WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently commented on tonight’s huge boxing heavyweight contest between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. There has been speculation since Fury’s WWE appearance in Saudi Arabia as to whether he would be returning to the squared circle. Tonight’s bout will most likely be a huge determining factor as to whether or not the ‘Gypsy King’ returns to WWE soon.
Booker is currently on location at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Booker will covering the fight, and he revealed his pick for the mega showdown on the Hall of Fame podcast.
Can Deontay Wilder Adjust His ‘Game?’
Booker T first talked about how Wilder is being expected to ‘adapt’ to Fury, according to a number of leading pundits. “Deontay Wilder, can he go out and adjust his game?” Booker began. “That’s the question I think more than anything. What I don’t know if that’s fair or not? Putting the onus on the champion to go out there and change his game.”
Booker also referenced the fact that in the pair’s first first Wilder scored two knockdowns on the ‘Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury. “He’s [Wilder] the only one that, was in that [first] fight that got two big knockdowns on his opponent. You know Fury didn’t knock him down. Wilder vs Anthony Joshua, that’s what everybody wants to see. I do feel like in this fight that Deontay Wilder will stake his claim to be the Heavyweight Champion of the world. Nobody wants to see boring Tyson Fury go out there and fight Joshua.”
The former King of The Ring confirmed that he believed Wilder would win in around 7-8 rounds. Fury himself has said that he intends on knocking out Wilder within two rounds, and Booker T responded to this by saying “for him to go and knock out Wilder in two rounds? He would probably of had to be doing something that is probably not legal; as far as the USADA side and whatnot.”
Manabu Nakanishi’s final match was an eight man tag team match, and the main event of the show. His partners were Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, fellow members of a four-man group known as the Third Generation. All four men debuted and peaked at roughly the same time, and have been colleagues throughout their careers. Their opponents were Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, and Hirooki Goto. The match was 18 minutes and 3 seconds long, and ended when Tanahashi pinned Nakanishi with the High Fly Flow.
Following the match, the retirement ceremony took place. Nakanishi’s former mentors and partners, Seiji Sakaguchi, Hiroshi Hase, Riki Choshu, and Tatsumi Fujinami were in attendance, and made short speeches about their relationships with Nakanishi. Finally, there was a ten-bell salute, as well as Nakanishi giving his last speech to the crowd.
Manabu Nakanishi made his professional wrestling debut in 1992 in NJPW, following an amateur wrestling career that included participation in the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics. Following a stint as a young lion, he spent several years in World Championship Wrestling under the alias Kurasawa. He has been an active wrestler in NJPW since 1996, and has held accolades including three IWGP Tag Team Championship reigns, a single G1 Climax victory in 1999, and an IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign in 2009.
WWE SmackDown aired live from the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona tonight. Goldberg appeared on the show to hype up his match against The Fiend at Super ShowDown.
SmackDown Results 2/21
The Usos & New Day def. Robert Roode, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, and John Morrison
Braun Strowman & Elias def. Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro
The Bella Twins are heading to the WWE Hall of Fame
Daniel Bryan def. Heath Slater
Naomi def. Carmella to earn a title shot at Super ShowDown
Goldberg speared The Fiend
Here are 5 takeaways from the show:
The Usos & New Day Picked Up A Win
The Usos & New Day battled Roode, Ziggler, The Miz, and John Morrison in a 8-man tag match to begin the show. Before the match, Jimmy and Jey brought up Miz and Morrison disrespecting them last week and invited them to a superkick party tonight. New Day came to the ring and complimented The Usos and referred to them as future Hall of Famers. New Day added that they have had one more tag title reign which makes them better than The Usos. Jimmy and Jey stated that they want to challenge for the titles once again after New Day takes care of Miz and Morrison.
The Miz and Morrison then interrupted and vowed to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at Super ShowDown. Dolph Ziggler and Robert made their way to the ring as SmackDown went to a commercial break.
Match Recap: Roode, Ziggler, Morrison, and Miz controlled the match early and isolated Kofi in the corner. Roode and Ziggler hit a Spinebuster/Zig Zag combo on Jimmy but Jey broke up the cover. Roode hit the Glorious DDT but turned around into a Superkick from Jey for the pinfall victory.
