WWE producer “Road Dogg” Brian James recently took to Twitter to comment on the love/hate relationship between Roman Reigns and the WWE fans.
James saw a clip of Reigns hitting a spear at an untelevised live event and noted the crowd’s reaction. James referred to Reigns’ detractors as an “anti-establishment minority,” and says they don’t want the other fans to know that Reigns actually gets cheered when they aren’t there.
When a fan replied to James that he felt the crowd was mostly compiled of kids, James wrote “Their parents bought tickets too…. get it?!”
Former WWE Champion Seth Rollins is scheduled for Monday’s edition of RAW to address his injured knee. WWE claims Rollins sustained the injury when Samoa Joe beat him down on RAW a few weeks back, and in their preview for Monday’s show they say it’s “unlikely” he’ll compete at WrestleMania. Earlier this month it was confirme that Rollins suffered a torn MCL in his right knee.
If Rollins does miss WrestleMania in April, it would be his second year in a row absent from WWE’s biggest event. Here’s what WWE.com wrote about Rollins in their preview for Monday’s RAW:
Save for posting a series of “Fight Club” quotes on Instagram for the past few Monday nights, Seth Rollins has been relatively quiet concerning his condition following Samoa Joe’s ambush that tore The Architect’s right MCL.
At this point, it seems unlikely that Rollins will be able to compete at this year’s WrestleMania. That would mean that the former WWE Champion will miss his second consecutive Show of Shows, this time thanks to Triple H’s “Destroyer.” Will Rollins confirm this unfortunate news, or will he have another message entirely for The Cerebral Assassin and The Samoan Submission Specialist?
Rollins’ originally planned match against Samoa Joe at next Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view has been called off.
Squared Circle Sirens is reporting that WWE has signed Canadian olympic weightlifter Isabel Lahela. Lahela is 22 years old and won the 48kg weightlifting Junior Ontario Championship in 2014.
In addition to weight lifting, Lahela is also a professional model, personal trainer and dancer.
She’s been training at Superkick’d Wrestling in Toronto, Canada since August and took part in tryout at the WWE Performance Center back in September 2016. This was the combine that also included Kimber Lee, Heidi Lovelace and Jessica James.
Isabel Lahela reports to the WWE Performance Center in April.
– We reported earlier this week that Chris Jericho resurfaced at a WWE live event from Germany. It was Jericho’s first public appearance since Owens betrayed him at the Festival of Friendship. Jericho came out on crutches wearing a neck brace and once again felt the wrath of WWE’s Universal Champion. WWE posted this footage of the latest attack:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ8qEV3At68/
– Bill Goldberg has taken notice of NXT Women’s Champion Asuka’s impressive winning streak.
Congratulations @WWEAsuka on your 149th win in a row! #whosnext ????????
WWE announcer Tom Phillips found himself in some hot water this weekend when social media lit up with screenshots of a vulgar conversation he allegedly had with a woman. When the woman Phillips was flirting with found out he was engaged to another woman, she outed him on Instagram for trying to cheat on his fiancé.
Twitter has been having a field day at the expense of the WWE announcer’s embarrassing situation, with several fans poking fun at Phillips for allegedly getting “busted.”
Here are some of the reactions making the rounds on Twitter:
– WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk recently did an interview with SI.com‘s Extra Mustard blog where he discussed several topics including former WWE Champion AJ Styles. During his interview Funk praised Styles for being a “wonderful part of wrestling,” and gave him credit for paying his dues before making it big.
“I don’t know if everybody would agree with me, but I like the way that he’s risen to stardom,” Funk told SI.com. “AJ Styles is of a different genre, and he’s a wonderful part of wrestling, doing things that a lot of guys can’t do. No one can do what he does unless they’re in the ring with him. AJ Styles is an excellent in-ring performer, and he’s as good of a guy that they’ve got up there right now. He’s busted his a–. He busted his a– and made it.”
– WWE Champion Kevin Owens and Goldberg have continued to take shots at each other on Twitter over the past few weeks to promote their upcoming match at Fastlane on March 5th. In their most recent exchange, Owens called out Goldberg for being a part-timer while Owens is on the road with WWE.
WWE broadcaster Tom Phillips has set his social media accounts to “private” after allegedly sending some racy messages to Instagram user @Missythetattooedgirl.
The woman was later informed that Tom Phillips is engaged and called him out for the lewd behavior.
