A contract signing has been announced for this week’s AEW Dynamite. AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and #1 contender Kenny Omega will put pen to paper and formalize their upcoming title match.
Moxley vs. Omega is scheduled for the December 2nd edition of AEW Dynamite. It’s a match so big that many fans are wondering why AEW is not saving it for Revolution February. Giving it away on Dynamite will help AEW finish out the year strong with strong television viewership.
In addition to the contract signing, we have four matches signed for Wednesday’s broadcast:
PAC vs. The Blade
Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian
Darby Allin & Cody Rhodes vs. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks
The Young Bucks vs. Top Flight (Non-Title Match)
The newly crowned AEW World Tag Team Champions the @YoungBucks take on hot independent tag-team Top Flight!
We will also see the Inner Circle ‘slay’ Las Vegas. Inner Circle members have been posting teaser photos of the Vegas trip on social media. It looks like it’s going to be another memorable segment for Chris Jericho’s growing band of compadres.
AEW has been going ‘old school’ to promote this week’s Dynamite. Over the weekend, they dropped this retro-themed promo featuring Tony Schiavone and Cody Rhodes:
Sasha Banks is having a good month so far. 2 weeks ago, she retained the Smackdown Women’s title against Bayley on Smackdown in a segment that pulled in huge ratings. The following Friday, she made her Star Wars Universe debut in the Mandalorian. And now today, a shoe designed by Sasha Banks and husband, Kid Mikaze, has sold out in minutes.
Mikaze noted on Twitter that the shoes have officially sold out online.
The shoes are part of a charitable effort between Banks, Foot Locker, and charity Soles4Souls. 19,000 sneakers will be donated to people in need and a $250,000 donation will go to the charity.
Banks was also interviewed by Variety recently regarding her role in the Mandalorian.
“Not only to be part of ‘Star Wars,’ but one of legit the greatest episodes in the history of television like that. I could watch that all the time. That was such a badass introduction to the world of ‘Star Wars,’” Banks said of her first episode.
To read more about Banks’ comments regarding the Mandalorian, visit the below link:
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed Pat McAfee and his ongoing NXT run. McAfee has created his own stable of talent over the past few weeks, including the NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch as well as former WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne.
Pat McAfee was extremely impressive in his debut NXT bout. However it is his work on the microphone that has shone through over the past few weeks.
Bully Ray would massively praise Pat McAfee on Busted Open; however he would state that McAfee isn’t doing anything extraordinary to get ‘heat.’ “It’s not really about what he is saying? It’s about how he says it” Bully Ray began on Busted Open.
Bully Ray on Pat McAfee
“I’ve been complimented over the years about some of the promo work that I’ve done. People ask me questions like ‘how do you generate this kind of heat!?’ Or whatever. I will always tell people, I have not reinvented the wheel” Bully stated.
Bully Ray would then attribute what McAfee has been producing on NXT to his own style of heel promo. “What I do? It’s Heel 101, it’s just how I say these things. All in the delivery, it’s all in the tone, it’s all in the inflection. It’s all about the eye contact, those things that take the very basic and very generic words like ‘we rule and you suck’ and make them mean something.”
“Where it’s somebody like Pat McAfee saying them? Their unique personality? It gives a life to those very generic words. That’s when you know you have something. And that’s what Pat McAfee is like. When you heard him Wednesday night did he say anything that resonated with you, like, ‘Oh my god, that was the greatest promo I can’t believe he said that?’ No.”
Do you agree with Bully Ray? Do you think that Pat McAfee is one of the best talkers in the company if not pro wrestling as a whole right now? Let us know in the comments
WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston recently appeared on the Gorilla Position podcast. The former WWE Champion and RAW Superstar discussed a number of topics during his time on the show.
These included a potential return to bigger live audiences post COVID-19; Kingston would also discuss what it has been like in the company since the ‘break up’ of The New Day.
“It’s tough to say” Kofi began on the show, saying how he has no idea what it’ll be like for WWE ‘live’ events following the pandemic. “This is obviously a situation that like…nobody would have ever dreamed that it was possible. That the entire world could shut down, essentially?”
Kofi Kingston on Live Events
“But I think, day by day? We’re kind of taking steps back towards normalcy” Kofi Kingston would continue. “Or? What the new normal may be. I don’t know if it’s gonna be quite like it was with all the travel, maybe it will maybe it won’t. I mean we get it, we can all speculate. But right now I think everybody in the entire world is just trying to take it one day at a time.”
Even though WWE recently furloughed and laid off the majority of the live events team, Kingston believes that they will be back on the road at some point in the future. “At some point in time I will be travelling more than just one day a week” Kingston stated. “I know for myself it’s definitely going to pick up at some point.”
