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Jon Moxley To Wrestle At Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport PPV

Chris Stephens
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0

AEW World Champion and IWGP United States Champion, Jon Moxley, has signed on to compete at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport PPV next month. Moxley had originally been scheduled to face Josh Barnett on the show this spring. That event was canceled due to the global pandemic, however.

The 3rd edition of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport is scheduled for October 11th, 2020. The show will air on PPV via FITE TV. Barnett announced Moxley’s participation in the event in the below Tweet:

https://twitter.com/JoshLBarnett/status/1307107158899789825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1307107158899789825%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fightful.com%2Fwrestling%2Fjon-moxley-announced-josh-barnett-s-bloodsport-october-11

Jon Moxley at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport

The first Bloodsport event via Game Changer Wrestling took place in 2018. The show was dubbed “Matt Riddle’s Bloodsport” originally and featured the main event of Minoru Suzuki vs Riddle.

The event was changed to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport in 2019. Two events were held that year as well. The first event was held in April and had Josh Barnett vs. Minoru Suzuki in the main event. The second event was held on September 14th, 2019 and featured Barnett vs. Chris Dickinson in the main event.

Also announced for the show on October 11th:

  • Calvin Tankman
  • Chris Dickinson
  • Deonna Purrazzo
  • Erik Hammer
  • Homicide
  • Jon Moxley
  • Josh Alexander
  • Kal Jak
  • Killer Kelly
  • Lindsay Snow

Melina Denies Reports She’s Signed With WWE

Chris Stephens
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It was reported yesterday that Melina had signed with WWE and was due to return to the company soon. The initial report was made by PW Insider, but Melina is now denying that she’s on her way back to the company. She took to Facebook to release a statement on the matter.

“I AM NOT signed with the WWE. But that doesn’t mean it is not a possibility. My reason for this post is that it bothers me that these sites lie to fans. If I potentially get signed, don’t forgive them for lying to you,” Melina wrote.

“I lost my father last month, am I emotionally ready? I’m 41, am I physically capable? Is there a story available? Simply talking to the wwe makes my heart happy. I am grateful for my time with them. One day I’ll come home but when the time is right. So if it doesn’t happen now, Im sorry you thought I was returning. If it does happen… well these sites ruined a great surprise,” Melina continued.

Her full statement is below:

https://www.facebook.com/RealMelinaCom/posts/3250126958396530

Melina is a 5x champion in WWE. She won the WWE Women’s Championship 3 times and the Divas Championship twice. Before embarking on her own singles career, Melina was the manager of Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury as MNM.

Undertaker Reveals If He Ever Talked To Sting About A Potential Dream Match

Anutosh Bajpai
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Sting vs. The Undertaker is one of the biggest dream matches of the wrestling history which never took place despite both the stars having careers spanning many decades and crossing paths in both WCW and WWE.

The Dead Man was recently interviewed by Barstool Sports where he talked about a number of things and the former World Champion also revealed if he ever had any talks with The Icon about a potential bout.

Taker was asked if he ever discussed a match with Sting. Replying to it the legend claimed they never talked about it despite knowing each other since the 80s:

“Not even once, I knew him from my days in WCW in the the late 80s but I never actually saw him again until he joined WWE, Its crazy that we never spoke.

We never called each other and discussed, ‘hey would you like to do this mega match’ or whatever. My schedule was always full, there were always guys waiting to face me.”

Undertaker went on to explain that a match between the two would have been cool in the early 90s when they were in their primes because he doesn’t want people to get a watered down version of their characters:

“To be completely honest, the match would have been cool in the 90s or early 2000s. I don’t want people to get a watered down version of that character.

I want people to remember the 90s, the WrestleMania matches with Edge, Batista, Shawn, and Punk, and not the match I had with Roman, when I was all beat up and out of shape. I looked like a Bloated Elvis.”

Ultimately, Undertaker vs. Sting will go down in history as one of the biggest dream matches in the wrestling history that never took place despite the possibility of it being one of the biggest wrestling matches of all time.

Results: NJPW G1 Climax 30 Day 1

Evan S
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New Japan Pro-Wrestling thirtieth annual G1 Climax tournament has arrived!

Watch on NJPW World with a paid subscription. Only live Japanese commentary available. English commentary will be uploaded within several days. This event will have reduced attendance capacity to comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.

Start Times (September 19, 2020): 1AM Pacific, 4AM Eastern, 9AM UK, 5PM Japan, 6PM East Australia

G1 Climax 30 Day 1 Results

Yuya Uemura def. Yota Tsuji (6:57)
Yota Tsuji has shaved his goatee off since his last match, and I’m personally not a fan of the clean-shaven look. These two are going to be wrestling a lot over the course of the tournament. Every date, except perhaps the last, will start with a singles match involving a combination of Uemura, Tsuji, and Gabriel Kidd, so it will be enlightening to see if anyone gets an edge against each other. These two in the ring has demonstrated the dynamic between them after their years as young lions: Tsuji being the harder hitter while Uemura has more finesse and is more easy to root for. Uemura hit a beautiful dropkick and submitted Tsuji with a high-angle Boston crab for the victory.

