While WWE hasn’t announced many things for tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW, it’s expected to be a big show.
As of this writing, only three things – two matches and segment – have been announced. That includes an appearance by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to further promote his title defense against Ricochet at Super ShowDown.
Also, Angel Garza will square off with Humberto Carrillo in what is being hyped as a first-ever match on the show between the two stars.
WWE will also be building on the hype for existing feuds that will take place heading into the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event. This will be the go-home edition of RAW for the latest PPV event under the WWE banner.
WWE holds this show in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the Bell MTS Place. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
Angel Garza to square off with Humberto Carrillo
Who will Randy Orton target next?
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to appear live
Will Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler come to blows in the same building?
Erick Rowan will face Aleister Black in a rematch
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for RAW.
Join us here later tonight for our post-show RAW Takeaways feature.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently commented on the now infamous match between him and Buff Bagwell back in 2001. The match has been described on WWE.com as “the most awkward ever.”
The former King of The Ring winner seems to agree.
Booker T vs Buff Bagwell
The match was seemingly the true death knell for the WCW brand. Whilst Vince McMahon had already bought his competition; there was a belief that WCW could still function as a separate entity. With the rumors at the time indicating that Nitro would become the Monday show and SmackDown would be the WWF show later in the week. Due to the massively negative reaction that the match got in the main event of the July 2, 2001 edition of RAW the idea was seemingly scrapped. Although it seemed as though Bagwell and Booker undelivered; it’s arguable that they were never put in a position to succeed in the first place.
Booker T discussed the bout during the most recent episode of Lillian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast. “It was a real war back then between WCW and WWF, you know,” Booker began. “And it didn’t help putting Bagwell and I in that spot, I think we were Tacoma, Washington.”
Booker T elaborated further, mentioning how they were never going to succeed in that position. “It was one of those things where, we were in a position. You know. Fail or succeed. [Except] it wasn’t designed for us to succeed, I understood that. I think Bagwell may have understood that, as well. And and what happened happened I go back and I look at the match, and it wasn’t the crappiest match in the world but it was no way that we’re gonna succeed.”
On Monday, All Elite Wrestling announced that Nick and Matt Jackson (The Young Bucks) have written a book about their lives. The “deeply personal” memoir will follow their journeys from backyard wrestling to the worldwide stage of AEW.
Young Bucks: Killing the Business from Backyards to the Big League is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com and bookstores across the United States. The book will be released September 29th. For more information, visit YoungBucksBook.com.
Here is the official press release about the project sent in by AEW:
“Young Bucks: Killing the Business from Backyards to the Big Leagues” Is Available for Pre-Order on Feb. 24 on Amazon & Bookstores Nationwide
February 24, 2020 – Considered to be one of the greatest tag teams of all time, Matt and Nick Jackson’s journey has taken them from a homemade ring in their back yard to EVPs of All Elite Wrestling, the wildly successful professional wrestling league taking America by storm.
The brothers, known as The Young Bucks, today added a new title to their impressive resumes – Co-Authors. Young Bucks: Killing the Business from Backyards to the Big League, a deeply personal memoir co-written by Matt and Nick, will be available for pre-order starting today on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
A warm, heartfelt story told with the brothers’ wit and charm, Killing the Business reveals how two undersized athletes from Southern California have risen to elite status in professional wrestling with millions of fans worldwide and a legion of followers on their acclaimed web series Being the Elite. Famous for their high-flying moves, superkicks and hilarious videos, Matt and Nick are an inspiration to fans worldwide due to their message of resilience and determination.
The Young Bucks write endearingly about their sport, while sharing personal reflections and behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Alternating between each brother’s perspective from chapter to chapter, the entertaining memoir is a deep dive on what it means to grow into, and give back to, the sport and profession they embody and love.
“Nearly 20 years ago, our father built us a wrestling ring in our back yard. Our journey to become professional wrestlers began here,” said Matt Jackson. “Then after years of hawking T-shirts out of duffel bags at independent shows across the U.S., documenting our lives on a web series filmed on our phones, and performing at the biggest events in Japan, we’d eventually land the dream job of a lifetime.