Do you think that WWE will pick up live events once again after the pandemic? Do you think that Kofi Kingston will get another singles run in the company? Let us know in the comments.
MLW Fusion is back. After a seven month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, #TheRestart is finally upon us.
A new episode of MLW Fusion premieres tonight on MLW’s YouTube Channel with a double main event featuring some of the league’s top fighters. We will see:
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
World Middleweight Champion Myron Reed vs Brian Pillman Jr.
National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone in action
Plus, we’ll get first details of the 2020 Opera Cup tournament.
MLW has release the ‘Cold Open’ video package for tonight’s Fusion. The video includes some classic MLW footage and a recap of the Contra Unit storyline that leads up to The Restart.
MLW Fusion premieres at 7PM EST before replaying this weekend on beIN Sports. Click here for more information on how you can watch.
Matt Sydal is All Elite. AEW recently announced they have officially signed the 37-year-old. Sydal debuted for the promotion back in September. He was the “Joker” in the 21-person Casino Battle Royale match.
Sydal has since performed in 8 matches for the promotion. He currently holds on 0-3 record on Dynamite, having dropped matches to Eddie Kingston, Brian Cage, and Shawn Spears. Sydal has a 5-0 record on AEW Dark. He’s defeated Christopher Daniels, Michael Nakazawa, Sonny Kiss, Shawn Dean, and Lee Johnson on that show.
Sydal is a former WWE tag-team champion under the name Evan Bourne. He teamed with Kofi Kingston as Air Boom in 2011. Along with Ricochet, Sydal is a 2x IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag-team champion and they won the Super Junior Tag League in 2015. He is also a former NEVER Openweight 6-man tag-team champion in NJPW with Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima.
Sydal is also a former X-Division Champion in Impact Wrestling and won the Grand Championship in the promotion once as well.
Sydal botched a shooting star press during his AEW debut at All Out. He took to Twitter to comment on what happened.
“Slipping was BONKERS! That was a first and hopefully a last. Thank you all for kind the messages and check in’s. I’m beyond honored to be a part of @AEWrestling’s All Out,” Sydal Tweeted.
In addition to being the Smackdown Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks is now starring on the hit show, Star Wars: The Mandalorian on Disney+. Banks was recently interviewed by Variety and talked about how she was approached to be on the show by Executive Producer, Jon Favreau.
Surprisingly, it was not her work in WWE that got her discovered. It was actually her appearance on the Youtube series Hot Ones, where celebrities are interviewed while eating increasingly spicy chicken wings.
“So Jon Favreau came to me because he watched an interview that I did with ‘Hot Ones.’ And he really liked me and got my contact information,” she revealed. “Then on FaceTime he asked me to be part of ‘The Mandalorian.’ I was like, ‘Well, I cannot say no,’ but I was so incredibly nervous, because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it with the WWE schedule.”
Banks continued, “You know, we used to travel a lot. But they made it work and everything happened. And it was such an incredible episode. I still just can’t get over how awesome that was.”
Sasha Banks on Joining the Star Wars Universe
Without giving anything away for those not caught up, the latest episode of the Mandalorian (which features Banks’ debut) is getting good reviews. Banks also spoke about the response to her debut episode.
“Not only to be part of ‘Star Wars,’ but one of legit the greatest episodes in the history of television like that. I could watch that all the time. That was such a badass introduction to the world of ‘Star Wars.’”
Banks was then asked what it was like to step into the Star Wars universe for the first time.
“It was beyond. Just like the first time ever seeing a wrestling ring. It’s like the first time ever seeing anything just so magical. I would hate to ruin like how it looked backstage, but you felt like you were in a different galaxy in a different world. It was so almost easy to play a Mandalorian because I was legit in the universe. And you know, Jon Favreau and David Filoni and Bryce Howard, they were so amazing towards me,” Banks answered.
Visit Variety to read their full interview with Sasha Banks.
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite will see the national television debut of Top Flight, the popular independent tag team comprised of Darius Martin (Air Wolf) and Duante Martin (Angel Dorado). They’ll face AEW World Tag team champions The Young Bucks in a match pitting brothers vs. brothers.
Known as the the Coldest Team in the Game, Top Flight hails from Minneapolis, MN. They trained Ken Anderson’s Academy School of Professional Wrestling and have wrestled for Game Changer Wrestling, Black Label Pro and AAW.
Top Flight appeared on AEW Dark two weeks ago in a match against Evil Uno & Stu Gracon of the Dark Order. They came up short, but impressed AEW officials and secured this high-profile match against AEW’s top team.