A Block: Will Ospreay def. Yujiro Takahashi (7:34)
Will Ospreay is back in Japan, and he got a great reception from the crowd. He has gained significant muscle mass over the last half year, and his billed weight has increased to 105 kilograms. Nevertheless, he seems not to have been slowed down too much by the weight gain, still flying through the air with ease. Yujiro tried to slow him down whenever possible, but Ospreay had too much energy and power for him. Ospreay hit the Stormbreaker for the not that hard-fought pinfall victory. Afterwards, he got on the microphone and talked about how he has nothing to fear because he is Will Ospreay. Not just his body, his head has clearly gotten bigger as well. Ospreay 2 points, Yujiro 0 points

A Block: Taichi def. Jeff Cobb (12:47)
Jeff Cobb seems to have acquired the goatee that Yota Tsuji removed, and it looks good on him. Rumor has it that he is now a contracted NJPW full-time wrestler, so he has a lot to prove. Unfortunately, Miho Abe will be absent for all of Taichi’s matches in the G1. Taichi did not want to fight Cobb head-on, and Cobb had to chase him around the ring until Taichi hit him with the bell hammer, which he had stealthily stolen. Now in control, Taichi tried to immobilize Cobb through attacking his legs, but Cobb would rise to his feet and dominate Taichi with his powerful throws. Taichi retaliated with beautiful leg kicks and slowed Cobb’s pace to a crawl, flooring him with a jumping high kick. Cobb tried to pick Taichi up for the Tour of the Islands, but Taichi slipped out of it and delivered a backdrop driver as the crowd swelled with applause. He finally was able to lift Jeff Cobb for the Black Mephisto and make it on the G1 board. Taichi 2 points, Cobb 0 points

A Block: Minoru Suzuki def. Tomohiro Ishii (13:00)
Neither Ishii nor Suzuki brought the belts they possess to the ring, which is irrationally upsetting to me. Nevertheless, these two men started as we knew they would, at each other’s throats and just slapping, punching, and mouthing off to each other without a care in the world. They both made early attempts at their match-ending moves, but these were in vain. The really loud elbow strikes they threw resounded especially in the building where the crowds can only clap, not cheer loudly. Suzuki took the edge in the battle of strikes, and Ishii crumpled to the ground, but not for long. He rose up and continued taking the fight to Suzuki. They traded headbutts before Ishii lifted Suzuki and hit a reverse piledriver! In a last-ditch effort, Suzuki hit a fast Gotch-style piledriver for the win! Suzuki 2 points, Ishii 0 points

A Block: Jay White def. Shingo Takagi (19:28)
Since we’re talking about facial hair so far on this show, Jay White still has the disgusting-looking goatee, and it suits him. As the match began, Jay White continued to stall for time, but when he finally did get in the ring to fight, Gedo helped him intermittently, such as by holding Shingo’s leg to give Jay an opening. Shingo tried for the Noshigami, but Jay blocked it and dropped Shingo on his back with repeated suplexes. Shingo tried to run to the ropes for a lariat, but Jay hit the Complete Shot to slow his roll once again, which was the theme of this whole match: Jay continuing to cut Shingo off whenever he mounted a comeback. Jay attempted the Blade Runner, but Shingo reversed it and hit the Made in Japan for a near fall. Shingo lifted Jay for the Last of the Dragon, but Jay grabbed the referee so Shingo would lose his balance. Fed up, Shingo hit the Pumping Bomber and the Last of the Dragon again, but while Jay was on Shingo’s shoulders, he kicked the referee so there was no one to count the pinfall. With the referee down, Jay hit a low blow followed by the Blade Runner when the refeee made it back in the ring. Jay 2 points, Shingo 0 points

A Block: Kota Ibushi def. Kazuchika Okada (21:35)
Ibushi and Okada were tentative to confront each other, despite the fact that if they were to last as long against each other as they did in their Wrestle Kingdom match this year, this bout would end in a time limit draw. Okada’s victory eight months ago seemed to make him not take Ibushi too seriously, as even when he gained an advantage, he would clap and stomp to rile up the crowd instead of putting the pressure on Ibushi. Okada applied the Money Clip, which is the name for the cobra clutch that he’s been using ever NJPW resumed, but Ibushi got his foot on the bottom rope to break the hold. Okada pulled Ibushi outside the ring and tried to hit the tombstone piledriver on the floor, but Ibushi got out of it, and then hit an asai moonsault to Okada on the outside. Okada and Ibushi fought over another piledriver in the ring, but Okada was finally able to hit the tombstone. Okada let Ibushi get to his knees and challenged him to hit him, but Ibushi got to his feet and kicked the kneeling Okada in the head. Ibushi tried to follow up, but Okada caught him and hit a spinning tombstone piledriver, than applied the Money Clip again, but Ibushi was able to get Okada off him. Okada grabbed Ibushi’s hands like he was going for the Kamigoye himself, but Ibushi lifted him into a sitout powerbomb, and then hit the Kamigoye for the three count! Ibushi 2 points, Okada 0 points

Standings

A Block:
2 points – Will Ospreay, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Jay White, Kota Ibushi
0 points – Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, Shingo Takagi, Yujiro Takahashi

B Block:
0 points – EVIL, Hirooki Goto, KENTA, Tetsuya Naito, Juice Robinson, Zack Sabre Jr., SANADA, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI

Ladder Match Set For WWE Clash Of Champions

Andrew Ravens
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Two new matches have been announced for the upcoming WWE Clash of Champions PPV.

