WCPW have announced two of the top matches taking place on March 20th in Manchester, England as part of their ‘Bulletproof’ show.
Former Ring of Honor Champion Adam Cole will be taking on recent NJPW signee Zack Sabre Jr in a match of contrasting styles.
Drew Galloway will be defending his WCPW Title in a match against fellow ICW mainstay Joe Coffey.
Tickets for the event in Manchester’s Bowlers Exhibition Centre are still available to purchase through Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wcpw-manchester-march-20th-live-wrestling-tickets-31029100876 – Meet and Greet opportunities with members of Bullet Club are also available to purchase.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross was recently interviewed by Sports Illustrated and gave his thoughts on the upcoming WrestleMania showdown between RAW Universal Champion Goldberg and the man he’s humiliated twice over the past several months, Brock Lesnar.
Goldberg asserted his dominance over Lesnar at Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble, but JR thinks it will be Brock Lesnar standing tall when all is said and done at WrestleMania.
“Lesnar will go over with his finish, the F5. If they use their head, make sure Paul Heyman is involved in the game-planning, and get an agent like Michael Hayes or Pat Patterson or someone like that, then there is no excuse that they can’t give you ten quality minutes, bell-to-bell. There is no reason that two guys of that stature, earning that kind of money, can’t give ten kicka– minutes of pro wrestling content. I firmly believe it’s possible.”
It all goes down Sunday, April 2nd when WrestleMania 33 takes place from Orlando, FL at the Camping World Stadium.
JR also commented on the possibility of Kenny Omega leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling and showing the WWE Universe what he’s got. Omega is doing big things in New Japan, but JR is convinced he’ll wind up in WWE one day.
“It’s a good time to follow a guy like Kenny, who, some day, will be a WWE guy. There’s no doubt. I’m glad that he came back to New Japan for another year, and I would think that after he stars at Wrestle Kingdom in 2018, then he very well could be the most coveted free agent that WWE has tried to sign in years.”
Head over to SI.com to check out the full interview.
– Batista has reportedly signed on to appear in the upcoming film “Escape Plan 2” starring Sylvester Stallone and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. For more on the film, check out Deadline.com.
– Erick Rowan is scheduled to return to television very soon, as early as this week’s tapings. He’s has been out of action rehabilitating a torn rotator cuff and was spotted at the WWE Performance Center several times over the past month.
WWE posted this video of Cathy Kelley doing her best detective work to decode Luke Harper’s recent string of cryptic tweets.
Hideo Itami returned at Saturday night’s NXT live event from Orlando, FL. He’s been out of action since October 1st when he suffered a neck injury. Over the past week, NXT star Riddick Moss has bragging on social media about putting Itami on the shelf (see above).
Reby Hardy is back with another Twitter rant about the business practices of Impact Wrestling and its parent company, Anthem Sports and Entertainment. Reby confirms reports that Anthem has been threatening legal action against Ring of Honor and cable providers that air programming featuring the “Broken” Matt Hardy, which Anthem claims to own.
For those who missed it, Reby went off on Impact Wrestling executives for allegedly threatening the Hardy family with legal action if Matt and company used the ‘broken’ gimmick in other promotions. PWInsider confirms what we suspected – Impact Wrestling sent out cease and desist letters threatening legal action if Matt and Jeff Hardy used their “broken” characters in Ring of Honor and elsewhere.
Impact parent company Anthem Sports and Entertainment is claiming ownership of the ‘Broken Universe’ since it was developed while they Hardys were working for them.
We thank @matthardybrand for a superb performance in Broken Universe. May the seven deities guide with their Broken Brilliance left behind
Anthem threatening legal action against not only the Hardy family but also the promotions that hire Matt and Jeff and the PPV providers that carry shows they’re featured on. Dave Meltzer revealed on Wrestling Observer Radio that Dish Network actually refused to air last night’s Ring of Honor 15th Anniversary PPV after receiving a legal threat from Anthem. DirecTV and other outlets still carried the show, but this is a very aggressive pre-emptive strike by Anthem that could lead to more bad will against the company just as they’re hoping to rebrand Impact Wrestling.