“We’re excited to share the story of how we got there, after overcoming past failures, and finally deciding to play by our own rules, ignoring traditions, earning us the reputation by critics as two wrestlers who were ‘Killing The Business.’ This memoir is yet another milestone in our career, all thanks to the support of our amazing fans.”
Published by Dey Street Books, Young Bucks: Killing the Business from Backyards to the Big Leagues will be released this fall and retail for $27.99. The book follows Young Bucks Stand Tall, the duo’s first book which follows Nick and Matt through an inspiring story that encourages young readers to follow their dreams.
Tammy Lynn Sytch will be granted parole and released from prison on March 25th, 2020. She has been in prison since early 2019 stemming from multiple DUI charges. Sytch’s parole was revoked after she failed to notify authorities of her whereabouts, failed to pay an agreed-upon monthly fee for her release, and failed to maintain a stable residence.
Sytch’s new attorneys filed a parole petition with the courts last month. She had a hearing on the matter last Thursday. According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, Sytch is due to be released on parole exactly 1-month from tomorrow.
Sunny Granted Parole, Due To Be Released Next Month
Tammy Lynn Sytch (aka Sunny) was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. She is often credited with having been the first “Diva” in company history as well as helping to usher in the Attitude era of the late 1990s. Additionally, Sytch performed in ECW and briefly in WCW as well. She was honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club for her contributions to wrestling and is a former 2x Slammy Award winner in WWE.
Sunny made a surprise appearance at the 15th Anniversary of RAW:
WWE Hall-of-Famer and ECW legend Bully Ray recently said on Busted Open Radio that AEW reminds him of ECW. In fact, Bully said he almost lives vicariously through the wrestlers on AEW Dynamite.
“When I watch AEW, I’m watching it because I want to have fun,” Bully said on the show. “My own personal reasons for watching AEW is because it reminds me so much of ECW. I almost feel like I live vicariously through those guys.”
Bully commented that one aspect about AEW he likes is that they don’t always do the “right” things but it gets over with their fans anyway.
“I like watching them doing all the wrong things and still seeing it get over because we used to do all the wrong things and it would get over,” he continued.
“Mistakes are going to happen. The AEW fanbase is so on-board with the talent that’s there and the company that they are willing to forgive and forget right now. The ECW fanbase if you screwed up in front of them they would hammer you for it but then go right back to loving you and being on-board. That’s why it’s so fun for me to watch it because I see the things I’m like ‘oh my god that was so wrong’ but then I listen and go ‘oh, but the people are going crazy.'”
Bully would then continue to talk about those who say AEW’s approach to wrestling is “killing the business.”
“You’ll have a lot of people out there saying this is not good for the business, this is killing the business, this is doing that…the business is evolving and if you evolve with it, I don’t think you can kill it. Can you kill an old school mentality? Not really because that old school mentality can be brought back the following week.”
Busted Open Radio the podcast version is available here.
Another Monday means another new date and location for an upcoming episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT.
The promotion announced via Twitter that AEW Dynamite is heading to Houston, Texas at the Fertita Center on April 29. Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday at AEWTix.com.
The arena has a max capacity of 8,000 approximately people, which is in line with the other arenas that AEW is airing their television show from.
“It’s our Houston debut! HOUSTON, TX – Are you ready for us? Wednesday, March 29th – #AEWDynamite will be at the Fertita Center at the @UHouston. Tickets go live THIS FRIDAY, Feb 28th at 11am CST and start at $30! Visit http://AEWTIX.com for full event details.”
This week’s show takes place in Kansas City, MO at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena and it’s slated to be a big show. It will be the go-home for Saturday’s Revolution pay-per-view event, the first special of the new year for All Elite Wrestling.
AEW Dynamite Schedule
The following is an updated look at the AEW Dynamite touring schedule through the end of April 2020:
Chris Jericho uses the song Judas as his ring entrance music in AEW. Recently fans have begun to sing along with the song as it plays throughout the arena during Jericho’s entrances. Jericho noted recently that the live crowd in Atlanta was particularly loud. He took to social media to comment on the trend of fans singing along with the song.
Jericho commented on fans singing along with Judas in the below Instagram post:
“I love this new trend of the @allelitewrestling faithful singing the lyrics to @fozzyrock#Judas every week! What a great feeling and last night in #AEWAtlanta was by far the LOUDEST version and it was made even more special by the fact that @officialrichward, @frankfontsere, @johnnyandrewsmusic& @officialsamabernathy were there to experience it LIVE! Heels are heels and babyfaces are babyfaces, but organic moments like this are what pro wrestling is really all about!!”
