in developmental and just having that larger crowd was amazing. Adapting to the travel and the people; I loved having the girls on SmackDown. They were all so welcoming and I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”

Bliss then talked about growing up a wrestling fan and telling the story of how one DX crotch chop to her mom banned her from ever watching the Attitude Era again – at her house at least:

“I absolutely was a wrestling fan. My whole family—big wrestling fans. I watched it since I was 6 I think, about 6. My cousins and I had a blow-up pool that didn’t have water in it, so we pretended to be the Hardys and Lita, so we were jumping in in the pool and acting like we were wrestling. We watched Raw every Monday, we had Pizza and my family watched it. I wasn’t allowed to watch the Attitude Era because my mom told me to clean my room once and I was like, I have two words for you, so I put my arms up to do the ‘Suck It’ and she was like, you’re grounded, and I was like, that’s not how it goes. So I wasn’t allowed to watch the Attitude Era, but my mom would let me watch it anyways at my grandma’s.”

If you’d like to listen to the full interview you could check it out at this link.

Eric Young Reveals Why Bobby Roode Grew Out His Beard, Talks Training Tye Dillinger, More

Jon Fuentes
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Former TNA star and current NXT Superstar Eric Young was recently a guest on former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, to talk about his experience in the developmental program. Here are some of the highlights (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):

How his NXT experience has been:

“It has been cool, man. It’s like nothing but respect. Everyone treats us both great and coming in from the outside, you never know how that’s kind of going to be and working on TV for 12 or 13 years, like, you’re not sure how they’re going to look at that. Yeah, they’ve been really awesome and it has been great. It’s making me really like wrestling again.”

Bobby Roode growing out his beard because of a dream:

“In the dream he had this like huge beard, like, giant, full beard and he was like, ‘well, I can’t do that.’ So he grew this [five] o’clock shadow thing or whatever that he has and he [has] had it ever since.” Young recalled, “I sat up like The Undertaker and I was like, ‘dude, you’ve got to grow a beard’ and he was like, ‘what are you talking about?’ And I was like, ‘I had this dream. I’m dreaming about you. I’m five feet from you and you grew a beard and now you have no choice but to grow a beard.'”

On dodging the ‘bullet’ of OVW:

“I think Ohio Valley had just opened, like it had just started, and we were hoping they would maybe send us there. I was working at a brass foundry in Cambridge [Ontario], like, living on a mattress on milk crates in the basement of this house I owned.” Young continued, “and we were asking just to go there, pay us whatever and let us wrestle for a living and be there and [Laurinaitis] said to me and Bobby, the problem was we were TV ready and they were viewing OVW as a place where they would hire NFL players and bodybuilders and train them to learn their system. And there were a few guys that could work that there there, but I think they were more body-doubles for the guys that they wanted on TV to learn, so in a way we kind of dodged that bullet.”

Training Tye Dillinger:

“We first met in Cambridge, Ontario. I had a wrestling school there and I had a wrestling school at the time because I wanted to have a ring to stay sharp because I was starting to do a lot of tryouts with the WWE, and dark matches, and stuff like that.”

“I ended up having a bunch of really good students. Crazzy Steve from TNA is actually one of my students. He has done very well. Jake O’Reilly, a lot of guys in Ontario that are doing very well. And Tye was living in Cambridge, going to the fake Hart Brothers [school] in Cambridge and came in and said he was leaving there. He had only been there for a couple of months. There was no one there training, really. They kind of just took his money. You guys know the story of all that. So he said, ‘I want to come to your gym’ and he started coming to my school. And he was living with this girl at the time and they got into this big fight. He got kicked out, so he called me and said, ‘hey man, can I come to your house?’ So I went and picked him up. He lived in my room. He bought a futon and I put it in the corner of my room. Me and him lived in the same room for like a year while he was at my school.”