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lucha House Party and WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn in a Ladder Match will take place. 

Friday’s episode of SmackDown saw Hardy throw out the idea of the match to both Styles and Zayn after Styles went over the former champion in a singles match. This comes after a few weeks of build between the three stars as Zayn was the champion earlier this year before he was stripped due to time off.

WWE presents the Clash of Champions pay-per-view event on Sunday, September 27, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center that will air on the WWE Network. 

Updated WWE Clash Of Champions Card

  • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
  • WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso
  • WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Nikki Cross
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan & Ruby Riot
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lucha House Party
  • WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn – Ladder Match

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

The Rock Rips Off His Electric Home Gate Due To Power Outage (Photo)

WWE SmackDown Results (9/18): Samoan Street Fight, Bayley Attacks Sasha Banks

Robert Lentini
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WWE SmackDown aired live from the ThunderDome in the Amway Center. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso faced King Corbin and Sheamus in a Samoan Street Fight in the main event. Big E returned and attacked Sheamus before beating down the security guard that set him up a couple weeks ago.

SmackDown Results (9/18)

  1. Cesaro def. Gran Metalik
  2. Nikki Cross def. Lacey Evans
  3. AJ Styles def. Sami Zayn
  4. Roman Reigns & Jey Uso def. Sheamus & King Corbin in a Samoan Street Fight

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

The Miz & Morrison Served Otis With A Lawsuit

Otis. Image Credit: WWE.com
Otis. Image Credit: WWE.com

The Miz and John Morrison kicked off the show with an episode of the Dirt Sheet. Miz and Morrison rolled footage from Talking Smack of them announcing that Mandy Rose is now on the RAW roster.

Miz claimed that he wasn’t using his power and influence to get revenge on Otis. He said he was simply trying to help Otis because he has the MITB contract and now Otis can solely focus on cashing in his contract. The Miz added that Otis should be thanking him for sending Mandy Rose away. Miz and Morrison then joked that Mandy Rose was hooking up with guys on the RAW roster before Otis interrupted.

Otis marched down the entrance ramp and tackled Miz in the ring. Otis leveled Morrison with a Clothesline and launched him to the outside. Tucker rolled Miz back in the ring and Otis slammed him to the canvas. Otis followed it up with a Splash to The Miz and then the Caterpillar Elbow Drop. Otis climbed to the middle turnbuckle and hit another Splash. Otis then stripped Miz to reveal he was wearing tighty whities.

https://twitter.com/WWEUniverse/status/1307109428190117890?s=20

The Miz said that this was all part of his plan and got a phone call. Miz said “did you see it? was it enough?” before walking away with a smile on his face. Later on SmackDown, Otis was served with a lawsuit from Miz and Morrison. The lawsuit said that Otis has a week to forfeit the MITB contract of they are heading to court.

Cesaro Picked Up A Win

cesaro nakamura raw

Gran Metalik faced Cesaro tonight on SmackDown. Kalisto and Lince Dorado were ringside for the match. Lucha House Party will challenge Cesaro & Nakamura for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at Clash of Champions.

Match Recap: Metalik controlled the action early but got distracted because Lince and Kalisto were shouting instructions from outside the ring. The referee eventually kicked Dorado and Kalisto out from ringside. Metalik flipped onto Cesaro as SmackDown went to a break.

When SmackDown returned, Metalik connected with a Hurricanrana off the top rope for a near fall. Metalik went for a Moonsault but Cesaro got his knees up. Cesaro quickly hit the Neutralizer for the pinfall victory.

Alexa Bliss Hit Lacey Evans With The Sister Abigail

alexa bliss smackdown 9 18

Alexa Bliss welcomed Nikki Cross for an episode of A Moment of Bliss. Last week on SmackDown, Alexa Bliss hit Nikki Cross with a Sister Abigail during a Fatal 4-Way match. Bliss still introduced Nikki as her best friend tonight.

Alexa asked Cross what her plan of action was for her match against Bayley because she hasn’t been able to beat Bayley since last year. Nikki stated the title match at Clash of Champions is going to be different because Sasha Banks isn’t in Bayley’s corner.

Cross vowed to become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion at Clash of Champions. Nikki asked Alexa what is going on with her and brought up the Sister Abigail last week. Bliss claimed that she doesn’t know how to explain it because there is a change happening to her and she cannot control it.

Lacey Evans interrupted and mocked Bliss and Cross. Lacey called Nikki a “nasty thing” and stated she won’t beat Bayley because she is too nice. Cross laughed and blew her nose in Evans’ handkerchief. Lacey and Nikki then had a match after a commercial break. Alexa Bliss joined commentary for the match.

Match Recap: Lacey Evans rolled out of the ring and cleaned her hands with some sanitizer. Nikki hit Lacey with a Dropkick and went for a Sleeper Hold but Evans slammed Cross into the turnbuckle. Evans applied a Headlock and transitioned into an Arm Bar. Nikki broke free but Lacey caught her with a Clothesline and then a Moonsault for a near fall.