ROH star Frankie Kazarian was a guest on the Wrestling Epicenter this week and spoke about his new band Vex Temper, his messy ending with TNA Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and his wife, former TNA Knockout Traci Brooks. Here are some highlights of what Kazarian discussed with host James Walsh
His band performing The Addiction’s ROH Theme Song:
“We certainly did. When Christopher Daniels and myself turned heel and changed our attitudes, the company sent us a link to a site with stock music that they have the rights to use. I asked boldly, “I have a band. If I could get something written and recorded. This is me, I know what kind of swagger we should walk to the ring with.” That night, I got my guitar which I don’t do often because I am a bass player and I came up with the riff. I came back, told the guys and they were excited about having our music being heard by a lot of people. I wrote “Get Addicted.” The funny thing is, that song, style wise, is quite different our usual style. It has a little more swing to it, it has a greasy little riff. It is definitely more accessible than the rest of our music you’ll hear on the album. We’ve got a 9 and a 10 minute song in there. You can’t really consider us radio friendly! (laughs)”
How he ended up teaming with Christopher Daniels:
“We’ve been friends and travel buddies for many years. We have been friends since 1998. We were singles wrestlers, Fortune had just broken up, Bobby had just turned on James. AJ and Daniels had just finished their feud. They weren’t doing anything with Chris after that. They certainly weren’t doing anything with me. I was just the last guy in Fortune running around. The tag division was, in a word, weak at the time. The Machine Guns, Alex Shelley was hurt. Beer Money had just broken up. We said, “You know what? We could be a formidable team.” We knew we could be an exciting tag team in terms of our in ring wrestling not to mention us feeding off each other in terms of our personalities. We pitched it, they gave it a shot. The Bad Infuance thing wasn’t supposed to last. It was only supposed to last only a couple of weeks. We fought for it. I have no trouble saying it. We were the most entertaining thing on the show! We were white hot. Again, kind of had our legs cut out from under us at the end of the run considering what we could have been.”
Working for ROH:
“Ring of Honor is awesome, man. I’m not just saying that because I am on the roster. What we do, especially in the ring, is just unmatched. Since we got here in 2014, I’ve never seen a company with such positive up-swing. We’re just riding that wave! I’ve had some of the most fun and exciting matches of my career here. A lot of guys that were once Impact Wrestling wrestlers are now gone and have come to Ring of Honor or gone to WWE. It is a shape that you look at the roster and see that the company had all these guys. But, it is great that they are all now spreading their wings and showing the world what they’re all about!”
ROH’s in-ring style:
“It is about working smart instead of working hard. Some of the things, short of pulling out a firearm and shooting someone, it is hard to imagine something more spectacular. You just learn to work within it, work around it, and work smart!”
Being part of the Bullet Club:
“Hey, man. It is a difficult thing to get over as huge as those guys have. I’m definitely happy to be a part of the squad. It is a new chapter in my career. We’re going to see where it goes!”
It was an eventful evening, with Finn Balor (and Triple H) returning to action in the main event. Triple H tweeted this photo of his (and Finn Balor’s) return in the main event. The star-studded match featured Triple H, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe teaming up against Finn Balor, Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn.
– WWE legends Edge and Christian are joining the podcast game. Following up on the success of their successful but short-lived WWE Network series, the former tag team champions and longtime friends will host “E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness” starting March 24th.
Starting Mar.24 it's @EandCpod exploding in your ear holes! Subscribe now wherever you get these podcasts thingshttps://t.co/Jaovwo2REw
WWE’s long-rumored women’s tournament is moving forward and will kick off before the summer, according to f4wonline.com. WWE struck gold last summer with the Cruiserweight Classic tournament, which led to the launch of 205 Live on the WWE Network. They saw additional success with the European Championship tournament, with news breaking this week that WWE’s “European division” running its first live events this May from Nowich, England.