Nearly crying seeing Dillinger enter the Royal Rumble:

“I was backstage at Royal Rumble when he was in the Rumble and [got] like this huge pop. It’s cool kind of seeing everyone come around and congratulating him. I liken it to like he’s my child. Not in that way, but in wrestling, I’m kind of his dad. It’s like your kid going to Harvard, getting drafted to the NFL, or something. Yeah, it’s cool. I almost cried in front of The Undertaker. I didn’t, I didn’t, but I almost did. I’m a pretty emotional person and that was pretty cool to see.”

You can listen to the full episode of the podcast by clicking here.

Top UK Talent Joins Bullet Club at War of the Worlds

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‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll has officially joined Bullet Club. Scurll joined the Club during last night’s ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds show as Adam Cole was ejected from the group.

Marty Scurll now joins the likes of Kenny Omega, Cody, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi in one of the longest running stables in pro wrestling today.

With Adam Cole seemingly heading to NXT, Marty Scurll appears to be an excellent replacement to add a ‘villainous’ flair to New Japan’s largest stable and sets up Scurll’s impending New Japan debut at the Best of the Super Juniors nicely.

https://twitter.com/MartyScurll/status/863240621586350080

NJPW Unveil IWGP United States Championship

Jake Skudder
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New Japan Pro Wrestling made a major announcement during last night’s Ring of Honor/NJPW co-branded ‘War of the Worlds’ pay per view.

The following is from the NJPW1972.com website detailing the brand new IWGP United States Championship:

“New Japan Pro-Wrestling Chairman Naoki Sugabayshi, and referee Tiger Hattori, Kevin Kelly, Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff, George Carroll Jr and ROH Ambassador Cary Silkin stood in a sold out Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, New York and shocked the world.

New Japan officials took note of the demand for the global branding and wanted to ensure that the already epic G1 in the USA specials on July 1 & 2 become truly landmark events in the history of professional wrestling.

It was announced that at the G1 in the US Specials in Long Beach California, the stars of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor will complete in a round robin tournament.

For the first time in its 45 year history, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will add their first championship based in the US. At the G1 Specials in the USA, The winner of this tournament will become the New IWGP United States Champion!

It was also announced that former ROH World Champion Jay Lethal would be the first competitor announced for this epic tournament!

The Bullet Club’s Hangman Page attempted to crash that party and let Lethal and NJPW officials know that he wants to be the first champion!”

There has previously been speculation that New Japan were looking to give Kenny Omega the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and make him the focal point for their push into the American market. With this announcement of the new title there is an even greater chance that Kazuchika Okada retains his title at Dominion on June 11th.

Will you be headed to the G1 Specials at Long Beach in July? Who do you think should be crowned the inaugural IWGP United States Champion? Let us know in the comments

Taz Reacts To Jinder Mahal’s Sudden Push, Braun Strowman’s Injury, Shinsuke Nakamura Not Being In Title Hunt

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Former ECW and WWE Superstar Taz recently did an interview with CBS Local Sports to offer his thoughts on today’s WWE product. Some of the best highlights from his appearance can be found here below:

His reaction to the sudden main event push of Jinder Mahal on SmackDown Live:

“I don’t think so at all. A lot of fans will say the guy wasn’t pushed, they weren’t doing much with him and he was losing a bunch of matches. To me it’s all about, and if Vince McMahon where here he’d agree, if a guy’s in-ring work is strong enough, if he can sell tickets on the microphone and get the proper reaction, has some size, looks believable, it’s ‘Hey, let’s give this guy a shot.’ I don’t have a problem with it at all. …To me, if a guy checks all of those boxes, I have no problem with it. Actually, Jinder Mahal, I’m a fan of his work and his promo style. He’s one of the few that have legitimate heat on the microphone in that company.”