Evans brought the hand sanitizer into the ring and started spraying it on Nikki’s face. Nikki battled back with a Tornado DDT and a Neckbreaker for the pinfall victory. After the match, Lacey Evans mentioned The Fiend to Alexa and she all of the sudden had a dead stare on her face. Alexa planted Lacey Evans with a Sister Abigail before walking away.

Opinion: It seemed like nobody knew their lines during the A Moment of Bliss segment. Nikki Cross and Lacey Evans followed that up with a painfully dull match. The Alexa Bliss and The Fiend storyline is at least interesting. Cross versus Bayley at Clash of Champions already feels like an afterthought.

Latest On Will Hobbs Signing With AEW

Andrew Ravens
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AEW confirmed earlier this week that Will Hobbs had signed with the promotion. 

This came after the indie wrestler recently impressed company President & CEO Tony Khan.

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his signing and ultimate push began at All Out in the Casino Battle Royale. This was after Khan was impressed by him after he originally worked for the promotion as an enhancement wrestler on AEW Dark.  

In fact, Khan was hands-on in helping put together Hobbs’ match against Darby Allin on Saturday Night Dynamite last month. Khan had an idea behind the match to show that Allin could beat a physically impressive wrestler and Khan thought Hobbs performed great in that role.

The prospect first started working for the promotion back in July during a Dark TV taping and has worked several matches on the weekly show since then. 

He picked up his first win when he defeated Sean Legacy on the September 8 edition of Dark. This came just days after Hobbs participated in the Casino Battle Royale at All Out. Hobbs then defeated Jessy Sorensen on this past Tuesday’s Dark episode.

The Rock Rips Off His Electric Home Gate Due To Power Outage (Photo)

Andrew Ravens
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The Rock had an interesting start to his day on Friday. 

The former WWE Champion  is currently filming the “Red Notice” action comedy thriller for Netflix. He made a post on Instagram about how he ripped the front gate open at his home as he was late to work. 

The gate wasn’t working as it should because of a power outage after severe storms in the area. Thus, he took matters into his own hands. He wrote the following in the caption: 

“Not my finest hour [facepalm emoji], but a man’s gotta go to work. We experienced a power outage due to severe storms, causing my front gate not to open.

I tried to override the hydraulic system to open the gates, which usually works when power goes out – but this time it wouldn’t. Made some calls to see how fast I can get the gate tech on site, but I didn’t have 45min to wait.

By this time, I know I have hundreds of production crew members waiting for me to come to work so we can start our day. So I did what I had to do. I pushed, pulled and ripped the gate completely off myself. Ripped it completely out of the brick wall, severed the steel hydraulics and threw it on the grass.

My security team was able to meet the gate technician and welders about an hour later — and they were apparently, “in disbelief and equally scared” as to how I ripped it off [laughing emoji]

Not my finest hour, but I had to go to work.And I’m [100% emoji] ready to be BLACK ADAM [lightning bolt emoji] [muscle emoji].”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFSoqM8FR0T/?utm_source=ig_embed

The Rock has been preparing for months to get into top shape for his next role as “Black Adam,” which is slated to premiere on Dec. 22, 2021. 

First Look At The Rock As Black Adam (Photo)

Pete Dunne Has A New Role In WWE NXT UK

Andrew Ravens
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Along with being a full-time star for WWE, Pete Dunne has also got a new role in the company. 

The former NXT UK Champion is now working as a producer for the WWE NXT UK brand. The news was revealed when Dunne was labeled as an NXT UK Producer on the latest episode of the weekly NXT UK show on the WWE Network this past Thursday. 

It should be noted that he is still a member of the NXT roster in the United States. However, he has not wrestled since March due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Thus, when WWE relaunched the NXT UK brand at BT Studios, WWE put him to work in this new role while he’s stuck in the country.

He’s slated to appear on next week’s episode of NXT UK as he’ll be doing a segment where he picks the match-ups for the Heritage Cup Tournament.

Speaking of Dunne, he took to Twitter to show off his new physique as he has lost some weight. He wrote the following: 

“I’ve had quite a few mentions saying I’ve lost weight and asking if I’m unwell etc. I’ve used lockdown to get in the best shape of my life and I’m excited for an eventual in-ring return when travel is possible.”

Details On Storyline Direction For Paul Heyman & Roman Reigns

Andrew Ravens
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WWE got fans talking when they paired Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman together on television. 

It didn’t take “The Big Dog” long to find success with Heyman at his side. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has plans to make the pairing have a dynamic as different as possible from Heyman’s pairing with Lesnar, who is good friends with Heyman. Meltzer pointed out how Lesnar smiled at his promos, laughed at his jokes, and long-time fans knew the relationship dated back to 2002. 

When it comes to his pairing with Reigns, it’s the opposite as there is no friendship and the idea is that Reigns is in charge of the relationship. There’s also the idea of how Heyman was done in wrestling with Lesnar gone and had nothing left until he was approached by Reigns. Thus, Heyman feels that Reigns saved his career. 

Meltzer noted that there will be catchphrases such as “Reigning, defending, undisputed champion.” There will also be a designation of him as the Special Counsel and Reigns will be the Tribal Chief. 

This was said to be a takeoff on Peter Maivia’s role in Samoan culture in the 70s.