This is why I don’t trust people. Without my friends I never would’ve known that a high profile WWE commentator who was talking to me and wanted to get together, is engaged. I had zero idea and I couldn’t be more sorry to the girl involved. You deserve better than this. Apparently nobody is faithful anymore. @tvs_tom #wwe #smackdown #tomphillips #nxt #wrestling
Below you can see some of the messages Tom apparently sent her.
For the second year in a row Ring of Honor is holding two shows in two nights at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall. The shows last year played an important part in ROH angles for several months afterwards.
Last year’s shows involved 2 titles changing hands. Tomohiro Ishii defeated Roderick Strong for the ROH TV Championship in the main event of night 1 last year. The next night Omega and the Young Bucks defeated the Briscoes and Yano for the 6-Man Tag Team Championships.
Honor Rising 2017 Night 1 (Feb. 26th 6:30pm Tokyo time, 4:30AM est.)
David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Kushida vs. Gedo, Jado (CHAOS) and Silas Young
Finlay and Robinson have both been moving up in the rankings as of late, but Juice more than Finlay. In the short time that the former CJ Parker has been in NJPW he has gone from the bottom of the ranks to a solid mid-carder. He now regularly tags with Hiroshi Tanahashi and other big name NJPW guys.
Never Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships Bushi, Evil and Sanada (Los Ingobernables)(c) vs. Delirious, Justin Liger and Tiger Mask ROH booker, Delirious, likes to get involved in these shows. In previous years he had wrestled Gedo, who just so happens to be NJPW’s booker.
The 6-man championships change hands frequently. No team has held onto the belts for more than 2 title defences. Los Ingobernables won the belts on February 11th after defeating Tanahashi, Nakanishi and Taguchi.
Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa and Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS) A good old fashioned CHAOS vs Bullet Club match. There isn’t really any upcoming NJPW or ROH match this is setting up for down the line. It’s just a match.
War Machine vs. the Young Bucks The Young Bucks are the ROH Tag Team Champions, but this match appears to be non-title. If War Machine wins they’ll get a title shot down the road however, ROH rarely fails to follow through on such things. The live reaction to this match should be interesting, as NJPW fans don’t see heavyweight tag teams take on jr heavyweight tag teams too often.
Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables) and Punisher Martinez Kevin Sullivan’s protege, Punisher Martinez, joins forces with Naito’s Los Ingobernables. We’ve seen Naito be less than receptive to ROH wrestlers trying to join forces with his faction in the past however. Jay Lethal seemed to want to align with the group, but Naito turned on him in the end.
Dalton Castle and Taguchi will probably do a lot of comedy here.
Cody (Rhodes) and Hangman Page (Bullet Club) vs. Jay Lethal and Katsuyori Shibata Cody still hasn’t done much in Japan, so it’ll be interesting to see what the reaction to him is like. Shibata is preparing for an eventual match with Minoru Suzuki, which was played up recently on the Togi Makabe anniversary show.
Hangman Page sure has moved up the rankings in ROH and NJPW this last year. He even beat Jay Briscoe clean on a PPV.
Adam Cole and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoe Brothers Adam Cole, leader of ROH’s Bullet Club, tags with the leader of NJPW’s Bullet Club, Kenny Omega. Neither guy really refers to themselves as the leader, but they are clearly the top guy from the faction in their respective organizations. Omega lives in Japan and is a full-time NJPW guy, and Cole lives in the states and is a full time ROH guy. This match will most likely be played up as ROH vs. Bullet Club, seeing as the Briscoes are ROH originals.
NJPW continues to attract english speaking fans, and they are now offering more ways for such fans to follow the product. In addition to having an english announce team at most major events, they are now transcribing Japanese promos and posting them on their english website: njpw1972.com.
The translated promos aren’t offered right a way unfortunately. For the Togi Makabe anniversary show which took place on February 21st it took the promotion until the 24th to post the translations.
Each match has comments by the wrestlers involved. The quotes are pulled from the post-event press conference. To find the english translations select “Match Report Column” when viewing the results page for the event. At the bottom of the page there will be english comments from the wrestlers involved. Honma and Makabe talking about how all their fans are males is particularly interesting…
Ever since their re-designed english site launched earlier this month, NJPW has been taking a lot of steps to attract english speaking fans.