Thoughts on Shinsuke Nakamura not being immediately thrust into the title picture:

“Vince McMahon might have a slight hesitation because of connectivity. The lack of an ability to speak strong English to draw people. Nakamura is a tremendous talent, loaded with athleticism, charisma and toughness. I’m a big fan of his, but you have to be able to talk people into the building. This is a good starter angle on the main roster for him, because Ziggler is doing the heavy lifting on the microphone. I’m not surprised that Vince hasn’t put him in the title picture with Randy Orton. Actually, I’m surprised he’s getting this type of push already. I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it. I’m just saying it’s a little tough sometimes, and this is the way WWE looks at it, if you can’t go out and cut a promo that people are going to gravitate to. That doesn’t mean that someone who doesn’t speak can’t get over. There are different guys with managers as mouthpieces or speak here or there, and it’s pretty obvious that’s what they’re doing with Nakamura. This is a good way for him to start getting pushed.”

Braun Strowman’s recent injury:

“They’re used to having problems with talent getting injured. They’ve done well with Seth Rollins. He’s been hit with the injury bug and so has Finn Balor. They’ve been pushed — start, stop, start, stop — and WWE has done a pretty good job with them. A guy like Braun Strowman is an attraction. Even though he’s working full-time, guys like him or Goldberg or Brock Lesnar are attractions. They’re not going to give you five-star matches every night. These guys are not wrestling machines in there. They are attractions, great attractions. It’s not a big problem. They’d have a bigger problem, God forbid, if someone like Bray Wyatt gets injured. Or now Seth Rollins again, or let’s say Jinder Mahal, because they’re putting the rocket on him. Someone like Braun, I feel bad for him, but it’s not as bad creatively for them. They can shuffle the deck a little bit.”

You can check out the full interview here.

Jinder Mahal Opens Up On His Main Event Push, Working With Randy Orton, His Physique

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WWE Superstar and current No. 1-contender for the WWE Championship Jinder Mahal recently did an interview with Sportskeeda to talk about his recent main event push on SmackDown Live. You can check out the highlights from the interview here:

Your physical transformation during your hiatus has been stark. What’s the secret behind your toned body?

The secret is consistency. I literally haven’t had a cheat meal in 3-4 months. I haven’t eaten anything I shouldn’t have. Even now, on the tour, I have my cooling bag with me and I carry 5 meals with me so that I eat every 2 hours. I eat 30/40 grammes of carbohydrates, 30/40 grammes of proteins with every meal.

Then there’s cardio 6 days a week and weight training 6 days a week. I also became straight-edge. I also do a lot of Olympic compound movements. Then there are lots of basic squats, lots of push-ups and other exercises. Overall, from diet to exercise, I’m seeing good results. I’m going to keep getting in better shape because not only do I look better but I feel better. I feel better inside the ring in terms of stamina and endurance, which is important if I want to become WWE Champion and have long matches every night.

What was it like to move to SmackDown Live and being pushed to the main-event scene almost immediately?

It’s been great. They say SmackDown Live is the land of opportunity and I think I’ve proved that it really is. The move has been great. When I originally debuted in 2011, I was on SmackDown. At the time, they were separate from RAW so I feel at home on SmackDown. It’s good to be back. RAW is also a great show but I feel, for me, SmackDown is a better opportunity and I’ve run with the opportunity so far on the blue brand.

What the experience of working with Randy Orton like?

The experience is great. I’m on the European tour so I get to wrestle Randy Orton every night. I try to pick up points every time on how to beat him at WWE Backlash to win the WWE Championship. Working with him is great. He’s a legend in the business. As they say, he’s the legend killer but I think it’s time for someone new to challenge him. I’m younger than him, I’m faster than him and I’m in better shape than him. I’m also stronger than him and don’t have any injuries so I think it’s time for a new WWE Champion.

What are your thoughts on the Singh Brothers?

The Singh Brothers are good. I’ve actually known them for a long time. They were wrestling in Canada before this and it’s good to see them on SmackDown Live also. They were on 205 Live and NXT earlier. Now they’re helping me out (laughs) so it’s good that I have somebody in my corner watching my back.

If you’d like to read Mahal’s full interview with Sportskeeda you can check it out by clicking on this link.

The Young Bucks Talk About Possibly Signing With WWE

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Current and three-time Ring Of Honor (ROH) Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks recently were guests on former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, to discuss their journey through professional wrestling.