The report at f4wonline states that tapings for the yet-to-be-named Women’s tournament are scheduled for mid-May. Like the Cruiserweight and UK tournaments, the Women’s show will also air exclusively on the WWE Network.
Over the past several months, WWE has signed many talented female competitors, including Heidi Lovelace, Kimber Lee, Andrea, and Mary Dobson.
After WrestleMania, another batch of women’s wrestlers will be reporting to the WWE Performance Center. According to Squared Circle Sirens, that group will include Isabel Lahela, Evie, Nixon Newell and Demi Bennett. We noted earlier this week that Japanese standout Kairi Hojo has also signed with WWE.
With competition heating up from New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor, the UK independent scene and even Impact Wrestling forging alliances in Japan and England, it’s clear that WWE is taking talent acquisition seriously and does not want to be caught flat-footed by missing out on signing the next Charlotte or Sasha Banks.
Discussion: What is your interest level for a Women’s Tournament on the WWE Network?
Jake “The Snake” Roberts spoke with Sports Illustrated this week and gave his thoughts on the WWE Championship program headed into WrestleMania involving Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. The WWE Hall of Famer is a longtime proponent of Bray Wyatt, is happy to see him as champion but thinks WWE has completely mishandled the booking of his character. Wyatt’s recent WWE Championship victory was met with “You deserve it!” chants, something Jake feels wouldn’t be happening if fans fully bought into the cult leader character.
“It’s great that Bray is champion, but my worry is that they’re pulling him away from his character,” said Roberts. “The people were chanting, ‘You deserve it!’ to him on Smackdown after he won the title. Is that a chant for a heel? Hell no, but that’s just the nature of the business these days. Bray needs to do something really nasty, and now is the time. He needs to be the one to do something crude and wrong.”
Wyatt ended John Cena’s 2-week championship reign and is set to face Randy Orton in just a matter of weeks. With this being the first world title for the Eater of Worlds, Roberts firmly believes he needs to have a long run with the title to establish his credibility as a main eventer.
“Hopefully they’ll let him keep his character and hold onto the belt for a while,” said Roberts. “If this is just WWE quickly using Bray to change the guard, then it’s a waste of time. They’ve really hurt his character in the last year. They’ve really watered it down.
“Randy Orton has a lot of going for him. He’s just missing that last little piece. I would love to spend time with him and see if I could help him. I’ve offered that before, and no one replied, so there you go. It hurts because I love the business and I want to give back to it. It’s a damn shame that I reached out and didn’t hear anything, it made me sick to my stomach.”
Roberts thinks the best storyline route is for Randy to turn full-on babyface and for Wyatt to reform the classic Wyatt family with Harper and Rowan.
On Friday night, Ring of Honor presented its 15th Anniversary iPPV event from Las Vegas. Here are the results:
– Jay White defeated Kenny King
– Kazarian became the #1 Contender to the ROH TV Championship by defeating Chesseburger, Silas Young, Punishment Martinez, Hangman Page and Chris Sabin.
– Jay Lethal defeated Bobby Fish in a top contender’s match.
– The Kingdom defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys to retain the ROH 6-Man Tag Team Championships
– Marty Scurll defeatd Lio Rush to retain the ROH World TV Championship
– Bully Ray & The Briscoes defeated War Machine & Davey Boy Smith Jr.
– Matt and Jeff Hardy defeated The Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice to retain the ROH Tag Team Championships
– Christopher Daniels defeated Adam Cole to capture the ROH World Championship
Finn Balor returned from his shoulder injury at tonight’s WWE house show in Buffalo, NY. He teamed with Sami Zayn and Chris Jericho to get the main event win over Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens and Triple H, who was also making his return to the ring.
Balor has been out of the ring since SummerSlam 2016 where he was forced to drop the WWE Universal Championship the next night. Balor could be on this Monday’s RAW and is expected to be at WrestleMania.