Kanako Urai, better known to wrestling fans as Asuka, is scheduled to make her main roster debut next month. WWE returns to Madison Square Garden for a live event on March 12th and the NXT Women’s Champion will be replacing Naomi in an 8-woman tag team match.
Click here to find out who Asuka’s opponent will most likely be at NXT Takeover: Orlando, based on this week’s NXT TV tapings.
Asuka Main Roster Debut
Asuka competing at the upcoming WWE live event from MSG does not mean the 35-year old Japanese star is joining the main roster any time soon.
Asuka signed with WWE in the summer of 2015. After the departures of Bayley, Charlotte, Banks and Lynch, she’s become the focal point of the division. Her NXT title reign has been the longest of any singles title run in the brand’s history.
Updated Card For WWE’s Return To MSG (3/12)
Special Appearances by AJ STYLES and SHANE MCMAHON!
JOHN CENA VS. BRAY WYATT
-WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-
BROCK LESNAR (WITH PAUL HEYMAN) VS. KEVIN OWENS
-SPECIAL ATTRACTION WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-
DEAN AMBROSE VS. BARON CORBIN VS. THE MIZ (WITH MARYSE)
-TRIPLE THREAT MATCH FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP-
LUKE HARPER VS. RANDY ORTON
AMERICAN ALPHA VS. THE USO’S
-WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-
APOLLO CREWS VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER
NIKKI BELLA, BECKY LYNCH, TAMINA & ASUKA
VS. ALEXA BLISS, MICKIE JAMES, NATALYA & CARMELLA (WITH JAMES ELLSWORTH)
RHYNO, HEATH SLATER & KALISTO
VS. BREEZANGO & CURT HAWKINS
Former WWE Superstar Ryback was a guest on the Ross Report podcast. The Big Guy spoke with WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross about Paul Heyman’s relationship with CM Punk screwing him over, Punk in UFC, life after WWE and much more. Here are some highlights of what Ryback said about:
Working with Paul Heyman & why Heyman’s relationship with CM Punk was screwing him over:
“I respect Paul [Heyman] a lot, and he’s lasted in this business a very long time, but we didn’t see eye to eye. Paul and CM Punk were really, really good friends. Heyman was supposed to be, from a creative standpoint, working with me. And he was with Punk all day and they were discussing business, and what they were going on to do, and it wasn’t doing me any favors and I knew that. We were overseas on an England tour [when] I finally had enough. Paul knew he had to get away from me, because I was gonna kill him at the time. He had went to Vince, him and Punk, and they didn’t do me any favors in there talking to Vince. I talked to Paul that night at catering at the hotel,” … “I had one last discussion with Paul at the catering table, in which he bought me beers for about two hours, as I cut a two-hour promo on him on everything, and what I thought of him, and how he did his business with me. He held a butter knife in his hand, twirling it the entire two hours. I kid you not, CM Punk walked around in circles the entire time, acting like he was gonna try to do something, while I was talking to Paul cutting this promo on him.”
CM Punk’s negative comments about him on Colt Cabana’s podcast:
“Not to say Punk gets along with everyone to begin with – he’s kind of his own individual, and a self-admitted asshole at times, but he was always friendly with me. But you gotta remember, when you’re dealing at the WWE level, and you’re dealing with those top slots, you’re dealing with millions of dollars. The two guys I had all my problems with, and everyone else there I’d get alone with just fine, was John Cena and CM Punk. There’s only a certain amount of slots there, and those guys have those slots, and they wanted to keep them. I do think Punk, he was really beat up during the periods that we worked together, physically, and he complained about other guys when he was there that are notorious for being good workers. I just think he was physically beat up, and he was frustrated, and he lumped that all in.” … “He had his issues with WWE, I think I just got lumped into all that. It is what it is. I don’t hate him, not at all.”
Punk pursing a professional MMA career with UFC:
“I’m happy for him, as far as the UFC. I know the fight didn’t go the way that he wanted it to go, or have the performance that he probably felt that he could have had. But having the courage to just take that chance, and anybody who knocks him for that, they have no idea the courage that it takes to be able to go out there and fight in front of the world. Essentially it’s being a modern day gladiator.” … “I think it’s cool. I wish him the best in everything that he’s doing going forward.”