Chris Jericho and Fozzy
The song Judas is the title track of Fozzy’s 2017 album by the same name. The album peaked at #147 on the US Billboard top 200 rankings. It is the 7th studio album for the band since their 2000 debut.
The official music video for Judas can be viewed in the player below:
Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder on Saturday and avenged a controversial draw from their first fight. Triple H was interviewed about his feelings regarding Fury’s victory and noted that the heavyweight boxing champion did exactly what he said he was going to do.
“What a performance, an unbelievable boxing performance,” Triple H said to Fight Hub TV regarding Fury’s fight against Wilder. “What heart shown by Deontay Wilder to stay in there that long, that hurt, that bad and just keep going and going and going. Amazing heart. Hats off to both of them, amazing performance on both sides but Fury did what he said he was going to do and just dominate.”
Triple H was in Fury’s locker room before the fight. He was asked what he said to Fury before the contest.
“I just told him ‘good luck,'” Triple H said. “We did some business together with Tyson and the WWE recently and he’s a great guy. I had a chance to be around him a lot and do some media with him and help him train for that. Great guy, I know how hard he works. I know what this means for him, I’m happy for him.”
It was noted during the conversation that Fury could head back to WWE after his fighting career is over.
“He’s custom made for it man, I think he had a lot of fun with us,” Triple H said.
Triple H’s comments can be heard in the player below:
Major League Wrestling presented Fusion this weekend on BeIN Sports and YouTube. The show emanated from Texas again this week and featured the main event of Tom Lawlor taking on Ross Von Erich.
MLW 2/22/20 Quick Results:
Logan Creed defeated Moonshine Mantell
Erick Stevens defeated Douglas James
King Mo defeated Dr. Drax
Ross Von Erich defeated Tom Lawlor via DQ
The full show can be viewed in the player below:
Here are 6 takeaways from MLW Fusion 2/22/20:
Team Filthy Adds Member, Attack The Von Erichs Texas Style
Last week’s episode of Fusion saw the Von Erich brothers successfully retain the MLW tag team titles against the Dynasty in front of a raucous Dallas crowd. This week, Ross Von Erich took on Tom Lawlor in the night’s main event.
Ross looked to have Lawlor set up for the Iron Claw but Team Filthy member Dominic Garrini interfered and caused the DQ. Marshall Von Erich came out to even up the odds but Erick Stevens ran out and appeared to join Team Filthy as he joined in on the beatdown on the Von Erich brothers. With the 3-on-2 advantage, Team Filthy used cowbells and bull rope to attack the Von Erichs and then even disrespected the state flag of Texas in the middle of the ring to close the show.
King Mo has continued to train with American Top Team since signing with MLW. He took on the dastardly Dr. Dax this week after having antagonized Low-Ki in a backstage segment recently. Mo pointed out that Low-Ki trains with the Gracie family and earlier in his career, Mo KO’d Roger Gracie.
King Mo made Drax tap to the rear-naked choke for the victory.
Gorgon/Grogan Gone, Logan Creed Has Arrived In MLW
Last week on MLW, Mance Warner was able to gain access to the building only after bribing the Dynasty’s giant to allow him in the building. This week, the former Gorgon/Grogan announced that his name is Logan Creed and he is no longer a member of the Dynasty.
Creed kicked off this week’s episode of Fusion in a match against Moonshine Mantell. He picked up the victory with a power-bomb.
Before he joined Team Filthy in the night’s closing segment, Erick Stevens cut a promo in the back saying he’s targetting a match with Davey Boy Smith Jr. The commentary team noted that Stevens was not wasting any time in MLW by challenging the top contender to Jacob Fatu’s MLW World Championship.
Stevens took on Douglas James this week on Fusion. He’d pick up the victory with his Sarasota Screwdriver finisher.