Top Flight
Top Flight is All Elite
This is a huge opportunity for Top Flight. A win over The Young Bucks could propel them into AEW’s tag team rankings
During a recent virtual meet-an-greet, “The Best Man” Miro mentioned a young, athletic tag team from Minnesota that has signed with AEW. He did not mention Top Flight by name, but it sounds like he’s talking about the Martin brothers. Miro touted their athletic ability and said he believes they are the future of tag team wrestling.
“One of these kids had like an 80-inch vertical and they’re like 19-years old and they’re moving fluidly and once they find each other, they’re gonna be the future of the tag team division and those are just two guys and we have probably another 15 ready to go.”
Top Flight sent out a tweet in September expressing their desire to wrestle the Young Bucks. The tweet referenced a similar message from FTR, which ultimately did lead to a match between those teams. Tonight, wrestling fans will rejoice once again.
Impact Wrestling 11/17 was the first show since Saturday’s Turning Point event. It was also the final show for the Rascalz, who are leaving Impact Wrestling after having spent the last two years with the promotion.
Impact 11/17 Quick Results:
Moose defeated Willie Mack via referee stoppage
Suicide vs Gio – No Contest
Brian Myers defeated Crazzy Steve
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament Havok & Nevaeh defeated Alisha Edwards & Tenille Dashwood
Hernandez defeated Fallah Bah
Rascalz Farewell Match Rich Swann & Trey Miguel defeated Dez & Wentz
Impact Wrestling Bids Farewell To The Rascalz
For the last 2 years, The Rascalz have provided entertaining matches and segments for fans of Impact Wrestling. Their treehouse skits created many fun and literal LOL moments over the years. All 3 have had great matches throughout their run as well.
They’d finish up with Impact at these tapings and headlined last night’s show in tag action. Miguel teamed with Rich Swann and they faced Dez and Wentz. This match reminded me a little of the NBA All-Star game, where everyone was just trying to break out their flashiest moves and have a good time with no animosity between them.
In the end, it would be the Impact World Champion who would get the win for his team. He delivered a vicious-looking kick to the back of Dez’s head for the pin.
The Rascalz left their jackets on the ring ropes in a symbolic gesture as their time in Impact comes to an end. All 4 who had been in the match then walked through the curtain together only to be assaulted by Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan. Swann will face Shamrock next week in non-title action.
Did Detective Tommy Dreamer Catch Johnny Swinger With A Smoking Gun?
The investigation into who shot John E. Bravo took a big turn this week. The Deaners sort of implied that Dreamer should look into Johnny Swinger, after finding a gun in his fanny pack. Dreamer then interviewed Swinger who didn’t seem to shy away from the fact that he had a gun during the interview. Dreamer said Swinger is literally holding the smoking gun and that he is being taken to Wrestlers Court next week to go on trial for having shot Bravo.
Eric Young Unleashes Joe Doering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYoaUjiUq6w
A match between Suicide and Gio ended in a no-contest this week after Eric Young unleashed his new monster, Joe Doering onto both wrestlers. Doering debuted at Turning Point over the weekend and appears to be someone who is going to be a big deal in the promotion moving forward.
Young cut a promo saying that this world belongs to them. The two weren’t finished there, however. They went to the backstage area and attacked Rhino and the already-injured Heath.
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament Begins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCdZ9A0N2dc
Tenille Dashwood might not be the best tag-team wrestler. Her “It’s all about me” philosophy makes her a little more suited to the singles division. Two partners in two weeks have discovered this about her. The “Most Influential Person in Impact Wrestling” teamed with Madison Rayne last week in a losing effort to Havok & Nevaeh but would face them again this week in the first round of the title tournament but with Alisha Edwards as her partner.
The end of the match came when Nevaeh came charging out of the corner and Dashwood decided to save herself by throwing Alisha into Nevaeh’s waiting attack. Nevaeh then hit Dashwood with a DDT as well and that left Alisha alone for the rest of the match. Havok and Nevaeh then put her away with a wheel barrel/cutter combo for the win.
Also concerning the KO tag-team tournament. Jordynne Grace, who as of yet does not have a confirmed partner, was seen in the back talking on the phone to someone who will seemingly be their partner next week. Grace said she was thankful this person would be her partner as she had heard she was retiring.
Moose Sends A Message To Rich Swann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHcO1fIju0s
Ever since Rich Swann won the Impact World Championship, Moose has been taunting him, calling it the second most important belt in Impact. Over the last couple of weeks, Moose has been involved in backstage altercations with Swann’s friend Willie Mack and they would meet in the opener on this week’s show.