Opinion: The only thing interesting that happened during this awful promo and meaningless match was the mysterious glitch that occurred. As you can see below, there was some static and a blue envelop that appeared during the match.
Match Recap: Braun chased Sami around the ring and Shinsuke capitalized by hitting Strowman with a guitar as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Nakamura connected with a kick that knocked Elias off the apron and through a table. Nakamura and Cesaro then Suplexed Strowman onto a bass.
Shinsuke went for a knee strike but missed and flew into a gong. Elias connected with an Elbow Drop off the top rope that sent Cesaro through a table. Strowman then planted Nakamura with a Powerslam off the announce table and onto a piano for the pinfall victory.
The Bella Twins Are Heading To The WWE Hall Of Fame
Photo: WWE.com
The Bella Twins were guests on A Moment of Bliss tonight on SmackDown. Bliss listed off Batista, NWO, and announced that Nikki and Brie Bella are joining the WWE Hall of Fame.
They said it was great to be here tonight in their hometown and are grateful to be joining the WWE HOF. Daniel Bryan brought their daughter, Birdie, and handed her to Brie Bella. Bryan then battled Heath Slater once again as Drew Gulak was on commentary. Earlier in the show, Gulak approached Bryan backstage and told him he saw some holes in his game. Slater overheard and said he wanted another match tonight. Bryan suggested that Drew give Heath some pointers on how to defeat him.
Slater controlled the match early and made his way to the top rope. Gulak pleaded with Slater to climb down but Heath ignored him and went for a Splash. Bryan got out of the way and hit several Yes Kicks. Bryan followed it up with the Running Knee for quick win.
Naomi faced Carmella tonight on SmackDown. The winner of the match will go on to face Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Super ShowDown. Bayley was ringside for the match.
Match Recap: Naomi controlled the match early until Bayley hopped on the apron. Carmella capitalized with a Hurricanrana for a near fall. Bayley continued to try and distract Naomi until the referee threw her out. Carmella locked in the Code of Silence but Naomi battled through the pain and reached the ropes to break the hold.
Naomi hit the Rear View but somehow Carmella was able to kick out at two. Naomi followed it up with a Blockbuster and then a Moonsault for the pinfall victory. Naomi will battle Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WWE Super Show Down on Thursday.
Goldberg made his way to the ring in the final segment of this week’s SmackDown. The crowd chanted his name as Goldberg said it was good to be back. Goldberg vowed to win the Universal Championship at Super ShowDown and was quickly interrupted by an episode of Firefly Fun House.
Wyatt introduced Goldberg to all the puppets on the show and told Bill that he wouldn’t be walking away with the Universal Championship. Bray added that there is someone that is dying to meet Goldberg and the lights went out. When they came back on, The Fiend was in the ring but Goldberg was ready.
Goldberg leveled The Fiend with a Spear and set up in the corner of the ring for another one. The lights once again went out and The Fiend disappeared from the ring. SmackDown went of the air with Goldberg standing tall in the ring with his music playing.
Opinion: I thought the majority of this week’s episode of SmackDown was completely forgettable. The storyline between Otis and Mandy Rose progressed a bit tonight. Tucker confronted Mandy and Rose had no idea about the text sent to Otis saying that she was going to be late.
Sonya Deville also seemed to insist that Ziggler was a better option for her anyways and Mandy later accepted a ride from Ziggler as Otis watched them leave the arena. Other than that, the only other thing that caught my attention the entire night was the blue envelope thing that popped up twice during tonight’s show. It happened during New Day’s match and when Mandy left with Ziggler.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Super ShowDown PPV and it involves women.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, WWE booked a match between Carmella and Naomi with the winner being crowned the new #1 contender for the SmackDown Women’s Title.
As seen on the show, Naomi ended up winning the contest and now she’ll challenge Bayley for the strap at this PPV event. This comes after a few weeks of building up to it.
First up was two weeks ago on an episode of SmackDown where a Fatal Four-Way match was booked. Carmella ended up winning the contest.