Punk’s frustrations with WWE and how the “WWE machine” affects wrestlers:
“He was never the stereotypical WWE guy. He always had to eat shit, so to speak, from day one. He broke a lot of doors down up there for a lot of the independent guys. He kinda had to live through that first hand, where guys now are getting opportunities from the independents, he didn’t necessarily get all of those right off the bat, probably like he felt like he should have.” …
“Vince and the WWE, they’re a business. They essentially whore you out and run you into the ground, and then they replace you. Because there are so many guys who want those spots, and the brand is so strong now, that they can do that and get away with it. It gives you a negative feeling on wrestling at times. I feel like Punk had a lot on his shoulders, with the creative and the injuries, where it kind of makes you resent the job a little bit. And I think that’s where you can become a little bitter, and a little angry. Even though he had a lot of success, I feel like at times, but in his mind probably not the level that he wanted. And I can understand that because I know the level of success that I wanted, and wasn’t happy with that. And for him I think it was main-eventing WrestleMania. I think for him, after experiencing the struggles that he did early on just to get there, and then getting there and having success finally, and finally breaking through, and then still not actually truly getting that spot that he really wanted – his goal, so to speak – I think it was just a culmination of everything.”
How life on the road helped to prepare him for his post-WWE career:
“I’m very thankful for everything wrestling related, and my time in WWE. I always talked about how I rode alone. On those car rides, I look at that as very valuable time to myself. Anywhere from three to six hours on a lot of nights, where I could listen to audio books and learn about anything I wanted to learn about, and get a free education on the road while still doing what I love to do.”
Vince McMahon and why it’s important for wrestlers to communicate with management when they have issues:
“It’s a creative business. It’s his world, and if he doesn’t like you – and I know there’s guys there now that he’s sour on – and I always wondered why haven’t they gone in there and communicated? They’re just living week to week. In this day and age, a lot of guys walk on egg shells, and that’s what I’m proudest about myself. I’ve always stood up for myself, and I’ve gone and communicated. When I thought Hunter was against me on things, I’ve gone and I’ve talked to him. Do I think he was always honest with me? No, but I always approached him and I tried to talk to him, and gain ground, because if I don’t nothing’s gonna change. So I had nothing to lose. You gotta get rid of that fear mindset very early on, and most of the guys won’t. The ones that do, will do themselves the biggest favor, and helping themselves as they get to the main roster.”
Visit FeedMeMore.com to learn more about Ryback’s latest projects, including his new book and his line of nutritional supplements.
“I don’t know if I’m gonna be wrestling, per se, but I will be at Mania. I will be at Mania, I will be at Hall of Fame and I’m gonna do some Axxess signings.”
Kelly didn’t give a straight answer when asked if she’ll be inducting somebody at the Hall of Fame ceremony, but once again hinted that she’s open to another run with WWE.
WWE has been reaching out to several women who used to wrestle for the company to attend WrestleMania. It remains to be seen what their role will be, but former Superstar Victoria (Lisa Marie Varon) is also expected to be there.
Scott Levy, better known as Raven, is the latest wrestler to be given his own podcast. It is set to debut on Chris Jericho’s podcast network on Monday.
Make sure u tune in to my new podcast The Raven Effect starting this Monday nite on the Jericho network on podcast one.
Jericho’s podcast network also includes shows hosted by Lance Storm and Don Callis, as well as “Keepin’ it 100” with Konnan.
Raven has appeared multiple times on Talk Is Jericho and has been a popular subject of various shoot interview DVDs.
Raven’s Career
The 52-year old Raven has a cult following of fans that rivals the cultish appeal of his character. Many fans have followed his unique career from ECW to WCW, and then from WWE to TNA. Jericho is banking that Raven’s flock of fans will follow him into the podcast world as well.
Raven first appeared on the wrestling scene in the early 90s as Scotty Flamingo in WCW’s first attempt at a light heavyweight division. He would later show up in WWE as Johnny Flamingo, who was primarily a manager and broadcast personality. When he left WWE in 1994 he decided to completely redo his character. Raven was invented, and became a focal point of ECW from 94-97.
In 1997 Raven debuted with WCW with the same character, and many of the same storylines. He would leave the company and rejoin ECW in 1999. He would sign with WWE in 2000, but largely foundered on Sunday Night Heat and other lesser programming. Raven also performed with TNA from 2003 to 2010.