Moose used this match as an opportunity to taunt Swann further. Mack looked to be battling back, however. He hit a Stunner on Moose after missing a 6-star Frog Splash. Moose then caught him in a spear and delivered elbows to his prone opponent until the referee called for the bell. Moose then continued the assault after the end of the match, likely to further send a message to the Impact World Champion.
Anyone Not Named TJP Can Challenge For the X-Division Title, Anyone Not Named TJP At All
It was tough luck for @MegaTJP against @HakimZane last week.
Last week, TJP lost an X-Division title match that carried the stipulation that if he lost, he’d never be able to challenge for the title again while Rohit Raju is champion. Later in the back, TJP was speaking with Scott D’Amore. The co-Executive Vice President said that he wondered how Dusty Rhodes would handle such a situation. D’Amore continued to point out that “anyone not named TJP” can challenge for the title and made numerous mentions of how Dusty Rhodes might handle the same spot.
D’Amore may have been referring to Dusty’s “Midnight Rider” gimmick, or maybe just to Stagger Lee like gimmicks from the past. In what may have been a bit of foreshadowing from Impact, Suicide wrestled on the show before this. TJP has played the masked character in the past, beginning in 2013.
Brian Myers Defeats Crazzy Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byD0R49yeh0
Brian Myers defeated Swoggle at Turning Point but Crazzy Steve came out to prevent a post-match attack from the “Most Professional Wrestler.” A singles match was then booked between the two tonight. After a competitive match, Myers resorted to underhanded tactics when he punched the legally blind Steve in the eye. Steve couldn’t see anything and Myers hit him with a clothesline for the win.
Hernandez Wins The Clash For Cash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hBncYxjFsM
For weeks now, several Impact wrestlers have been feuding over a wad of cash that was on the line in an arm-wrestling match between Rhino and Hernandez. Fallah Bah came into possession of the cash leading to the match between these two. The finish of the match came when Fallah Bah attempted a Samoan Drop but Hernandez fought out and slingshotted Bah off the ropes. Super Mex then flew off the top rope with a splash for the win.
Next Week In Impact Wrestling
A few big things take place next week on Impact Wrestling.
The Good Brothers have promised a “phenomenal” opponent for Ethan Page in singles competition.
Former WWE broadcaster Renee Paquette (Renee Young) is launching a new podcast. The show, titled Oral Sessions, premieres Tuesday, November 24th on all major podcast platforms.
You can listen to the ‘trailer’ in the player embedded below:
Paquette says the weekly show will feature “cool ass people having great conversation” – unfiltered and unscripted.
The whole entire concept for the show is about the conversation. She finds people fascinating – and wants to dig into their stories, their processes, backgrounds and methods. Guests will include athletes, actors, celebrities, entertainers and of course, wrestlers.
Becky Lynch has released photos from her recent pregnancy photoshoot.
Lynch last competed at WrestleMania 36, when she successfully defended the Raw Women’s Championship against Shayna Bazsler. She told the Bella Twins that she was already feeling pregnancy-related nausea during WrestleMania weekend, but she did not yet know she was carrying.
Becky Lynch announced her pregnancy on the May 11th edition of WWE Raw. She surrendered her title that night. During an interview with People Magazine, Lynch revealed she does not now if she’ll ever return to the ring.
“I don’t know what the next chapter is because I only know what it’s like to think for myself when I’m by myself. So I don’t know what it’ll look like and how my priorities shift and what I’m going to want in the future. So, everything’s open.”
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.778 million viewers with a 0.51 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was up from last week in total viewers, which did 1.690 million viewers, but down for the 0.54 demo rating.
WWE went up against an NFL game that aired on ESPN, which was between the Vikings and Bears that had 11.450 million viewers.
To compare, just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.127 million viewers. This show not only served as the go-home show for Survivor Series but also featured WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre as well as RAW Tag Team Champions New Day vs. The Hurt Business. These matches were done to help boost ratings for a week.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 1.868 million, 0.55 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.740 million, 0.48 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.728 million, 0.50 in the 18-49 Demo
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.234 million viewers on FOX. This is down from the 2.315 that the show did for the previous week on FOX.
The overnight rating was 2.142 million viewers, which was down from 2.209 a week ago. The first hour did 2.111 million viewers while hour two did 2.172 million viewers. This was up from a week ago with hour one doing 2.312 and hour two doing 2.155.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from 0.70 rating as last week’s show.
Kurt Angle could’ve made a return to Impact Wrestling earlier this year.
The promotion reportedly made a strong push to have Angle come back after being away for several years. PWinsider.com reports that Impact came up with for him to appear at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view event last month.