During the interview, Nick noted that making the decision to leave Impact Wrestling was the turning point in their careers, as they were taking a gamble on themselves (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):

“One of those moments was leaving TNA, to be honest. It took guts for us to leave something that could have been even more better than what it was at that point. But we felt like we were being underutilized at that point and we weren’t making money at all really.”

“I think it took guts for us and it showed that we had confidence in ourselves to leave there and try to get popular on our own. From there, we said to ourselves, ‘let’s just try something different and try to have fun’ and from there on out though, it seemed like it clicked.”

‘Mr. Instant Replay’ then dove into how they began using their characters they developed in PWG everywhere

“We just realized that we can’t just hand our stuff over and hope that someone else has our best interests [at heart]. Like, we learned that the hard way. So I think we realized, ‘let’s just do it our way and let’s not rely on someone else to get us over. Let’s get ourselves over. We know we’re good wrestlers. Let’s show everyone we’re good wrestlers. Let’s also have a little bit of an attitude switch.'” Matt reflected, “something just switched in us that we quit that place and we just decided to do an attitude switch and we just started experimenting with something we’d been using at a company called PWG, Nick was talking about earlier. We kind of used these characters where we had that attitude and it got over in Reseda [California], but it was the only building we had ever gotten over at, so we said, ‘let’s try to take that same attitude – let’s use that same character we got over in one building, let’s try to do it everywhere.’ And that’s what we did. We decided to just take that act on the road and fortunately we started getting booked a lot.”

Nick then commented on the possibility of signing with WWE, and noted that he and his brother are still under contract with ROH for 18 months:

“Right now, we can’t, obviously, because we’re under a contract for the next, what, 18 months or so. But I don’t know. It’s such a hard question to answer because right now, I’d say ‘no’, obviously, because I can’t and we’re having a blast, like, on our own, doing it the way we do it. We’re having a good time doing it. I don’t know. It’s never say ‘never’, I guess. You can’t really say ‘no’ to that because that is the place everyone has wanted to wrestle, so I can’t say ‘no’, but, as of now, we’re happy with what we’re doing.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9QqZJysHmc

Matt stated that now wouldn’t be a good time for him and his brother to make the jump over to the WWE because of all the hot talent there, and fear of getting lost in the shuffle:

“Even if we were available right now, now is not the time to go for us because everybody in the world is going there and so for the first time I can even remember, it doesn’t seem cool to go there right now.” Matt admitted, “I think for us, if we did sign right now, we’d probably be lost in the shuffle.”

Currently, The Young Bucks have a great deal of creative control and would hate to give that up if they sign with WWE. He also noted that if they didn’t sign with the company after their current deal ends then it most likely won’t ever happen:

“And we’re so, so, so appreciated right now, like, by the companies we wrestle for. Like, we’re pushed to the top, we’re in the main events, we pretty much get whatever we want creatively. Like, we’re doing our own angles at this point, so how do we… it would be hard to walk away from all that. But in 18 months, two years, or whatever our contract is, it’ll be interesting because I’m sure we’re going to at least want to talk to every company and to make a great decision for our families and for ourselves. And I think if it doesn’t happen in 18 months, then, it probably won’t happen.”

 

Brock Lesnar Advertised For More Upcoming RAW Tapings

Jake Skudder
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RAW Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is being advertised for two upcoming episodes of WWE RAW.

WWE recently announced that Lesnar’s first Universal Championship title defense will take place at the new Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view on Sunday, July 9th. It’s been rumored that Braun Strowman would be Lesnar’s opponent, but Strowman is currently out of action with an elbow injury that will require surgery. Lesnar is expected to work with Finn Balor or Seth Rollins at Great Balls of Fire if Braun Strowman is not back by then.

In the lead-up to Great Balls of Fire, Brock Lesnar will be appearing on the June 26th edition of RAW from Los Angeles and the July 3rd episode from Phoenix, Arizona. We’ll see if Lesnar resurfaces on WWE television before June 26th, but as of this writing, that’s his next scheduled TV appearance.