Reby Hardy blasted Impact Wrestling on Twitter on Friday afternoon, taking the company’s executives to task for apparently taking legal action to prevent Matt Hardy from using his “Broken” gimmick in Ring of Honor and elsewhere.
The Hardys are scheduled to defend the ROH World Tag Team Championships at Friday night’s ROH 15th Anniversary iPPV from Las Vegas. They’ll face the Young Bucks and Roppongi Vice in a Vegas Street Fight Triple Threat.
Since the Hardy’s’ departure from Impact, it became public that Impact Wrestling is attempting to prevent them from using the “Broken” gimmick. Matt Hardy recently filed a trademark on the Broken Matt Hardy character, but Anthem is claiming they own the likeness since it first appeared on Impact Wrestling.
Reby curses out Anthem & Impact executives, talks about how petty they are being after all the Hardy family did for them, references the recent talent exodus, claims “any writers worth a shit” already left the company and even throws shade at the Anthem owl.
Irish based promotion Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling have announced the details of the first event after their biggest show of the year ‘Scrappermania.’
Sonic the Hedgehog inspired ‘Marble Zone Act 1’ will feature the OTT Champions Ryan Smile, ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll, Matt Riddle, Jordan Devlin, Sha Samuels & ‘Session Moth’ Martina.
The event takes place on May 6th at the Tivoli in Dublin, Ireland and tickets are available to purchase via Eventbrite now: www.eventbrite.ie/e/over-the-top-wrestling-presents-marble-zone-act-1-tickets-32568129151
WWE recently announced a 2 night stint at Epic Studios in Norwich, UK which is being billed as ‘WWE United Kingdom Championship Live.’
Since the news broke it has become a major talking point in the UK scene and while the reaction is mostly positive there is one company in particular that are not happy with the news.
World Association of Wrestling (WAW) is a UK based promotion owned by Ricky Knight, father of WWE Superstar Paige. WAW recently booked Jack Swagger for an appearance at this weekend’s WAW TV tapings and he had to pulled due to his WWE contract status.
Appearing on BBC Radio Norwich Knight stated: “To me the timing is absolutely crap, and I think there’s a conspiracy somewhere. “They could’ve left it until Monday. They [WWE] know we’re doing so well. They follow us religiously, it seems like they do. They would’ve known this is the biggest weekend in WAW history. To me they wanted to cut us open with the announcement this morning and putting their tickets sales on tonight. But tough guys, because this is going to be a sellout tonight anyway. Go and do your best.”
The WWE posted a new video to their YouTube channel that highlighted the bizarre tweets of Luke Harper. Cathy Kelley called for the WWE Universe to try and figure out if there is a hidden message in Harper’s tweets. Kelley also said that it could just be the ramblings of a madman.
Triple H will be returning to the ring tonight at WWE live event in Buffalo, NY. Triple H posted a video of him training for tonight’s match. It is still unclear what Triple H’s role will be at Wrestlemania, as it all depends on the health of Seth Rollins. On Raw, Triple H said that if Rollins “calls Triple H out” at Wrestlemania 33, it will be the last thing he does in a WWE ring. It could wind up simply being a segment between Rollins and Triple H at Wrestlemania 33 if Rollins is not healthy in time for the show. Either way, Triple H is ready to go and will be performing tonight in Buffalo.
The film Daddy’s Home received scorn from critics but it made enough money to warrant a sequel. The film starred Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, Cena appeared in a brief cameo towards the end of the film. Apparently, Cena will have a more prominent role in the upcoming sequel. Daddy’s Home 2 also stars Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson and John Lithgow.
Here is the synopsis of Daddy’s Home 2 from Deadline:
“Father and stepfather, Dusty (Wahlberg) and Brad (Ferrell), who are now working together to give their kids a perfect Christmas. When Dusty’s Dad (Gibson) and Brad’s Dad (Lithgow) arrive, their blended family conflicts rise to the surface. Cena’s character shifts the macho dynamics as Dusty faces the challenges of being a stepfather in the face of a more ripped rival.”