Melina Reportedly Returning To WWE Soon

Chris Stephens
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Melina Perez, better known to wrestling fans as just Melina, is reportedly set to return to WWE this week. According to a report from PW Insider, WWE and Melina have come to turns on a deal that will see her return to the company.

Melina was last involved with the National Wrestling Alliance. She was one of the top heels in the company’s women’s division on episodes of Powerrr up until the pandemic.

Melina is a former 5x women’s champion in WWE. She won the Divas title on 2 occasions and on 3 occasions she won the WWE Women’s title. In 2009, Melina achieved her highest ranking from Pro Wrestling Illustrated when she was ranked the #3 female performer in the world by the publication.

Melina appeared on the RAW Reunion show last summer. She spoke about the experience in an interview with POST Wrestling.

“Oh my, it was therapeutic. I needed that, because I needed closure, I needed closure, I needed to say goodbye to the people I needed to say goodbye to. I needed to talk to the people who we never said goodbye but we never said our feelings.”

Before embarking on her own singles career, Melina was one of the Ms in the tag-team MNM. Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro (aka John Morrison) comprised the team. The tag-team are 3x former WWE tag team champions.

Miro Talks AEW Not Barring Third Party Revenue for Performers

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar and newly signed AEW performer Miro recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The ‘Bulgarian Brute’ discussed a number of topics during his time on the show; including the promotion of his outside projects within AEW’s programming.

Miro on AEW Promoting His Content

“Being with the company that actually promotes my stuff? They promote my YouTube channel, they promote Twitch, my social media. They wanted to do that because this is the way of the future. There are all these other dinosaurs [that won’t allow that]. We don’t need that, we don’t need that.”

Miro was of course referring to WWE and the recent policy that was put in place regarding third party sites. Twitch, Cameo and YouTube were particuarly being looked at by WWE as ‘harming potential’ for revenue.

WWE’s recent crackdown on third party streaming platforms has been gaining a lot of traction, even in the mainstream. WWE has always been quick to refer to their ‘independent contractor’ status of their Superstars; however this recent move to choke Superstar’s earning potential on external services has called this into question once again.

Andrew Yang

Former Presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently discussed why he called out WWE for their practices in light of the third party ‘ban.’

“I actually got a message from someone who is part of the WWE, pointing out to me the story about how WWE was saying, ‘Hey, don’t go on Cameo or Twitch.’” Yang would stated. “And it infuriated me because I know that the WWE has been trying to play it both ways for years, where they’re saying on one hand, ‘Can’t do anything without our say so. We own you, but you’re an independent contractor and we have nothing to do with your health, retirement, any of the benefits you’d get that would accrue to an employee.’ (h/t to 411mania.com for this transcription).

It was recently reported that WWE had made certain changes to the policy. These were mainly focused on Superstars not using their trademarked WWE character name for their third party use. This becomes a bit more murky when you factor in the amount of performers who use their real name when streaming or on Cameo.

Chris Jericho says he wrote the controversial line in Miro's promo
Chris Jericho says he wrote the controversial line in Miro’s promo

Arn Anderson Comments On Working With Roddy Piper

Chris Stephens
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Arn Anderson was recently asked about Roddy Piper on his podcast, the Arn Show. Anderson says he has a lot of respect for Piper’s accomplishments in wrestling even though the two didn’t know each other well.

“Piper was a guy that I didn’t spend any downtime with. I was a huge fan as you will find a lot of wrestlers are fans of Roddy Piper and what he brought to the table.”

“He was just so talented and good on the stick and that’s one of those things that I aspired to do well,” Anderson continued.

“I would just watch Piper and marvel at how good he was and he paid a lot of dues to get where he was in the business. He was just one of those really, really huge superstars. Like a wrestler’s wrestler as far as just being so well-rounded and really a superstar in the business. I miss him, that’s for sure, I miss getting to watch him perform.”

Roddy Piper passed away in his sleep on July 31, 2015. He was 61-years-old at the time of his death. His daughter, Ariel Teal Toombs, made her pro-wrestling debut last year under the name Teal Piper. She was recently spotted training with Ronda Rousey as well.

Anderson’s comments can be heard in the player below:

Mike Kanellis Talks 205 Live Being ‘Obscurity’ in WWE

Jake Skudder
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Former WWE Superstar Mike Bennett recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. Formerly Mike Kanellis, Bennett would discuss a number of topics from his time with WWE. These topics would include creative meetings with Vince McMahon, appearing for NWA and his battle with addiction.

Mike Bennett Talks ‘Obscurity’

“When we (Mike and Maria) got released back in April? I spent a good two months like trying to figure out where my next move would be” Bennett began on the show. “I knew I wanted it to be special, but I also didn’t know if anyone would really be interested in me.”

Elaborating further, Mike Bennett/Kanellis would discuss how he knew he was a virtual unknown on the WWE roster, nearly from day one. “I’m not completely oblivious to what the last three years were like. I would love to come out and be like, ‘oh yeah like I was a former WWE guy! So everyone’s going to be chomping at the bit for me to come and wrestle for them.’ But I was kind of living in obscurity at WWE in 205 Live.”