Triple H Fires Back At Criticisms Over WWE Performance Center

Jon Fuentes
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WWE COO and 14-time WWE World Champion Triple H recently did an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard. During the interview, the former leader of D-Generation X was asked about the criticism over the style of the WWE and its Performance Center:

“The misconception is always the same, and it’s absolutely wrong. We are looking to make our talent as diverse as possible. People say everyone is wearing the same thing and training the same way. Yet they are not training the same way. We are grouping people together to work on building certain skills. The core of what we do is the same – yes, you have to learn the same skills, techniques, and foundation when you start. Then we set you up with people to develop your characters. We want the talent to develop their character, and our job is to help harness the character. We want them, every single one of them, to be unique and have their own feel.

“Yes, we are all wearing the same WWE gear. That is because, when you’re here, we’re all the same. No one is above anybody else, and we’re all here to learn. We are a team and a family. What we do in the WWE is a partnership–it’s a partnership with the guy across from you, and a partnership with everybody here. One of the pieces of the Performance Center that makes me so proud is when somebody succeeds here, the whole place goes nuts for them. They’re all here to help each other succeed. When you can build that type of climate, it shows our culture within this place is right to develop and to cultivate the best talent possible.”

“The King Of Kings” was also what makes a successful Performance Center Coach, and was asked in particular about current coaches Matt Bloom, Steve Corino, Norman Smiley, Terry Taylor, Robbie Brookside, Adam Pearce, Scott Taylor (Scotty 2 Hotty) and Sara Amato:

“What makes a successful coach? The coaching process is very difficult. Just because you were talented in this business does not mean you will be gifted at teaching it. Great players don’t always make great coaches, and great coaches weren’t always great players. We’ve worked to find a very diverse group, focusing in on who connects best with people and who gives the right message, and then connecting a coach with the message they are best at conveying.

“For example, Norman Smiley is one of our best beginner training coaches. Norman is one of our most trusted and valuables coaches. His work is incredibly important in formulating the building blocks to create success in the ring, so it is essential to build a strong foundation. That’s Norman’s wheelhouse – areas like the movements, the rolling, and how to protect yourself at all times. So you find the right people that have that right connection with the talent, you narrow in on the area where they are exceptionally talented at coaching, and you then have them work in that facet.”

You can check out Triple H’s full interview with Sports Illustrated by clicking here.

ROH War of the Worlds PPV Preview

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Ring of Honor returns to PPV tonight, Friday May 12th 2017. The show will broadcast from the famed Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

War of the Worlds Lineup & Preview

ROH World Championship Match
Christopher Daniels (c) vs. Jay Lethal vs. Cody (Bullet Club)

Originally this match was supposed to be just Jay Lethal challenging Christopher Daniels, but Cody interjected himself into the title picture by attacking Daniels at a set of TV tapings.

This has angered Lethal to no end, as he feels Cody shouldn’t have been included int he match, due to Lethal defeating him in a Bullrope match at the last PPV.

ROH TV concluded last week with Lethal laying out both Daniels and Cody with the Lethal Injection.

ROH Tag Team Championship Match
The Young Bucks (c) vs. Los Ingobernables (Tetsuya Naito & Bushi)

As it is the War of the Worlds tour, NJPW faction Los Ingobernables gets a shot at the tag team championship. Don’t think that NJPW wrestlers won’t win ROH gold however, as that has happened previously.

For the second year in a row the Bucks will not take part in NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament later in the month.

It should be interesting to see how Naito responds to the Young Bucks’ chicanery in this bout.

ROH TV Title 
Marty Scurll (c) vs. Matt Sydal

Scurll will defend the TV title against “Reborn” Matt Sydal on the PPV. Sydal lost his gig in NJPW due to being arrested in Japan for marijuana possession. He actually spent some time in jail before being allowed to travel home.

Sydal is splitting his time between ROH & Impact Wrestling now, one of only 2 people to receive special permission to do so (Cody being the other).