The New Japan Cup 2017 starts this weekend. For those unfamiliar, the New Japan Cup is a 16-man single elimination tournament featuring the company’s top heavyweights. The winner of the tournament receives a title shot against the champion of his choosing. For that reason, none of the main singles champions are entered into the tournament.
1. Hirai Kawato and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Taka Michinoku and El Desperado (Suzuki-Gun)
2. Jushin Liger, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Tiger Mask, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata (this could change since Nagata’s now in the tournament)
3. Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club)
4. David Finlay, Kushida, Juice Robinson, and Shibata vs. Sanada, Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables)
5. Jado, Gedo, Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs. Daichi, Kanemaru, Iizuka and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
6. New Japan Cup Opening Round Yuji Nagata (replacing Honma) vs. Tanga Roa (Bullet Club)
7. New Japan Cup Opening Round Toru Yano (CHAOS) vs. Tama Tonga (Bullet Club)
8. New Japan Cup Opening Round Michael Elgin vs. Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)
9. New Japan Cup Opening Round Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL (Los Ingobernables)
New Japan Cup Night 2 March 12th 2017 – Hyogo, Japan
1. David Finlay vs. Tomoyuki Oka
2. Jushin Liger and Yuji Nagata vs. Tiger Mask and Manabu Nakanishi
3. Kawato, Kojima and Tenzan vs. Tanga Roa, Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)
4. Taguchi, Kushida, Elgin and Tanahashi vs. Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, Evil, and Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables)
5. Jado, Gedo, Yano, Goto and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs. Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Taichi, Kanemaru and Takashi Iizuka (Suzuki-Gun)
6. New Japan Cup Opening Round Juice Robinson vs. Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club)
7. New Japan Cup Opening Round Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS) vs. Sanada (Los Ingobernables)
8. New Japan Cup Opening Round Katsuyori Shibata vs. Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
9. New Japan Cup Opening Round Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Kenny Omega (Bullet Club)
Matt Hardy, fresh off signing a ROH contract, gave an interview with ROHwrestling.com, and revealed what it is about Ring of Honor that keeps bringing him back. This will be Hardy’s third stint in with the promotion. His first was in 2005, after having been released from WWE. Hardy then returned again to the company from 2012-2014.
Now, in 2017, Hardy is at the peak of his popularity and back for another ROH run. When asked what it is that he enjoys about the company, Matt had this to say:
“Ah, yes, my mortal vessel has had a couple of runs in the Honorable Ring (ROH) before I made my return in New York City. Something I’ve always enjoyed about ROH is that they’ve really stripped wrestling down to its true essence. In its essence it’s great athleticism and storytelling and that is what they do better than anyone else. They’re mantra of being the best wrestling on the planet is very true to form. ROH truly does pro wrestling in a modern form better than anyone else right now. I am a wrestling fan still at my core because I inhibit this vessel, so that makes me love ROH.”
It is not currently known how long of a contract Matt and Jeff Hardy have with ROH. Some speculation is the deal is only a short-term one to keep the Hardys on TV leading up to an eventual return to WWE programming. Others feel the Hardys know they won’t get the same creative freedom they are enjoying now from WWE, and will simply continue their act on ROH programming and indie events for as long as they are able to make good money doing so.
Ring of Honor returns to PPV tonight with a stacked card. New signees, Bully Ray, Matt and Jeff Hardy, will all be in action. Also just announced this morning for the show is a “Six Man Mayhem” match, with the winner earning a shot at the TV championship.