Last week, she lost to Bayley for the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship. After the match, Naomi ran out to make the save for Carmella. Thus, it set up this latest #1 contender match.
WWE presents the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event on Thursday, February 27, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the Mohammed Abdou Arena that will air on the WWE Network.
Updated WWE Super ShowDown Card
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Ricochet
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Goldberg
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. John Morrison & The Miz
Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin – Steel Cage Match
Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match: Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, R-Truth, Rusev
WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy vs. The Street Profits
Fans have been wondering where things stand with Cain Velasquez since the last time they saw him on WWE programming.
Velasquez successfully had his knee scoped recently and is feeling completely healthy, according to a recent report by Wrestling Inc.
Per the report, he was seen at WWE’s training facility, WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, to get more reps in the ring while awaiting his next match. He’s set to be there for the next two weeks.
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion did an interview withSunSport last month where he stated that he would work the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. At this same time, there were reports about this as well.
However, he didn’t work the show. Cain getting his knee scoped could be a reason why. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when he’ll work his next match under the WWE banner.
Velasquez lost his debut match under the WWE banner when he faced WWE Champion Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel.
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion most recently worked a tag team match in Mexico at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico for a house show back in November.
WWE could land a new streaming deal with ESPN if things go well in negotiations.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the talks would be in regards to WWE content airing on the ESPN+ service. WWE saw what the UFC did with ESPN and now is looking to get a similar deal, per the report.
This potential deal if reached would see WWE sell their rights to air pay-per-views on ESPN+ in order to get more money than what they earn through the WWE Network.
This potential deal to air PPV events on ESPN+ could also potentially bring more mainstream exposure to WWE’s big events and their biggest Superstars. The UFC has been heavily covered on ESPN networks since inking their deal.
WWE Partnership With ESPN
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on how far the talks with ESPN are. The report did note that it looks like the deal has not been agreed on as of this week.
Earlier this month, there were rumors that WWE was possibly talking to Amazon about selling content rights to them but have since been dismissed. ESPN isn’t the only player that WWE has been talking with as they had talks with other potential partners.
These partners include DAZN and NBC’s Peacock service. The belief is that the Peacock service will launch later this year and some think this would be the best bet for WWE.
TV industry sources recently told Meltzer that Peacock would look at WWE to be its key initial programming to draw subscribers from the launch moving forward. Thus, it would be very similar to how ESPN+ did with UFC.
Since the subscription numbers for the WWE Network continue to decrease, WWE would be able to get significantly guaranteed money for their big-money events, instead of relying on their own service for revenue.
The card for WrestleMania 36 is starting to take shape but this year’s show will not feature one future WWE Hall of Famer.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Triple H is not scheduled for the show. If he doesn’t work then it will be the first time since WrestleMania 23 that Triple H has not wrestled at the event.
As previously reported, Ronda Rousey and WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg are currently not scheduled for WrestleMania 36. It was also noted that there are plans for six different women’s matches to be featured on the card.
Female matches on the card include Shayna Baszler vs. RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, Naomi vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, the 3rd annual WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, a tag team match with WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane, and another match to be named.
The 7th annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is also set to take place this year. There’s also no word on what Sheamus and Daniel Bryan will be doing. The belief is that there will be a blow-off to the feud with Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins.
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. Here is the updated confirmed card:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
RAW Commentator Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler recently commented on RAW Superstar Matt Hardy and his contract status with WWE. Matt Hardy has been actively enticing fans on Twitter regarding his WWE status; posting images like the one you can see below indicating that he may be looking to go to AEW:
Lawler indicated that he does not believe that Hardy is going to be resigning with WWE. Referring to a recent tweet that Matt Hardy posted with a cryptic nod to AEW, ‘The King’ had this to say; “It [the tweet] started out as ‘Against Every Warning, I showed up at RAW.’ And the first three words ‘against every warning, were all capitalised. So, if you really look, if you really looked at the tweet. The first three words started with AEW.”
Against Every Warning, with serious head/neck injuries, I showed up on #RAW to face & fight RKO.