MLW Top-10 Rankings From Pro Wrestling Illustrated
MLW aired a segment this week featuring a countdown of the top-10 wrestlers in the promotion as determined by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The PWI top-10 for MLW is as follows:
MLW World Champion: Jacob Fatu (Contra Unit)
Davey Boy Smith Jr. (Opera Cup Winner) (Hart Foundation)
Alexander Hammerstone (National Openweight Champion) (Dynasty)
Los Parks return next week. This will be LA Park’s return to the promotion after dropping the MLW World title match to Jacob Fatu at SuperFight. Injustice will also take on the team of Zenshi and Laredo Kid.
MLW has a joint show coming up on March 13th with AAA in Tijuana:
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has lamented the fact he and Bret Hart were never able to have a match together. Angle opened up about the popular dream match during a recent Q&A session on his Facebook account.
He shared how he had always wanted to work with Bret, but given that Bret “got hurt and then had a stroke” it sadly guaranteed that the two technical wrestlers would never be able to face each other. Angle complimented Hart, noting how he is “one of the best.”
Kurt Angle’s Toughest Decision
Angle also answered a question asking him what the hardest decision he’s ever had to make was. For him, it came down to his in-ring career and whether he needed to retire or not. It became a real struggle for him to decide “Whether I should retire after I broke my neck several times. I decided to continue. I was very lucky to be able to.”
Despite being able to continue his in-ring career, Angle recently revealed how banged up his body is. He confessed how his “quality of life right now sucks.”
Weight Cutting
A prolific amateur wrestler, a fan asked Angle what his thoughts were on weight cutting for competitions. Angle was quick to answer, explaining why he doesn’t believe in the practice:
“I wrestled at 220lbs. I weighed 209lbs. I feel that if you have to cut weight you spend most of your time training to make weight instead of getting the most out of your training regimen.”
Kurt Angle wrestled his last in-ring matchup at WrestleMania 34. He competed in a losing effort against Baron Corbin in a “Farewell Match.”
Fit Finlay has been working for WWE as a Backstage Producer for a while now. During his time in this role, he has been instrumental in helping to grow and strengthen the Women’s Division. Joining WWE’s The Bump, Finlay spoke about the work he’s done and his hopes for the future of the division.
“Well, it first started when I came to WWE in 2001-2002, as a producer. I was given the task of working with the girls,” Finlay explained. “As you know, during those years it was all bra and panties, lingerie matches. Whatever gimmick match it was, I had to work with the girls.”
He continued, “It was sort of embarrassing to me. I knew I was not what the girls wanted. I started teaching them how to wrestle and got them all together and said ‘Hey, I don’t really like to do this. I don’t like to tell you how to strip yourselves off in a match. It’s alien to me for one, and it’s degrading to you.’ So, I came up with a plan to start putting on wrestling matches and teaching them all the ins and outs.”
Finlay noted how he would be reprimanded by certain people. According to him, these higher-ups didn’t want their female roster wrestling “like the guys.” He was told how they should be pulling each others hair and not actually grappling.
Despite the resistance, Finlay remained resolute. He helped to develop it throughout the years, noting how it was a gradual process. Because the women put everything into it and listened to his coaches, the division started to grow and legitimize itself.
Fit Finlay’s Family Legacy
Fit’s son, David Finlay, is currently wrestling in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is a former IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. Finlay shared how wrestling is all David wanted to do with his life, noting how pro wrestling is “in the family.”
He shared how his daughter is currently training and preparing for an in-ring debut in Japan. His 17-year-old son is also getting experience in the ring. According to Fit, they never want to do schoolwork and instead want to jump into the ring at every opportunity.
WWE Hall of Famer Stevie Ray has responded to critics who don’t believe he should have been inducted. Ray was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during last year’s ceremony. He was included as a part of the WCW tag team Harlem Heat alongside his brother, Booker T.
“Yeah, man! It is cool. But, you know, people were always bothering me about the Hall of Fame and I never really had thought about it,” Stevie Ray told Wrestling Epicenter. “I always thought that the Hall of Fame meant that you left a mark in wrestling and people would always remember it and I never thought… You know, it was in the back of my mind. But it is cool that it happened and hey, Harlem Heat is in the Hall of Fame!”
Stevie Ray stressed how “I could give two sh*ts what people say” regarding his inclusion. He stressed how they were put into the Hall of Fame as a record-breaking tag team. Not only that but for being a tag team that brought tag team wrestling back into popularity and actually got ratings at a time when teams didn’t really draw.