The participants will be: Hangman Page (Bullet Club) vs. Frankie Kazarian (also now Bullet Club) vs. Chris Sabin vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Cheeseburger vs. Silas Young
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) March 10, 2017
ROH 15th Anniversary Lineup:
Already announced for the show:
ROH World Championship Adam Cole (c) (Bullet Club) vs. Christopher Daniels
ROH Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Street Fight Matt and Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Roppongi Vice (CHAOS) vs. the Young Bucks (Bullet Club)
ROH TV Title Marty Scurll (c) vs. Lio Rush
ROH 6-Man Championships the Kingdom (c) vs. Dalton Castle and the Boys
6 Man Mayhem Hangman Page (Bullet Club) vs. Frankie Kazarian (also now Bullet Club) vs. Chris Sabin vs. Punishment Martinez vs. Cheeseburger vs. Silas Young
Jay Lethal vs. Bobby Fish
Bully Ray and the Briscoes vs. War Machine and Davey Boy Smith Jr.
WWE continues to develop its prescence in the European pro-wrestling market in May, when the company will put on two shows from Epic Studios in Norwich, England.
While this is just speculation, it is likely these two shows will be taped or air live for the WWE Network. Epic Studios is used to produce TV shows, so it would make sense that these two events will air on WWE programming.
Scheduled to appear so far are UK Champion Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Mark Andrews, Pete Dunne, Wolfgang, James Drake, Tyson T-Bone, Sam Gradwell, Joseph Conners, Saxon Huxley and Dan Moloney.
Additionally cruiserweights from 205 Live are being advertised fro the show as well, including the Brian Kendrick, Tony Nese, Rich Swann, and Akira Tozawa.
2017 WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page was a guest on the Ring Rust Radio show this week. Here are some highlights of the interview, sent in by host Donald Wood:
Who he wants to induct him and how much say he has in his inductee:
“It’s so funny because I have experience with this because I inducted Jake. It’s like who else was going to induct him besides me? Of course, they are going to ask me. So, I just think it’s done. Then about a month later, I get the call from Mark Carano and he tells me he has great news and they want me to induct Jake. It hit me like a slap in the face. I thought, oh that’s right, it’s their TV. No one gets up and gets 10-plus minutes to talk on their TV unless they really want you on their TV. I realized Jake really didn’t have a choice here. Jake did the same thing I did, I gave them a short list.
There are four guys that are on that list and they are going to pick who they want. Again, it’s their TV and anyone of those four guys as far as I’m concerned could be in that spot. Two of them were the names you just mentioned. It was just such a honor to induct Jake. It was on my 58th birthday and I got to induct Jake. People used to say to us before we got that spot, “Dude when is Jake’s movie coming out?” I would say I don’t know, when is Jake going to be in the Hall of Fame? There was no other way for the movie to end. It was awesome being in the CAC, Cauliflower Alley Club, and I’m in there too so it was awesome. There’s the WWE, there are 147 guys in there, and think about how many wrestlers there have been? There have been thousands and thousands of wrestlers and 147 of them are in there. There are still guys that I know that should be in there and hopefully they’ll get that opportunity too.”
Joining DDP Yoga students Jake Roberts & Scott Hall in the Hall of Fame:
“It’s a huge honor. Once I got done with my career, I knew in my soul that I don’t have any negative thoughts about myself. I just don’t because I know you say you can and you say can’t, you are right. I try to keep my mind full of really positive stuff. In my mind, I always felt like I was worthy. I really felt like with my career and just the way I did it, it was Hall of Fame worthy. It doesn’t make me feel any less humble. I’m super honored to be a part of this crew, and the first one to call me was Booker T when he heard. Booker T and I have been up and down the road together, and it was really awesome to hear it from him and he said welcome to the club brother.”
As he thinks about writing his Hall of Fame speech, are there any specific people or moments from the business that immediately jump to mind that he’s excited to share with fans?
“I have to finish that because I always say without Dusty Rhodes there is no Diamond Dallas Page. Certainly, without Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, there is no three-time world champion. There is no WWE Hall of Famer. It just never happens. There are little things that have happened. Man, if you knew how hard I worked on this. I finally got it, I don’t want to be too long, but I just can’t be too short. I have a story to tell and I want to thank a lot of people. It goes right down to my first break. I’m so happy that when I got the call in October, I’ve had four months and I literally just finished it. It’s not done, but the outline is done. You can tell I am a long storyteller. You can’t be a long storyteller and get all your stuff in.