It will be the UK technical style of Scurll vs. the high flying style of Sydal, which should make for an interesting match-up.

ROH 6-Man Championships
Bully Ray & the Briscoes (c) vs. Hirooki Goto, Rocky Romero & Beretta (CHAOS)
Ray & the Briscoes successfully defended their titles on the 2nd night of the tour against

Los Ingobernables, but they will now go up against the longstanding NJPW faction of CHAOS here.

It’s been a good run for Bully Ray since joining up with the Briscoes in ROH. You just have to wonder if his partnership with the tag team will come to an end under dubious circumstances however.

Adam Cole vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Cole and the rest of Bullet Club have not been seeing eye-to-eye as of late. While Kenny Omega will not be in New York for this show, the two of them have shown signs of dissension whilst in NJPW.

Last month at a set of TV tapings, Cole attempted to fire the Young Bucks from Bullet Club, however the Bucks countered by pointing out that Cole didn’t have the ability to do so.

It might be interesting to see if there are any developments in that storyline in this match here.

It’s an excellent opportunity for Cole to show what he can do against arguably the biggest star in Japanese pro-wrestling in several decades.

Also on the card:
  • Jay White vs. Will Ospreay (CHAOS)
  • Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
  • Sanada & Evil (Los Ingobernables) vs. Chris Sabin & Johnathan Gresham (Search & Destroy) vs. War Machine
  • Bobby Fish vs. Dalton Castle vs. Kushida vs. Silas Young

Matt Hardy Comments On Billy Corgan/Impact Wrestling

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Matt Hardy was one of many talents on the Impact roster who was upset when Billy Corgan was not given control of the company. Hardy also believes the company’s current relationship with Anthem Sports’ Ed Nordholm is benefitting GWF far more than Impact.

Billy Corgan recently purchased NWA Wrestling, although he is currently unsure where he wants to take the brand. Many wrestlers speak positively in regards to Corgan’s ability to lead a wrestling company.

Hardy Family vs. Anthem Sports

This isn’t the first time Matt has made derogatory public comments regarding Ed Nordholm from Anthem Sports or the current Impact product, though he is somewhat more restrained than his wife Reby.

Matt Hardy tweeted this after Impact applied to trademark the Broken characters:

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/861969768126926848

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/860846593783734272

Impact Wrestling has filed for trademark over the Broken Hardy universe last week. Matt Hardy previously applied to trademark the characters back in March. How this will play out is anyone’s guess, as while the characters did appear in TNA, Matt also used them regularly on the independent scene and through social media.

Adam Cole Talks About Free Agency & Evaluating His Next Career Move

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Former Ring of Honor world Champion Adam Cole was a guest on Live Audio Wrestling this week and spoke at length about his status as a free agent. After a 7 year run with ROH, he’s not really sure what the future holds for him.

“It’s really tough to say actually right now, what exactly I want,” Cole said. “I will say this, since 2010 I have been contracted to Ring of Honor Wrestling so for the past seven years, I’ve been contracted to Ring of Honor and haven’t even considered the idea of going anywhere else. So, for me, this is a situation where I have had and still am having the time of my life in Ring of Honor. So for me to just take a step back and look at the landscape and decide if I want to stick around, if I want to go elsewhere and making that decision.”

Despite a lengthy career up to this point, Adam Cole is only 27 years old. He has a ton of respect for Ring of Honor and says his next move won’t be moving up, but ‘moving on.’ He sounds excited about new challenges elsewhere, but still needs time to evaluate where he’ll work next.

“Unfortunately, you can’t make those decisions in a couple of days. You’ve got to think about it and process what would be best for you but I’m in a very cool, very lucky scenario right now where I have the option of exploring these different areas. At the end of the day, the decision that is made will be the one that makes me the happiest.”

Adam Cole understands he’s at a crossroads and does not want to make any decisions before he’s ready.