The report goes onto state that while they did have talks, those conversations stalled. It should be noted that he posted this photo on Twitter with the TNA title last month:
The WWE Hall of Famer has stated in previous interviews that his focus is now on his Physically Fit Nutrition business. Once he was let go as a producer for WWE, he was offered to be the manager of Matt Riddle but turned down the opportunity.
With Angle being outside of the WWE bubble, there’s been some hope from fans regarding him potentially going to AEW, a direct rival of WWE as they’re seen as the second biggest promotion in the United States.
“The thing is, when I came back to WWE, I wasn’t expecting what I got, and I was very grateful. I got the Hall of Fame. I wanted the Hall of Fame, but I didn’t want it first. I wanted it last, and I wanted to wrestle first.”
Angle is a member of the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame but hasn’t made an appearance for the company since March 2016.
When Don Callis was hired by Impact Wrestling in 2018, he had his eyes set on bringing in Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega. Callis famously helped organized the Jericho vs Omega bout from the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2018 that many credit with having changed the course of wrestling.
Callis recently told Fight Game Media that had it not been for AEW, Kenny Omega would have signed with Impact.
“I’ll say this: If AEW had not come into play … Kenny Omega would have come into Impact Wrestling. Not that he ever agreed to it, but it’s something that Scott D’Amore and I would have made happen,” said Callis.
At an Impact press conference to promote Slammiversary 2018 from the Rebel Nightclub in Toronto, Callis told SEScoops that he planned to pursue signing both Jericho and Omega to Impact.
“There’s a young Canadian kid I like, we’d love to sign him, his name is Kenny Omega,” Callis said. “Another is Chris Jericho.”
Callis talked about his history with Omega on the Jim Ross podcast that summer.
“I gave him his first break wrestling for the promotion I had in Winnipeg [Canada]. And his uncle, The Golden Sheik, who was an indie wrestler in Winnipeg helped train me in the [pro wrestling] business in 1989, so my roots with Kenny go back many years. I’ve been on this journey with him, and specifically since I’ve been in New Japan and we have a very close relationship. We talk about ideas, we do things, I helped put together the match between him and Chris [Jericho] for the Tokyo Dome.”
While Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are no longer with WWE, several former members of Bullet Club still are. Finn Balor is a founding member of the group from NJPW back in 2013. Then known as Prince Devitt, he introduced Bad Luck Fale as his “personal bouncer” and they were joined shortly after by Tama Tonga and “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson.
Balor, who is scheduled to appear on NXT this week for the first time since suffering a broken jaw against Kyle O’Reilly, posted the following to Twitter:
Finn Balor, AJ Styles, and Adam Cole In “The Club”
Finn Balor and AJ Styles’ time in Bullet Club didn’t really overlap. Styles arrived in New Japan Pro Wrestling in the spring of 2014 just as Balor was leaving for WWE. Styles would win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship twice before he would leave for WWE as well in 2016. Styles was joined by Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in WWE later that same year.
Adam Cole was briefly a member of Bullet Club as well before his untimely death on an episode of Being the Elite in 2017. Cole was one of the top members of the faction in Ring of Honor. He won the ROH World Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in the Tokyo Dome as a member of Bullet Club.
WWE will celebrate The Undertaker’s legendary career this Sunday at Survivor Series. His 30 year reign of darkness comes to an end, as WWE is advertising the appearance as his “final farewell.”
Several wrestling legends will be in attendance for the special celebration, including Kane, The Godfather and Savio Vega. We now know about another all-time great who is headed to Orlando, FL for the festivities. WWE Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle will be at Survivor Series. The news was first reported by PWInsider.
At this time, it is unclear if Angle and the other legends will appear on television. It is possible that cameras will be rolling backstage to capture footage to be used in future programming on the WWE Network.
Kurt Angle Angle was released by WWE earlier this year. He was working as a backstage agent / producer at the time, but was let go in April when WWE released several dozen people as a cost-cutting measure just as the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting.
WWE offered Kurt Angle a chance to return as the manager of Matt Riddle, but he declined. Click here to read what Kurt Angle said about that decision.
WWE faction Retribution has executed a hostile takeover of the company’s official Twitter account, @WWE. On Tuesday morning, the WWE Twitter account posted the following video of the takeover:
Twitter has launched a new featured called Fleets, which is similar to the ‘story’ functionality on competitor services like Snapchat and Instagram. Retribution members used the hijacked @WWE account to cut ‘fleet’ promos.
Mustafa Ali said, “Payback is for the weak. Retribution is for the strong. And now we write our own story. We have the pen in our hand – and if that pen pen should run out of ink, that’s fine because we will use our own blood to finish writing the story. We will not rest until we shut you down.”