Stevie Ray Denied Harlem Heat Rumors
There had been rumors that a match could take place between The Revival and Harlem Heat. Despite the speculation, however, there has been no firm indication that the match will take place.
On a recent episode of WWE Backstage, Booker T highlighted how Harlem Heat wasn’t finished with the Revival. Stevie Ray, however, denied this. He stated, “I’m done with the Revival. I never had anything to do with the f***ing Revival. So, whatever sh*t he said, I don’t got nothing to do with it.”
All Elite Wrestling’s Tony Schiavone has shared his uncertainty that AEW will ever “be as big as WWE” in an interview with Sportskeeda. He pointed to the WWE Network and the sheer longevity WWE has enjoyed since its inception. Rather than directly competing with the promotion, Schiavone revealed he’d prefer for AEW to become a “viable part of wrestling.”
“I don’t know if AEW will ever be as big as the WWE; with a Network, and the reach that they have overseas, because WWE has been around for a long time,” Schiavone explained. “But I’d like to see it be a viable part of wrestling [and] I’d like it to be a place where very good professional wrestlers – both men and women – can come and make a good living, and be treated fairly… that’s what I’d like AEW to be.”
Although Tony Schiavone worked for the then-WWF for a stint in the ‘90s, he is best known for his work in WCW. Since WCW, he also provided commentary for Major League Wrestling, prior to his signing with AEW.
There was a time that he was hired by coffee chain Starbucks. This history has been turned into an angle on AEW Dynamite, with Dr. Britt Baker often mocking him for his previous job role.
Tony Schiavone is the co-host of two popular podcasts. He hosts What Happened When along with Conrad Thompson. Last week, AEW launched the new AEW Unrestricted podcast, which features Tony and referee Aubrey Edwards interviewing AEW talent.
AEW star Shawn Spears recently gave an interview to Chris Van Vliet where he talked about things like his infamous chair shot to Cody Rhodes at Fyter Fest, whether the chair was gimmicked and more.
During the interview, the former NXT star was asked what is the biggest difference in AEW compared to his time in WWE when it comes to the day to day stuff.
Answering the question, Spears explained that the biggest difference is that the talents are very relaxed at AEW shows and the locker rooms are almost empty during the day because people are excited to wrestle:
“The biggest difference is that it’s very relaxed,” explained Shawn. “A lot of the talent is out by the ring, the locker rooms are almost empty during the day. Like people are having fun, they are excited to wrestle.
I don’t know how it is in the WWE or NXT at the moment but there was a time when I was still in WWE where a lot of the people would stay in the locker room until they had to go and do their matches cause they would try to avoid certain other aspects of the company or other people of the company.” (Transcription: SEScoops.com)
Spears continued by acknowledging that they are still a new company and they still need to iron out some things. But the All Elite Wrestling star said that everyone at the promotion is really enjoying themselves.
Apart from this, Shawn Spears recalled how he was petrified when he originally decided to leave WWE and revealed how his pairing with Tully Blanchard came about. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
Tyler Breeze is one of a few main roster Superstars to have returned to WWE’s black-and-gold brand, NXT. He joined other names such as his Breezango partner Fandango and former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor in returning. In an interview with The Chris Van Vliet Show, Breeze discussed his journey back to NXT.
Tyler Breeze Returns To NXT
“I wasn’t in a very good place in May, and that’s just when it came to a head, and when I kind of dropped a bomb on everything, where I just said, I gotta change my life because I am not happy, you know what I mean, and nobody can change it but you kind of thing.”
Breeze continued, “So I said, alright, I gotta change my job, I gotta change my life, I gotta change everything that’s going on. It didn’t even start as a ‘Hey, send me back to NXT, I’m not happy,’ whatever. It wasn’t that at all. It was like, ‘Look, I haven’t been doing anything. I’m not enjoying what I’m doing.'”
He explained how, at that point, it didn’t appear as though his injured partner Fandango would be returning any time soon. Breeze argued that if they didn’t need him, WWE should allow him to “go do something else and either, one, prove that you do need me or that you want me, or I’ll go find something else to do because I’m just not enjoying what I’m doing.'”