“I had little tidbits here on RAW and Smackdown” Bennett continued. “I really wanted to come out and do something special. But I didn’t know if that opportunity would exist, and like, thank god, this NWA opportunity came about.”

Mike Bennett recently appeared on the new NWA weekly PPV show on United Wrestling Network and FITE TV. Bennett challenged NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis for the prestigious Championship but was unsuccessful.

Bennett would describe how the opportunity to appear for the National Wrestling Alliance ‘excited’ him about pro wrestling again. “I don’t know how to explain it, it really just…it excited me about pro wrestling again. Because I had really been in a bad place. I hadn’t really enjoyed pro wrestling and a lot of that falls on my shoulders. I realised that, but the last three years [in WWE] kind of gave me a sour taste.”

Do you think that Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis deserved a better shot in WWE? Let us know in the comments

Mike & Maria Kanellis

Mickie James Explains The Finish To Her Match With Asuka

Chris Stephens
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0

Mickie James challenged RAW Women’s Champion Asuka this week on RAW. The match was stopped early due to an assumed injury to James. As it turns out, however, James was fine and the match was stopped out of an abundance of caution.

“We have to be very careful,” James said to Talk Sport. “The refs do their job and kind of their job is to protect us and make sure it never goes too far or no one ever gets hurt. So he made his decision based on what he thought was a reality, that I was hurt or I couldn’t continue and that’s unfortunate for me.”

James continued to say that she was planned to lose the match regardless.

“I felt like I could continue and it’s an unfortunate loss. But, it’s not a real loss let’s face it. It was the final decision, what can I do? Except go in there a throw a fit on Monday!”

“In that moment it’s very hard for them to tell whether you are hurt or not,” James continued regarding the referee. “It can’t just be his call either. It must have been whoever thought I was hurt.”

“They’re just trying to protect me and keep me safe because concussions are a real thing.”

After the match ended, it wasn’t clear if James had a concussion or hurt her shoulder.

“I’m hearing that Mickie James may have injured her shoulder in tonight’s RAWmatch – which would explain the quick ending to the match. If true, I’m wishing Mickie a quick and complete recovery…and hoping she gets another shot at the title,” Mick Foley tweeted.

Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live would report on Tuesday that James was fine.

Finn Balor On Why The ‘Demon’ Didn’t Connect On The Main Roster

Steve Russell
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Current NXT Champion Finn Balor has shared why he believes the ‘Demon’ didn’t work on WWE’s main roster. Speaking with Vicente Beltrán of ViBe & Wrestling, Balor explained how the character had been “designed as something special,” but ultimately fell flat due to WWE’s overadvertising.

“The ‘Demon’ was designed as something special. It was one of those things that should have been saved for breathtaking occasions, but it ended up being advertised in the media and that was one of the main reasons why it didn’t work,” Balor stated. “The surprise factor was completely gone and the ‘Demon’ became Finn Balor’s savior, which was also to my detriment because I could not develop my own character separate from the ‘Demon’. I think it hurt both of us, Finn Balor and the ‘Demon’.”

When asked if the ‘Demon’ could be utilized in a cinematic matchup, Balor seemed open to the idea. He stressed how people have to evolve alongside the business, which is something the ‘Demon’ may be able to do within a cinematic feud. However, Balor remains adamant that the ‘Demon’ resonates best with an excited WWE audience and that a live experience is what he and the fans would enjoy most.

Finn Balor recently defeated Adam Cole during NXT Super Tuesday II. His victory saw him become a two time NXT World Champion.

Shane McMahon On Raw Underground, Returning To WWE In 2016

Steve Russell
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Shane McMahon was Corey Graves’ guest this week on the latest episode of WWE’s After The Bell podcast.

Shane spoke at length about his Raw Underground concept He admitted that WWE is open to trying “different things” as they figure out what clicks. He stressed how the idea is still a “work in progress” as WWE continues to pivot and adapt to its new format. Ultimately, he believes Raw Underground is a great opportunity to showcase new talent and get them more exposure.

Looking back to his return in 2016, Shane McMahon explained how he returned for his kids. He shared how his kids had never seen him perform live. He wanted to take the opportunity to return and become a “real-life superhero” to his kids.

“That was the opportunity that was presented to me at the biggest stage of them all against arguably the most iconic and singular talent ever created, The Undertaker, who is also my longest-running friend in the business. That was tough to pass up.”

He continued, “We didn’t know where it was going to go. We thought it would be one and done. I had my boys come out on stage and that was an amazing moment. I was euphoric watching them and so proud that I had to snap myself out of it.”

Shane McMahon lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32 in a Hell in a Cell matchup. As seen below, the match included a signature high-risk Shane McMahon bump off the top of the cell 

Ronda Rousey Expresses Interest In WWE Rematch

Steve Russell
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Ronda Rousey has expressed his interest in returning to a WWE ring for a rematch against WWE Superstar Natalya.

The former WWE Raw Women’s Champion commented on a tweet from WWE’s Twitter account sharing their previous bout from 2018. Rousey wrote, “One of my fav matches – such a huge challenge in so many ways, what a crazy day looking forward to a rematch someday @NatbyNature!”

Ronda Rousey WWE Return?

“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey last competed in WWE at WrestleMania 35. She and Charlotte Flair lost a Winner Takes All Triple Threat matchup to Becky Lynch. Lynch’s victory saw her become the SmackDown and Raw Women’s Champion.