MLW is set to return to new programming tomorrow night. A new episode of Fusion will air for the first time since the spring. The show will be headlined by Jacob Fatu defending the MLW World Championship against Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Alexander Hammerstone is MLW’s reigning National Openweight Champion. He is part of the Dynasty along with Richard Holiday as well. Hammerstone recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet about how he almost gave up on wrestling after a frustrating experience stemming from a WWE tryout.
As it turns out, WWE contacted Hammerstone in November of 2017 and implied that he was going to be brought into the company.
“It ended up being like ‘Hey, well I think we want to bring you in. We’re going to start the hiring process’. And I remember, I was on the toilet at work when I read that email and I had to read it four times over and then I started crying because I was like ‘Holy crap! Dream come true! It’s happening.’ And then I literally burst out of the bathroom and knocked on my boss’s office. It was just like an involuntary reaction, I was like ‘Jeff, read this!’ and he was like ‘Oh my God!’ and he legitimately called a staff meeting to tell everybody what had just happened and everyone congratulated me,” Hammerstone said.
He continued to talk about how he was getting ready to start his WWE career. Despite what they had told him earlier, however, WWE decided against bringing him in.
“The next step is my whole medical test and it’s not happening, it’s not happening, it’s not happening. And then I start pestering them to see what’s going on. Then in April, and keep in mind in my head I’m moving there in May, so in April they say ‘Sorry to inform you but we’re just way too full right now, we hired too many people this year and we can’t bring you in’. And it doesn’t say like ‘Give us three months’ or ‘Give us this’ it just says ‘We can’t bring you in’. And that was it. And I was like what?”
Similar Stories From Other Wrestlers
Hammerstone’s story is similar to ones told by other wrestlers in the past. Willie Mack once detailed being hired by WWE only to be released before actually reporting to the PC. Taya Valkyrie has told a similar story about WWE reneging on an offer that had been promised to her. This was before Taya started performing with AAA in Mexico.
“A little unknown fact is that about seven months before I went to Mexico, I was offered a contract by WWE. And I went through all the steps, I was waiting to get all my medical tests done, and they decided to not take me, so needless to say I wasn’t given an explanation and to this day I don’t really know what happened,” Taya said on Talk is Jericho in 2017.
Almost Quitting Wrestling
Hammerstone continued to talk about how the experience with WWE almost led to him quitting wrestling.
“And for the next couple of months someone every once in a while would be like ‘Hey, when are you going to Florida?’ and I’d have to explain the whole thing to them. I had to explain this so many times and every time it was like a punch in the gut, you know? So it was rough, man. It was a rough time and literally that experience almost made me quit wrestling. I was very close.”
Marti Belle is no longer under contract with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In a Twitter post sent out Tuesday morning, Belle thanked the NWA for giving her the opportunity to hone her craft. She is now a free agent who is able to negotiate with other promotions. She wrote:
Thank you @nwa for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the talented locker room & create some amazing moments. I met incredible people that I’m sure I’ll see again. I am no longer signed to a contract with NWA. I am not sure what’s next for me, but I am excited to find out
The 32-year-old star from the Dominican Republic has wrestled for Impact Wrestling, WWE, Ring of Honor, Game Changer Wrestling and others.
She competed in the 2017 Mae Young Classic tournament and is one half of the Shine Tag Team Champions along with Jayme Jameson. She was ranked in this year’s Pro Wrestling Illustrated Women’s Top 100 list
Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury is lending support to The Undertaker ahead of this weekend’s WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Fury is a lifelong wrestling fan who has appeared on WWE television multiple times in recent years. He even stepped in the ring last year and defeated Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel.
On Tuesday morning, Fury posted a video message showing his utmost respect for The Undertaker. He donned WWE’s custom Undertaker ‘winged eagle’ championship belt to thank The Dead Man for 30 years of great matches.
Fury says he will be tuning in to Survivor Series to witness what WWE is advertising as The Undertaker’s “final farewell.”
The respect between the two men is mutual. The Undertaker replied to Fury’s video by writing:
“Massive respect…thanks Champ. Keep doing what you’re doing and stay healthy. Watched your inspiring journey for a long time and cant wait to see you fight in person in the future!”
You can see Tyson Fury’s video message to The Undertaker in the tweet embedded below:
Massive respect…thanks Champ. Keep doing what you’re doing and stay healthy. Watched your inspiring journey for a long time and cant wait to see you fight in person in the future! ?? https://t.co/Wj69LWCtAl
AEW star and new TNT Champion Darby Allin recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The former EVOLVE and Independent star discussed a number of topics during his time on the programme. These would include winning the TNT title from Cody Rhodes.