According to Tyler Breeze, he was told by WWE that they didn’t want to let him go. So he was given the option to return to NXT. It was a decision he has previously described as “one of the easiest choices of my life.”
All Elite Wrestling’s resident “Chairman” Shawn Spears has opened up about his nasty chair shot to Cody Rhodes and embracing the Chairman character. Speaking on The Chris Van Vliet Show, Spears recounted swinging the chair at Cody, not knowing the damage his attack had caused until he saw the blood.
“I swang [sic] for the fences, he leaned in, and just that one little bit caught him. I didn’t know he was bleeding,” Spears confessed. “That’s because I kinda had a moment with Brandi [Rhodes], where I looked at her and kinda had a staredown with her. And I looked at him to get that one more shot and I saw the red and I was like, ’S&*%’”
He argued that, as far as their storyline was concerned, it was a “best case scenario.” Spears noted how, regardless of that, he didn’t want to be responsible for his friend needing 10 stitches in his head. “But it is wrestling, things happen, I’m pretty sure I’ll be on the tail end of a bad shot at some point.”
Shawn Spears Becomes “The Chairman”
Shawn Spears reflected on how that one chair shot, and the subsequent damage it caused, helped to put him on the map in AEW. It turned him from a “happy-go-lucky ‘Perfect 10’” wrestler into a monster villain against Cody’s babyface, birthing “The Chairman.”
“[…] that’s where ‘The Chairman’ thing was born, so I just kinda kept it, ran with it, and have yet hit someone in the head once again, so it’s a moniker, it’s a tagline that hangs with me for the moment. In terms of what’s gonna happen, I might swing it again soon.”
He shared how he’s much happier now than he was just one year ago. Spears highlighted how it wasn’t WWE itself that was behind his unhappiness: “It was just, I wasn’t happy being where I was there. So I needed to take ownership. They can’t change to work around you, you need to take ownership of your own situation.”
Conceding how many are afraid to take that first step in leaving and embracing the unknown, Spears reiterated how taking the gamble has led him to be much happier despite the fact he was “petrified to leave” at the time.
Former Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush recently held a Q&A session on Twitter where he answered questions related to his next album, his favorite feud and more.
When asked why he loves wrestling, the former Champion
explained that he grew up watching the business and it’s the only thing that
makes him feel like a kid once again:
“I grew up watching wrestling as a kid. It was the only
thing that made me feel like a kid again the older I got. I try to remind
myself this every day.”
The NXT star also made some interesting comments about the
state of 205 Live when a fan asked him if the Cruiserweight Exclusive Show
should have its own Takeover Style events.
Rush replied to this question from the fan with a remark on the current state of the series and said that he thinks 205 Live should be treated better as a whole. You can check out his comments in the tweet below:
Lio Rush has previously been subject to reports of backstage heat and he had made a number of headlines last year by publically criticizing his WWE pay and financial status while being under contract with the company.
In light of his previous controversies, it’s debatable how
wise it is for Lio to criticize the status of the show publically and it would
be interesting to know how the WWE officials react to his comments.
Current ROH World Champion PCO recently had an interview with WrestlingInc where he talked about things like finally becoming a World Champion in wrestling after 3 decades in the business and more.
Since ROH has a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling,
the current champion was asked about an interesting possibility of defending
the ROH title at an NJPW show.
Answering the question, PCO recalled how he was scheduled to make his New Japan debut by competing in the World tag league but the plans were scrapped due to Brody King injuring his knee:
“Maybe. I know I was booked for [World] Tag League and
I was supposed to make my debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling. But Brody King
injured his knee and tore his ACL, I missed that tournament so it will be
interesting to see how things turn out. But my main focus is ROH right now and
what’s going on in North America.”
PCO also talked about a potential tour of Australia for the
company and revealed that ROH’s parent company Sinclair has increased the
promotion’s budget three or four times from last year.
Apart from this, the ROH star talked about his last year’s entrance at Supercard of Honor and teased an out of the box entrance for this year’s edition of the show. You can check out his full interview at this link.
Current NXT Cruiserweight Champion and Progress Tag Team Champion Jordan Devlin announced on Twitter recently that he is pulling out of Progress Chapter 103 due to elbow bursitis. He was replaced by Eddie Kingston.