I’m not sitting in Kurt Angle’s spot where I have an hour to get all my stuff in because I am the main event. Kurt deserves that spot as far as I’m concerned. He was unbelievable and I’m super honored to be in the same class as him. Guys like Teddy Long. I know Teddy’s whole career. Teddy was a trailblazer in a big way. So, to have him and the Rock ‘n Roll express. Beth Phoenix too who I love. I texted her and said the first family of Hall of Fame. I put that out there and that was the biggest retweets I ever got. I just thought like wow, they are the first two who are husband and wife and are Hall of Famer’s. Those two people Adam and Beth, are the two nicest people you have ever met. I was super happy that she’s in there. The outer rumblings, I haven’t heard for sure, but I’m surely hoping that Rick Rude is on that list. I spent some time with Rude and he was an awesome man.
When would people say, DDP how do you feel that you not in the Hall of Fame? I used to say well let me see, Jake Roberts isn’t in there, Randy Macho Man Savage isn’t in there, Michael PS Hayes isn’t in there, to be perfectly honest bro, until those boys are in whom I to say anything? When those guys are in then hopefully it’ll be my turn and then boom. There some the people never heard and they’re going to be out there. That’s why it’s so important the way I structure this. The people that gave me just a little bit more like Dusty. Dusty was so pivotal to me. He had a way of making me believe in me and nobody believes in me more than me. It wasn’t when I was wrestling, it’s when I was the character Diamond Dallas Page. When he passed, and I know this cause he said it to my face, but he also said it to Cody. “I’ve got five friends in this world that I really can call my friends and I can count them on my hand, Dallas is one of them.” I knew it because he said it to me, but for Cody to say it at his memorial was strong. That’s going to be really tough for me to talk about that. I hopefully in some way get semi-numb to it, but I don’t think that’s possible.
I remember inducting Jake to the CAC, but I remember you get hit with that like boom, in the middle of your heart. I wasn’t expecting this and I’ll tell you who I really saw get hit by it was maybe one of her biggest talkers in the business was Larry Zbyszko. Larry went up there halfheartedly like thanks for this, thanks for that, because Larry is maybe the best talker ever, top 10 in the business. For guys who can just turn it on and kill it, Larry was as good as it gets as far as I’m concerned. He got overwhelmed up there and I’m expecting to. I have spoken in front of 20,000 people and I know before I walk up on that stage I will be saying over and over again that this is can be the best thing I’ve ever done, this is going to be amazing. I’m going to move people to action and I’m going to inspire somebody out there to believe in themselves. That’s the kind of shit that can be going through my head.”
DDP is known for so many things: the Diamond Cutter, his rise to the top of WCW during its hottest period, DDP Yoga and more. What’s the one lasting legacy he hopes to leave in the wrestling business?
“Anything’s possible. I am the proof. I’ll give you what I wrote on the inside of my ring. I didn’t know you put an inscription in there. When Sue asked me what I wanted to be in there, I said let me think about it. Then it just hit me. I put “Work ethic = dreams! DDP.” That to me is that no one gets a free ride. You have to work for it and it doesn’t get handed to you. It may seem like it did because people see you getting this big push at that time, but they don’t really know how hard it took you to get there.
Even someone like Goldberg who came in and got this huge push. Goldberg worked for eons on the football gridiron. This son of a gun, he worked his ass off and then he worked his ass off to be as good as he could be in the ring and he had that something special. Now everyone’s given the chance to see it again at 49 and they are not exposing him in any way. He’s going to have to deliver at WrestleMania and I believe he will. I believe he will go out there at 49 years old and be out there with The Beast. I wouldn’t want to be out there with him. Brock thinks this is real, you know? I wouldn’t want to be out there with The Beast, but if anybody can go with him and just the way Brock does business, I’m so proud of him. He gets it because it’s a business, it is entertainment. He is going out there to deliver those promos and it’s nice for the WCW fan this is a little bit of payback. Like, push one of our guys right now, really push him. Goldberg came in and as far as I’m concerned, he got what he deserved, hell of a push.”