Darby Allin defeated Rhodes at the Full Gear PPV to become the new TNT Champion and the ‘Face of TNT.’ Allin has previously discussed his turbulent life in past interviews and why he chose to live a Straight Edge lifestyle. Beyond that, Darby Allin had to struggle as a ‘starving artist’ type to get ahead in his pursuit of a pro wrestling career. From the interview it’s clear that it is something he never intends on forgetting.
Darby Allin on his Roots
The skate, hardcore punk and sXe ethos is underpinned by a ‘don’t forget your roots’ mentality. Darby Allin lives by this mantra. “Leading up to the pay per view? I purposely slept in my car. [That was] instead of sleeping in the hotel that they got for us” Darby would reveal on Busted Open Radio.
“I wanted to remind myself of just how sh*tty things were. So I slept in there and the weather in Jacksonville is still so much more muggy than other places. It was just a reminder to myself. You don’t need to forget where you came from just because this week’s huge. To keep it? It makes you want to fight more. So now I’m grateful to have this house with 13 acres and a wrestling ring downstairs. [Also] skate ramps and a bunch of crazy sh*t.”
Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling will feature fallout from this weekend’s Turning Point event and the final appearance from The Rascalz. We have a full preview for the show below.
In addition to The Rascalz leaving Impact, a few other top stars have their contracts expiring in the weeks ahead. Former champions Ethan Page and Taya Valkyrie’s deals are up at the end of December. Ethan Page alluded to this in his latest video blog. This does not mean they are leaving, but both would have the chance to explore free agency if they wanted to gauge interest from other companies.
Taya Valkyrie and Ethan Page’s Impact Wrestling contracts are set to expire at the end of the year. Both deals are believed to be up at the end of December. Page alluded to this in his most recent vlog.
Tonight’s Impact will see:
Moose vs. Willie Mack in a No Disqualification match
The Rascalz Final Match: Dez & Wentz vs. Trey Miguel & Rich Swann
Brian Myers vs. Crazzy Steve
Hernandez vs. Fallah Bahh
Tenille & Alisha vs. Havoc & Nveah in a Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament opening round match.
Below you can see the full brackets for the Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament:
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry recently discussed WWE releasing Zelina Vega. The story broke over the weekend and is the hottest topic in wrestling, bringing the ‘independent contractor’ status of WWE on-screen performers into question once again.
“I was a little shocked but I wasn’t completely surprised” Mark Henry began on the latest episode of Busted Open Radio. “Because I know how much of a Twitch and social media maven that she is. And it was gonna be hard to get her not to do Cameos, it would be hard to get her not to do Twitch, and so on, and so on.”
Zelina Vega’s Parting Gifts
“I mean you just look at Halloween? Like she dressed up like three or four different people” Henry continued. “This cosplay stuff and having relationships with the fans based on all the characters that she played. So, I didn’t see her dropping it, there’s a couple other people that I didn’t see dropping it.”
Several people in the arts and entertainment industry have rallied behind Zelina Vega in the aftermath of the release. SAG-AFTRA have also declared that they’re looking at helping professional wrestlers to “secure the protections they deserve.”
Avid Streamer Thea Trinidad (Zelina Vega)
Mark Henry would then reveal that Zelina Vega was aware that she would be getting the axe from WWE before the news was officially released.
“But the thing about it is? She knew she got…and this is this comes from good authority, I don’t release my sources. It comes from good authority that she knewbefore they gave her the future endeavor speech. Then she was like ‘well I’m gonna leave some parting gifts.'”
WWE RAW aired live from the ThunderDome in the Amway Center. It was the final episode of RAW before Survivor Series this Sunday. Randy Orton defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in the main event.
RAW Results (11/16)
Asuka, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke def. Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Lana
New Day def. Hurt Business to retain the RAW Tag Team Championships
RETRIBUTION def. Team RAW
Bray Wyatt def. The Miz
Drew McIntyre def. Randy Orton to become the new WWE Champion
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Orton & McIntyre Hyped Their Title Match Tonight
Drew McIntyre welcomed everyone to Monday Night RAW and noted that this Sunday is Survivor Series. McIntyre said Survivor Series was an American Thanksgiving tradition and brought up a couple things he is thankful.
McIntyre stated he was thankful for his friends, family, and the ThunderDome bringing him closer to the fans. Drew added that he was thankful for the doubters because it made him work harder.