Devlin, along with his tag team partner Scotty Davis were set to defend the tag titles against Anthony Henry and JD Drake but he announced that he will not be able to compete on the show as seen below:
Sorry to the @ThisIs_Progress fans and mgmt for missing #Chapter103 today. V.strenuous schedule lately and picked up a bit of elbow bursitis. It'll be fine in a week or so, I just didn't want to risk infection or aggravating it and prolonging my time out. See you guys soon. ?
As Jordan noted, he is not expected to stay out of action for very long and his removal was a precautionary measure to avoid the risk of aggravating the injury.
Big Show Reveals How Steve Austin Helped Him
Former World Champion The Big Show was the latest guest on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s WWE Network series dubbed Broken Skull Sessions and during his appearance, the Monster Sized Athlete talked about a number of things.
WWE recently posted a clip from the show on their YouTube channel in which, Big Show recalls how a WWE star taught him how to be a ‘giant’ in the ring.
The WWE star was none other than the Texas Rattle Snake himself and according to Big Show, Stone Cold taught this to him during a trip to Europe. You can check out the clip posted by WWE below:
While NXT has been moved to Live TV from the WWE Network, many people still consider it to be not in par with WWE’s other prominent shows, namely Raw and SmackDown.
Former NXT Champion Johnny Gargano was recently interviewed by TMZ Sports where he talked about a number of things and also responded to the people who still consider the show as the ‘minor leagues’.
Gargano claimed that this thinking is complete garbage and
it’s something he and the other NXT talents have worked to dispel for a very
long time:
“That’s BS, that is complete garbage and it is something that me and a lot of guys have worked to dispel for a very long time. Anyone out there that uses the words ‘main roster’ when talking about RAW and SmackDown, how about you watch the show on Wednesday nights and you’ll see the real ‘main roster.'”
Johnny continued by saying that in NXT, you see the best wrestling show and the best locker room on planet which is led by him. According to the former Champion, you are stupid if you still use words like ‘developmental’ and ‘main roster’.
Apart from this, Johnny Gargano also talked about his attack on Tommaso Ciampa during Takeover: Portland and responded to fans saying that he is a changed man after the attack. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
Rob Van Dam faced his first WWE suspension back in July 2006 and since he held both the WWE and ECW World title at the time, his suspension became a hot topic of discussion and it made many headlines.
The former ECW star recently appeared on The Steve Austin Show where he talked about things like smoking cannabis on his 21th birthday and more.
Van Dam also opened up about his suspension in 2006. He said that if he could do things differently, then he would avoid it and revealed how careless he was at the time:
“I would have slowed down that night going through Ohio with 18 grams of weed in my bag. I was speeding, dude.” recalled RVD. “I was so careless back then. I used to be so careless I didn’t even know there were speed limits.
The reason it made such big news was because I had the WWE
Championship and the ECW Championship, so there was a lot riding on me at the
moment because ECW just came back as a third brand, trying to get momentum, and
I’m the champion.”
Later in the interview, Rob Van Dam also recalled how he had asked for more time off after this suspension from Paul Heyman but the current Executive Director of Raw refused his request to talk to Mr. McMahon about it.
RVD and Sabu were stopped by the police for speeding in Ohio in July 2006 and both the stars were later arrested for possession of illegal substances.
This arrest resulted in WWE suspending the ECW star for 30 days and due to the suspension, he was forced to drop both the ECW Championship and the WWE Championship.
Former ECW personality Beulah McGillicutty recently appeared on Busted Open Radio alongside her husband Tommy Dreamer. This was the first time that McGillicutty has appeared on a live radio interview since she left ECW back in 1998.
Beulah McGillicutty vs Bill Alfonso
One of the more intriguing aspects of the conversation centered around Beulah’s match against ECW on screen manager Bill Alfonso from the 1997 event, As Good As It Gets. The match was described by former ECW owner Paul Heyman as his favourite in the history of the promotion.
The five minute contest was a bloody brawl, and had implications for beyond the ring also. Bill Alfonso had allegedly been feeding information to rival promotions, looking to get talent to sign deals with the likes of WCW. Paul Heyman admitted in ‘The Rise and Fall of ECW’ documentary that this performance from Alfonso essentially saved his career in the company. Alfonso and Beulah McGillicutty were not trained performers but they gave their all in the contest.