The new era of Impact Wrestling kicks off tonight on Pop TV. The name “TNA” is officially dead. Dixie Carter is out, Jeff Jarrett is back and there’s a new booking committee in place. For all the reboots we’ve seen from Impact Wrestling over the years, this one is the most significant and yields the greatest opportunity for real change. If you gave up on Impact Wrestling, you should watch tonight to see the early stages of this new direction.
Impact is advertising the following items for tonight:
The debut of Alberto El Patron
TNA Champion Bobby Lashley will be in action
The debut of Rachel Ellering. She’ll face Sienna
A shakeup of the Impact Wrestling announce team
DCC vs. Reno Scum
Braxton Sutter vs. DJ Z vs. Caleb Konely vs. Marshe Rockett
We’ll also see the return of Bruce Prichard. You can see full spoiler results from the tapings here.
In related news, Impact Wrestling is running a social media promotion where fans can vote to name the Anthem Owl. Tweet #AnthemOwl with your suggestions. We vote for “Dixie.”
We want YOU to name HER!! 1 winner will be selected Monday, March 13th. Official rules on .Com. Use #AnthemOwl in all suggestions…And GO! pic.twitter.com/DdIt8XdEEL
Reigning NXT World Champion Bobby Roode recently spoke with Planeta Wrestling about his time with the NXT brand. Here are some highlights of what the ‘glorious’ one said about:
Passing on veteran knowledge to NXT’s roster:
“It’s nice to have experience on my side, and there are guys and girls that ask for my opinion, to watch their matches and help them with certain things, which is kind of mind blowing and really cool at the same time because I never thought I’d be in that position. I love to help others and I really love the business itself and whenever I can lend a hand or help anyone out with something in their matches or characters, I love doing that kind of stuff. Whenever I started I would go to any guy, and like I said earlier, you never stop learning in this business.
I’m still learning, I’m not saying I’m an expert. There’s always things to improve on, there’s always things to learn. It’s king of like a domino affect, there are so many guys I can come up to that have had the experience before me that I can learn from. Of course I can bring like almost 20 years experience to NXT and help some of these younger guys who are like six months, a year, two years into the business and try to get them rolling. It’s a very unique company and fun place to be.”
Comparing the different wrestling crowds he’s worked with across the world:
“They’re very similar but the only thing I can say is that the fans here in North America see us a lot. For instance, we have shows in Cleveland, Columbus, we always have Ohio. We’re in the United States and there are a lot of people that can – in a 300 to 400 mile radius that could drive and see us if they wanted to. When we go to places like the UK, it’s a once a year thing. So the fans are that much louder and excited when we go to these places. And I know the guys and the girls always look forward to going on these tours because they’re a lot of fun. You get to see a lot of the world and get to perform. One of the best things for me was the recent trip to Australia, I live in Canada so in December it was the dead of Winter, flying to Australia I’m wearing shorts in 85 degree weather. So that was the funnest part for me.”
Who he expects to work with after his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura:
“We’ll see what happens, there are guys and everyone gets an opportunity. There’s a lot of talent that are scratching, clawing, and trying to get into the main event. Kassius is a guy that has come back to the company and has one goal in mind and that’s to be the champion, he never got a chance to do that with NXT before so I’m sure he’ll be gunning for me. Guys like Roderick Strong, Hideo Itami, who knows? Tye Dillinger is still there. I think he has some unfinished business with me as well. There’s a lot of guys that can step up and go with me and challenge me at any time so I can’t really narrow it down to one particular guy.”