Adult film company Brazzers is filming a parody of WWE’s Montreal Screwjob this week titled “The F**kjob.” Porn stars Johnny Castle (as Vince McMahon), Mia Malkova (as Shawn Michaels) and Romi Rain (as Bret Hart) are starring in the film.
Filming just began this week and no official release date has been announced.
You can see behind-the-scenes / promo photos below:
The TNA contacts of “Broken” Matt and Jeff Hardy are expiring very soon if they have not already. Their is a lot of uncertainty surrounding their future with the company.
According to the Wrestling Observer, they have independent bookings scheduled through April and have told promoters that they can’t commit to any shows in May until they figure out what’s next for them. WWE has expressed interested in bringing the Hardy Boyz back, but they won’t make any offers until they are officially free agents.
Former TNA Champion Drew Galloway contract also expires this month, ahead of the next set of Impact television tapings. Surprisingly, TNA has not offered him a new deal yet.
Another former TNA Champion, Magnus, has been offered a contract to return, but has yet to sign it.
2017 WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle was interviewed this week by Donald Wood for Ring Rust Radio. Here are some highlights of what Angle said about:
Who Will Induct Him Into The WWE Hall of Fame:
“I wanted someone that had a huge impact on the business and no one had a bigger impact than those three. With John Cena, I was more of a teacher to John when he started in WWE. I was his first match. Not only that, but Vince McMahon put me with him to kind of teach the trade a little bit, and for six or seven months, we traveled the world and I was giving him my advice and trying to bring him along. Vince really loved John and I don’t blame them for that. He is very marketable, great personality and he’s a great athlete. It was my job to kind of groom him a little bit.
The Undertaker and Austin, I don’t have to say much about those two. They are the biggest names in wrestling. They taught me a lot about the trade, in ring psychology, what to do and timing. They taught me more than anybody, and I would add up there Triple H as well. I know I won’t get Triple H because he is a Talent Relation director, but I wanted one of those three.
I have not been told whether or not if I could pick, but I don’t believe the talent is the one that gets to pick. I think WWE sets up who they want to induct you. I would be surprised if it wasn’t one of those three. Vince McMahon and Triple H know the type of relationship I have with Undertaker and John Cena and Stone Cold. They do know I want one of those three, so looks like it will be one of those three.”
Goldberg’s Return Giving Him Hope For Another WWE Match:
“That gives me a lot of hope. Goldberg’s a great wrestler and in his prime he was the man, especially for WCW. I don’t think his WWE career ended the way he wanted it to, but he is an incredible athlete and he has done a lot of pro wrestling. It’s nice to see somebody of his stature and somebody that hasn’t been there in 14 years to go in there and get a great spot. It does give me a lot of hope. I wouldn’t doubt once we get pass the Hall of Fame, I take the physical and pass it, which most likely they are going to want me to do. I wouldn’t doubt that I would be in the title hunt.
When you have big names like that you have to use them the right way. You don’t put them on an opening card match and not promote that. When you have a name like Goldberg, or Brock Lesnar comes back, or the Undertaker comes back when he’s been gone for 10 months, or a Kurt Angle that hasn’t been there in 12 years, you’re going to want to put them in a pretty high profile spot. I expect that if I do wrestle, so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve kept my body in great shape. I’ve been wrestling the Indies with great talent like Del Rio, Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio just to keep my body in shape in case WWE does call me, I’m ready to go.”
His New Anglestrong Addition Recovery Mobile App:
“What we’re hoping to do is help with the epidemic in the United States. Right now, it’s the worst epidemic in the United States history. Over 60,000 people have died in the last few years of heroin overdose and it’s getting worse and worse. I worked on this Anglestrong app with Dr. Jonas, who is a recovering addict and a doctor. He has been recovering for 30 years. He came out with an incredible concept with the app.
It’s an app that you follow every single day. You use it to check in daily and if you don’t check in daily, your lifelines—whether it’s your family, friends, loved ones, or sponsor—will get notified and it’s also GPS enabled so if you do relapse they will find you. It’s more of a way to hold yourself accountable and join up with Kurt Angle type of app. I walk you through it and there are so many different things on this app that are really cool. For the most part, you follow the app, you follow the program and hopefully that will keep you in recovery.
We are really hoping that a lot of people sign up and join. You can sign up at AngleStrong.com and I also have a lot of workout programs on there, AA meetings closest to you and we are going to have a monthly call with me where you will be able to talk to me and I’ll be answering questions. It’s a pretty cool concept and we are excited to bring it to the market.”