“Yeah, it really scared me. I thought he was gonna die” Beulah McGillicutty began, describing how Alfonso had cut an artery and nearly bled to death in the ring. Dreamer asked McGillicutty about her ‘stench’ of blood when came back through the curtain after the match, “it was worse when I stepped in the shower and the hot water hit my hair” Belulah elaborated. “Blood dried in. It was gross.”
Broken Arm
Tommy Dreamer also discussed an incident where Beulah actually broke her arm by hitting Alfonso; although it wasn’t made clear if it was during ‘this’ match. “I finished the match, though” Beulah confirmed. “I just want to say that I didn’t cry and leave the ring.”
Dreamer also described how the incident left her in a cast just before a trip to Japan. “She had a cast from her wrist, all the way up to her shoulder and it looks like a sickle clothesline thing. She had to fly from Detroit to Japan, 13 hours sitting next to the Sandman.”
A new report has backed up the claim that plans change all the time in WWE and WrestleMania 36 is no different.
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns and John Cena vs. Elias was reportedly scheduled for the show. However, they’re now being changed.
Dave Meltzer noted the news on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer noted that the potential new matches were not known.
Meltzer also noted that “five or six” WrestleMania matches in total have changed recently. Most of them are only on the SmackDown brand side of the card.
WWE has already confirmed that Cena is returning to SmackDown this Friday with the belief that he’ll start his feud heading into WrestleMania on this show. Elias was reportedly his opponent as of earlier this month.
Wyatt is slated to defend his title against Goldberg at WWE Super ShowDown. Meltzer speculated whether Wyatt vs. Reigns will take place at Mania as expected because Goldberg would win the title from Wyatt.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
WWE will be announcing more matches for WrestleMania, which is WWE’s biggest event of the year in the coming weeks.
Former World Champion Jeff Hardy was spotted backstage at this week’s episode of SmackDown from Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, according to PWinsider.
Not only that but he is also scheduled to be at next week’s
episode of the show, and the site suggests that it could be an indication that
he will become part of a Blue Brand’s roster once he returns to WWE TV.
Jeff Hardy has been out of action since April last year when
he and his brother Matt Hardy relinquished the SmackDown Tag Team
Championships.
Jeff was dealing with a leg injury at the time and it was
reported that the former Champion will stay out of action for six to nine
months after his surgery in May.
The Charismatic Enigma’s current WWE contract was originally set to expire on March 1. Though it’s likely that WWE will add time to his contract for the period he missed due to injury, to try and stop him from leaving the company.
His brother Matt, on the other hand, seems to be on his way out of the promotion. WWE has offered him a new contract but he wants creative control over his character and he is most likely to leave the company at the end of this month.
RAW Commentator Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler recently held a fan “Q&A” session on his Jerry Lawler Show podcast. One of the more intriguing queries came from a fan asking who Lawler would face in WWE today if he had the chance. Lawler’s initial response was The Miz, as he felt their chemistry from their bouts in 2011 would be easy to replicate.
“Miz would be excellent to work with,” Jerry Lawler began. Lawler then described how Bray Wyatt put it out there that he wanted a match against the ‘King of Memphis.’ “And you know, after we did the little thing a while back on Monday Night Raw (August 2019), before I was back doing commentary. I just came on for a guest appearance. Bray Wyatt came to me afterwards and he said ‘King I would love to work with you down in Memphis.'”
Jerry Lawler vs The Fiend?
It is extremely unlikely that the bout would ever happen in WWE, as Lawler suffered from a heart attack during a live episode of RAW back in 2013. The situation was critical, with Lawler reportedly being clinically dead for almost five minutes before being resuscitated. There have been numerous reports and Lawler himself has said that he cannot get physical whilst on WWE television. Jerry Lawler does however still wrestle periodically on independent cards across the United States.
Lawler made it clear that he would relish the idea of facing ‘The Fiend’ in his home territory of Memphis. “I just thought back then, what matches I could have had. Because he [Wyatt] was the perfect kind of villain that we would bring in. The big scary monster type. That’s the kind of people that I love to work with, and have matches with.”
Jerry Lawler finished by saying “I would love to have a have a match with Bray Wyatt or The Fiend either way.”