“For me, I don’t want to have anything that I’m second-guessing. I want to totally make sure, this is the decision I want to make, this is where I want to go, this is what I want to do. And for me, that does take some time because, again, a lot of people think this is just some easy, okay you just make your decision and you go, it’s not. My entire life could potentially change so this is definitely something that I need to sit back and think about, talk to the people that I’m closest with and decide what is best for me, what is best for Adam Cole.”

Head over to FightNetwork.com to listen to Live Audio Wrestling.

Discussion: Where do you think we will see Adam Cole next ?

Updated Card For NXT Takeover: Chicago (5/20)

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Following this week’s episode of NXT, we’ve got an updated look at the card for Takeover: Chicago. In addition to Ember Moon being removed from the Women’s Championship match and Tyler Bate defending WWE’s UK Championship against Pete Dunne, Hideo Itami defeated Roderick Strong this week to earn a shot at NXT Champion Bobby Roode.

Here’s the current card for NXT Takeover: Chicago:

  • NXT Champion Bobby Roode vs. Hideo Itami
  • NXT Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Nikki Cross vs. Ruby Riot
  • NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors Of Pain vs. DIY
  • WWE UK Champion Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne

Join us here on Saturday, May 20th for our Live Coverage of NXT TakeOver: Chicago from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

Comparing Asuka’s Win Streak With Goldberg’s Actual Streak

Chris Stephens
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There is a lot of confusion currently regarding how many wins Goldberg started his WCW career off with, and where Asuka’s current NXT streak is at. This post should clear up that confusion.

Goldberg’s Streak

According to the long-standing German pro-wrestling statistic site: cagematch.net, Goldberg competed in 159 matches before losing to Kevin Nash at Starccade 98. What is not common knowledge however, is Goldberg’s 1997 loss to Chad Fortune at a set of WCW Saturday Night tapings. The match never aired, and was supposedly a test to see how Goldberg would react to being asked to lose. It is mentioned in Goldberg’s autobiography as well.

Goldberg would then go 153-0. The number often mentioned by WWE (and previously by WCW) is 173-0. Even if you ignore the un-televised loss to Fortune, his streak was stopped at 158.

Asuka’s Streak

Asuka’s streak, while longer, is less concrete than Goldberg’s. Often not acknowledged is the 4 matches Asuka has wrestled in NXT where she was not the winner. The first match occurred in January of 2016, when she was eliminated from a battle royal. She then failed to win 3 fatal 4-way matches for the NXT championship within a week of each other in late February and early March of 2016. All 3 matches were won by Bayley and took place on the NXT live tour.

Take those matches out of the equation and Asuka’s NXT streak is 175-0. If you include those 4 non-wins, Asuka has won 130 straight since her last non-win in NXT.

John Cena Talks About Being A WWE Lifer, Being Nervous For WrestleMania Engagement

Staff
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John Cena spoke to Fox News this week promote his new movie The Wall, which hits theaters today. Cena spoke in-depth about proposing to longtime girlfriend Nikki Bella at WrestleMania and when he will retire from WWE.

When asked about why he was compelled to get engaged on such a public stage, Cena said WWE is his home and he had no problem sharing that moment with everybody.

“That was the most nervous I have ever been in my entire life and not only was I worried about her response but I was worried about the reaction of the 75,000 people of the Camping World Stadium,” Cena admitted. “I didn’t know that they would react in such a positive way, and I’m forever indebted to our fans for being able to allow me to celebrate the greatest moment of my life.”

He added that wedding plans are already underway, but things are still “very ground floor right now” and he expects the process to get fun when they get closer to the wedding.

Cena has been a fixture of the WWE Universe since his debut 15 years ago. After such a long career and with Cena’s Hollywood career picking up, naturally he was asked about when he’ll hang it up. And naturally, being the company man he is, Cena gave a predictable answer.

“As far as the performance level it’s definitely a business for the young and I am on the older side of young but I don’t think I’ll ever not be involved with the WWE. They will have to tell me that they no longer need my services because it is my home.”

Check out the full interview over at Fox News.

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