McIntyre brought up Roman Reigns and claimed that he doesn’t care about anyone but himself and has his head shoved up his ass. Drew vowed to win the WWE Championship off of Randy Orton tonight and said he was going to humble Roman Reigns at Survivor Series.
WWE Champion Randy Orton interrupted and said he was thankful for being a 14-time WWE World Champion. Orton added that he has been fined and suspended more than any other superstar but is still here because he is the greatest wrestler ever. Orton vowed to walk out of RAW tonight still the WWE Champion.
The Miz and John Morrison joined the party and hyped up Miz’s reality show. The Miz hinted at cashing in the MITB briefcase tonight during the title match. Miz added that change is coming soon and the promo finally ended.
Opinion: This promo lasted about fifteen minutes and was about ten minutes too long.
Nia Jax Slammed Lana Through The Announce Table Again
Lana, Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler faced Asuka, Mandy Rose, and Dana Brooke.
Before the match, Nia and Shayna approached Lana backstage. Lana said the match was her idea because she wanted to prove that she belongs on Team RAW. Jax and Baszler laughed at her before making their way to the ring.
Match Recap: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler beat Mandy Rose down and stomped on her arm as RAW went to a break. When RAW returned, Asuka and Shayna were trading punches in the middle of the ring. Asuka hit a kick to the face but Nia broke it up at two. Shayna locked in the Kirifuda Clutch but Lana tagged herself in. Asuka applied the Asuka Lock to Lana for the submission victory.
After the match, Nia Jax cleared off the announce table and planted Lana through it for the 9th time.
Mandy Rose was taken to the doctor/ trainer’s room and Dana Brooke waited outside. Reckoning (Mia Yim) attacked Dana from behind until referees broke it up. Adam Pearce announced that Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce will replace Dana and Mandy on Team RAW at Survivor Series.
New Day defended the RAW Tag Team Championships against the Hurt Business (Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander). MVP and Bobby Lashley were ringside for the match.
Match Recap: Hurt Business controlled the match early and isolated Kofi Kingston in the ring. Kingston battled back with a Clothesline and went for a cover but Cedric kicked out at two. Woods tagged in and hit Alexander with an Elbow Drop for a two count.
Woods hit Benjamin with a Dropkick for a near fall. Shelton connected with a Spinebuster and tagged in Alexander. Cedric leveled Woods with another Dropkick for a near fall and tagged Shelton back in. Kingston tagged in and leveled Shelton with a Clothesline and followed it up with a Dropkick.
Kingston went for the Boom Drop but Benjamin countered into a Buckle Bomb as RAW went to a break. When RAW returned, Kingston connected with a Tornado DDT and tagged in Woods. Cedric tagged in as well and Woods greeted him with a kick to the face.
Xavier threw Alexander out of the ring and hit him with a Dropkick through the ropes. Back in the ring, Woods hit a Dropkick off the top rope for a near fall. Kofi tagged in and hit Alexander with a Double Stomp off the top rope for another two count.
Alexander hit Kofi with two Suicide Dives and then hit Woods with one. Benjamin tagged in and brought Kofi back inside the ring. Shelton connected with an Angle Slam and went for a cover but Kofi somehow kicked out at two.
Cedric tagged back in and hit Kingston with a Brainbuster but Woods broke up the cover at the last moment. Kingston hit Cedric with Trouble in Paradise and tagged in Woods. Xavier climbed to the top rope and hit Daybreak for the pinfall victory. New Day are still RAW Tag Team Champions.
There have been some changes to the card for Sunday’s WWE Survivor Series PPV.
The biggest thing to note is Randy Orton no longer facing WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. During Monday’s episode of RAW, “The Viper” failed to successfully retain the WWE Title against Drew McIntyre. Instead, McIntyre won the title.
Due to WWE touting this as a champion vs. champion match, McIntyre will replace Orton in the bout to face Reigns. There’s no word yet on what Orton will do on this show.
WWE has also made a change to the Women’s Team RAW for Survivor Series by pulling Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke from the match. WWE did an injury angle with these two stars thanks to an attack on Rose by Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler in a match while Brooke was attacked by Reckoning backstage a little bit later.
Peyton Royce and Lacey Evans will be working the match in their places.
Updated WWE Survivor Series Card
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns
RAW Women’s Champion Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn
RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits
Team RAW (Keith Lee, AJ Styles, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, Matt Riddle) vs. Team SmackDown (Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, Baron Corbin, TBA) – Men’s Traditional 5-on-5 Elimination Match
Team RAW (Team Captains: WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax, Peyton Royce, Lacey Evans, and Lana) vs. Team SmackDown (Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, TBA) – Women’s Traditional 5-on-5 Elimination Match