Although under WWE contract until 2021, Rousey has stressed she has no interest in returning to pro wrestling in a full-time capacity. She cited WWE’s grueling schedule as a core reason behind her decision, explaining how it’s not “the lifestyle for me.”

Rousey has, however, suggested she would still be interested in performing in WWE on a part-time basis. If that’s the case, the WWE Universe may eventually see her feature on key pay-per-views, much like Brock Lesnar.

Rousey was recently spotted training with the daughter of “Rowdy Roddy Piper,” Teal Piper. The images of them training together led some to speculate that she could be preparing for an eventual comeback.

Miro’s AEW Contract Allows Him To Wrestle For Other Promotions

Steve Russell
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Miro has revealed his All Elite Wrestling contract permits him to compete for different wrestling promotions. He shared the information during a recent Twitch stream. Furthermore, the former WWE Superstar teased that this clause may lead him to debut in Japan sooner rather than later.

“Despite signing a contract, I am not restricted to AEW alone,” Miro explained. “While I am not going to name any promotions, I’ll just say I’m allowed to work in different countries. Maybe a country where the sun rises? You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Miro shared how competing in Japan has been a lifelong dream of his as a pro wrestler. He added, “Sometimes when God says, Miro you’re going to live all your dreams, you just got to keep the faith.”

When he was released from WWE, Miro had “zero doubt” he would work in AEW and different places. He stressed how everything is unfolding how he hoped they would.

Reflecting on his release, Miro stated how “things happen for a reason” and that by being able to let go, you can, in turn, accept more.

For him, if you can perform, trust and believe, then “things will align themselves.” All that’s required is patience, which he embraced in preparation for his AEW debut.

Miro was recently revealed to be Kip Sabian’s Best Man on an episode of AEW Dynamite.

Renee Young On Her ‘Very Weird’ First Meeting With Vince McMahon

Anutosh Bajpai
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During her 8 year-long tenure with WWE, former backstage personality Renee Young became part of many weird moments in the company. As it turns out, one of the weirdest moments of her career was actually her first meeting with the owner of the company, Vince McMahon.

During her recent interview with Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast, Young recalled her first meeting with The Boss. According to Renee, her first interaction with Mr McMahon took place in a hallway where they shook hands. However it wasn’t a straight chat and the former WWE star explained how it ended up being a bizarre interaction.

“We were in Hershey, Pennsylvania, I was brought in to TV and I got to the building early, as one does when you’re new. I was used to our world of acting auditioning where you show up fresh faced then change and get ready for the show. Little me is walking around backstage with a clean face, squeaky clean, and he comes walking down the hallway, and I’m like, ‘Hi!’

And I don’t remember who it was with him, but they said Vince should not see you without makeup on. You should be fully done.” recalled Young

“He did not react in any poor way or anything, but I remember being like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know that. I thought I came here and I would go into makeup, so why would I already have makeup on?’ It was very weird.”

Renee Young continued by saying that Vince would not remember the meeting but she just remembers it because she had no clue that’s how it was supposed to work.

During the same interview, the former WWE star explained the reason behind her departure from the company in detail and you can check out her comments at this link.

Renee Young Says WWE Officials Were Not Happy When She Divulged Her COVID-19 Diagnosis On Social Media

AEW Dynamite & NXT Viewership For Sep. 16th

Michael Reichlin
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The Wednesday Night War resumed this week after a one month hiatus due to preemptions. AEW Dynamite once again scored a big victory over NXT in average overnight viewers and the Adults 18-49 demographic. Courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:

  • AEW: 886,000 viewers, 0.34 rating (3rd cable for the night)
  • NXT: 689,000 viewers, 0.18 rating (31st on cable for the night)

For comparison, Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.689 million viewers with a 0.50 demo. Naturally, AEW and NXT were down a bit from last week’s unopposed shows, but 3rd for the night is the best AEW has done since the first episode of Dynamite last October.

Chris Jericho Says AEW Embarrassed NXT Every Week & Urges Them To Move To A Different Night Permanently

AEW viewership was down 12.6% from 1,014,000 for last Wednesday. Dynamite featured a wild parking lot brawl between Santana & Ortiz and Best Friends, Hangman Page returning to singles action (with snarky commentary from Kenny Omega), FTR picking up a non-title victory over Jurassic Express and much more. (Results & Takeaways)

NXT viewership was down 17.8% from last week’s Super Tuesday II episode, which averaged 838,000 viewers. This week’s NXT saw several of the brand’s champions in action, including Damien Priest retaining the North American Championship over Timothy Thatcher, Breezango fending off Imperium and Io Shirai besting Shotzi Blackhart. NXT General Manager William Regal also made some big announcements about the next Takeover special. (Results & Takeaways)

Paul Heyman Discusses His New Role In WWE

Chris Stephens
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Paul Heyman was released from his role as Executive Director of RAW this summer. He has since returned alongside Roman Reigns on Smackdown. Reigns then captured the WWE Universal Championship at Payback. Heyman spoke to SI.com about his new role in WWE recently.

“It’s an opportunity 33 years into my performing career to completely redefine, reimagine and reinvent myself,” Heyman said. “I’m now the special counsel to the tribal chief, a role I’ve never played.”