WWE announced on Thursday that the stars of the recent United Kingdom Championship tournament will be working the upcoming live events tour of the UK.
WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Wolfgang, Joseph Conners, Tyson T-Bone, Mark Andrews, James Drake, Dan Moloney, Sam Gradwell, Saxon Huxley, Tucker, Jordan Devlin and Pete Dunne will be competing on the shows.
Here’s the full tour schedule:
Thursday, May 4: SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Friday, May 5: 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
Friday, May 5: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales
Monday, May 8: Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth, England
Wednesday, May 10: Genting Arena, Birmingham, England
Thursday, May 11: Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England
Friday, May 12: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England
For more information, check the WWE.me link below:
Chris Jericho returned at Wednesday’s WWE live event from Dusseldorf, Germany, his first public appearance since Kevin Owens betrayed him during last week’s Festival of Friendship.
Jericho came to the ring on crutches and wearing a neck brace. He cut a promo vowing revenge on his former best friend. Jericho was interrupted by Owens, who proceeded to beat Jericho down again.
Roman Reigns came out for the save, setting up the show’s main event. In a No Holds Barred match, Kevin Owens defeated Roman Reigns to retain the RAW Universal Championship.
This week’s SmackDown Live saw Alexa Bliss defeat Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship after Naomi was forced to surrender the title earlier in the show due to injury.
Noami injured her left knee at Elimination Chamber when she hit the moonsault that won her the championship. The initial timeframe for her return looked like two weeks, but after that time she was still not cleared to return. It now looks like she could miss up to two months, which would prevent her from working WrestleMania 33.
Over the past week, TNA announcer Josh Mathews has been very active on social media. Following a recent sit-down interview where he referred to himself as the greatest play-by-play announcer in wrestling today, Mathews trash talked several fans and industry personalities who disagreed with his proclamation.
Matthews may have crossed the line this week when told the producers of a wrestling podcast to “shoot themselves.”
The tweet in question is no longer visible on Mathews’ Twitter page. Unconfirmed reports are stating he was asked to delete the tweet by Impact Wrestling management. He has continued to send out insulting tweets to fans since however, indicating the company is aware of and fine with his recent activity.
Over the past week Mathews has engaged in Twitter wars with Jeremy Borash, Shark Boy, and many others. He doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
You know who is talking about Shark Boy in the office today? No one.
Wayne Maurice Keown, better known to wrestling fans as Dutch Mantel or Zeb Colter, has signed with Impact Wrestling. Colter went public with the news this week:
NEWS: Finally, I can OFFICIALLY announce that I have signed with @IMPACTWRESTLING in a creative/advisory capacity. Changes underway.
The 67-year old Colter first debuted in wrestling’s territorial system in the early 1970s. Originally he was known as Wayne Cowan, but adapted the “Dirty” Dutch Mantel gimmick by 1980.
By the 90s, Mantel had dabbled as a commentator for WCW but was eventually signed as a manager by WWE. He adopted the gimmick “Uncle Zebekiah” and managed Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw.
In 2003, Mantel started a six-year stint working on the TNA creative team. He left due to “creative differences” in 2009.
From 2013-16, Colter was under contract to the WWE again as a manager. It was during this stint that he played the role of an anti-immigration crusader. The storyline, which also featured Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rios, stirred up a little controversy and garnered some mainstream media attention.
Colter’s signing is the latest in a string of backstage changes that Anthem and Jeff Jarrett have been making in recent weeks.
Following Wednesday night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, the card for NXT Takeover: Orlando is starting to take shape.
It was confirmed that NXT Tag Tean Champions the Authors Of Pain will put their gold on the line against DIY and The Revival in a triple threat match.
Based on what went down at the tapings, it looks like we’ll also be seeing the following matches:
– NXT Champion Bobby Roode defends against Shinsuke Nakamura
– NXT Tag Team Champions The Authors defend against DIY and The Revival in a Triple Threat
– NXT Women’s Champion Asuka defends against Ember Moon
– Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose, Roderick Strong and Ruby Riot battle SAnitY (Nikki Cross, Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain) in a mixed person match
TakeOver will be held on Saturday, 4/1 from the Amway Center during WrestleMania 33 weekend.