“I’ve been a manager. I’ve been an agent. I’ve been an advocate. I’ve been the CEO of the Dangerous Alliance. I’ve been an executive producer in ECW. I’ve been the executive director of Monday Night Raw. I’ve been the general manager of multiple brands. This is a completely different role for me. That’s the way I look at it and approach it, and it’s a completely different dynamic than I’ve ever had with any other talent.”

Roman Reigns returned to WWE for the first time since the pandemic at SummerSlam. He attacked the Fiend and Braun Strowman. Reigns would then align with Heyman on Smackdown before winning the title at Payback.

The full interview can be read here.

Matt Riddle’s Legal Team Files Civil Suit Against His Accuser

Chris Stephens
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Matt Riddle’s legal team recently withdrew a cyberstalking injunction against a woman who accused him of sexual assault. Riddle’s lawyer released a statement today stating that his client has elected to file a civil suit for defamation against his accuser.

Riddle’s lawyer’s statement is below:

“On July 13, 2020, our client Matthew Riddle only sought a cyberstalking injunction against Samantha Tavel. The Court set it for hearing as they found probable cause for the matter to be heard. It was represented to our client and our firm that Ms Tavel had moved on with her life and our client would no longer need to continue with the cyberstalking inunction. Our client then dismissed the cyberstalking injunction (without prejudice) which left all of his legal remedies open and allowed for closure.”

The statement continues to note that Riddle has filed a civil suit against his accuser for defamation.

“Today, our client has elected to file a civil suit against Ms Tavel for her continued false and defamatory statements that our client sexually assaulted her. No further statements will be made on social media at this time.”

Riddle currently performs in WWE on Smackdown. He made his main roster debut in June.

Matt Riddle Statement On Accusations

Riddle released a video statement on the accusations against him.

“Candy Cartwright, I never sexually assaulted you. The story about that van trip and the driver being asleep and me forcing you to do stuff and hop on whatever is a complete lie. It’s a fabricated story because you’re still mad. You know why you’re mad? Because yes, you’re right, we had an affair, you have plenty of evidence of that. You know what? I never denied it because it happened. Do I want to talk about it? Do I really want to share about it? No, it’s embarrassing because I feel like real piece of crap cheating on my wife and doing that and now having to talk about it publicly but I have to.”

Tony Khan, Mick Foley, & Others Comment On AEW Parking Lot Brawl

Chris Stephens
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Last night’s edition of AEW Dynamite concluded with a Parking Lot Brawl between the Best Friends and Santana and Ortiz. Many wrestling personalities, wrestlers, and fans have been commenting about the match online.

Tony Khan noted that the whole match was shot in just one take. Other than muting a swear word, no editing of the match took place.

Khan also commented on Jim Ross referring to the match as the best street fight he’s ever called. That covers quite a lot of ground.

Mick Foley Comments On Parking Lot Brawl

Mick Foley was also a huge fan of the match. He took to Twitter to express his opinions on it.

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1306413561338568704

Foley offered further thoughts on the match in a video clip he posted:

“Hey everyone, it’s Mick Foley with just a few follow-up thoughts on that outstanding parking lot brawl,” Foley said. “That’s one thing I always wanted to do, I always wanted to have a big match in a parking lot, maybe on a PPV. I remember pitching the idea for me and Vader, in particular, at the Omni because the Omni had this really cool underground parking structure that I thought would lend itself to an incredible match.”

Foley continued to praise both the Best Friends and Santana & Ortiz.

“I have to be honest, I’d be hard-pressed to tell you what I could have done any better than those guys did,” Foley continued. “That was just an outstanding match.”

Foley’s full comments can be heard in the below Tweet:

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1306419383242240001

Dustin Rhodes also commented on the match:

Santana noted that he is thankful for all the positive messages:

https://twitter.com/Santana_Proud/status/1306560449471807490

Veda Scott was impressed when Orange Cassidy buckled up in Sue’s Van:

Noelle Foley echoed her father’s sentiment:

Thunder Rosa Discusses Her Potential Future In AEW

Steve Russell
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NWA Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa has talked about her future in All Elite Wrestling during an interview with SportsKeeda.

Thunder Rosa spoke candidly about her experience in AEW to date despite being under contract with the National Wrestling Alliance. She revealed how she began working for AEW after AEW President Tony Khan agreed with NWA owner Billy Corgan. This deal allowed Thunder Rosa to appear on AEW Dynamite in a winning effort against Serena Deeb on the 9/2 episode of Dynamite. She would also face off against AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida at the promotion’s recent pay-per-view, All Out.

“The working relationship is there, I’m returning, I wasn’t expecting to return so quickly. Yes, I think Billy [Corgan] and Tony [Khan] have been talking. They are very happy with my performance so far,” Rosa said. “I hope, knock on wood, it continues. It’s going well for me. We are putting NWA name on a broader platform, which is the goal at the end of the day.”

Thunder Rosa competed on last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT. She defeated Ivelisse. The fallout of the match saw Shida assisting Rosa as she was assaulted by both Ivelisse and Diamante. The segment ended with Shida holding the NWA Women’s Championship before handing it back to Thunder Rosa.

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