I was brutally beaten & suffered multiple injuries. But I’m alive. I’m not sure what’s next. If this was my @WWE goodbye, I didn’t get what I deserved-But maybe I got what I needed. pic.twitter.com/Bzh1Ot4fcU
Lawler then reiterated that he doesn’t believe that Hardy will re-sign with WWE. “I doubt if he’s gonna sign back with with WWE. And, you know, I think he’s trying to let everybody know that he may be going to AEW but I’m…I don’t know. I don’t know for sure. There’s probably still negotiations going on between those two [Hardy and WWE].” Whilst Lawler did not confirm if he knew how the contract negotiations were developing, he did seem to indicate that Matt Hardy is unlikely to re-sign with the company in the near future.
Lawler finished by saying that he does not want Matt Hardy to leave the company, stating “I can’t imagine that WWE would want to lose Matt Hardy to AEW at this point. But you know some of those guys [at WWE] are buddies with some of the guys that are that are over there [at AEW] and that’s just the way things work.”
Do you think that Matt Hardy will end up in AEW? Let us know in the comments
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio Bully Ray had some comments regarding Cody Rhodes’ Moonsault from this Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
Rhodes was taking on Wardlow in a Steel Cage match when he hit a Moonsault from the top of the structure to a standing Wardlow to get the pinfall. The move looked spectacular, and whilst Bully agrees that the moment was ‘epic’ he felt that a moment of such magnitude should’ve been saved for the climax of Cody’s feud against MJF. Following the broadcast of Dynamite, Cody would speak to the crowd about the history of the Rhodes’ family in Atlanta. Cody was extremely emotional and this added to Bully’s thoughts that Rhodes decided to ‘create the moment’ more for himself than the story at large.
“Selfish is good in wrestling” – Bully Ray
“Doing that moonsault last night was selfish, I’m bet on balls right” Bully Ray began on Busted Open. “Because selfish, much like the word politicking in the wrestling business has a negative connotation. But it doesn’t have to. Selfish is good in wrestling, because sometimes you need to be selfish and selfish sometimes is patting yourself on your back and doing something for yourself that you want in your scrapbook for history.”
Bully then discussed the context of the night, with AEW filming in Atlanta, Georgia. “Atlanta, Dusty’s [Rhodes] town, now Cody’s town.” Ray also described how he felt Cody’s mindset may have been going into the match/spot. “‘I may never get to stand on top of a steel cage in Atlanta for the rest of my career. I don’t know what’s going to go down. So if this is my one and only chance to stand on top of that cage in a town with so much wrestling history; in a town that my family’s name is synonymous with? I’m doing it for myself.”
Ray would also compare the moment to his appearance at the Royal Rumble in Madison Square Garden. “In 2000? That’s exactly what I did in Madison Square Garden, when I stood on top of Madison Square Garden. I did that for myself because I wanted that memory to live forever. So if I never got a chance to do that again. I did it. So, if it comes to Cody selfishness, I’d be the first one to say, Good job, man.”
Victoria Crawford, better known to wrestling fans as Alicia Fox, is celebrating 6-months of recovery. The former Divas Champion took to social media to comment on her accomplishment.
Fox’s status as an active wrestler in WWE is unclear. Her profile was moved to WWE.com’s alumni section in October last year but no formal announcement of her retirement has been made.
Last November, Fox posted the following to her Instagram account and spoke about being 2-months sober at the time.
Arn Anderson’s firing from WWE last year is said to have been related to Fox as well. Anderson is said to have been released for allowing Fox to work while intoxicated.
Fox has had a lengthy run in WWE, first signing with the company in 2006. She made her main roster debut in 2008. She is a former Divas and OVW Champion. From 2006 until 2019, Fox wrestled in 1012 matches with WWE, Ohio Valley Wrestling, or Florida Championship Wrestling. Her overall record is 330W-680-2D.
Jeff Cobb was announced as Chris Jericho’s hired gun to face Jon Moxley this week on AEW Dynamite. Cody Rhodes addressed Cobb’s deal with the promotion on a recent media call, noting that Cobb was signed for more dates but nothing full-time or long-term. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer, AEW has offered Cobb a deal that will allow him to still work with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
“Jeff Cobb was offered a deal this past week. Tony Khan had never met him until this week. Cody had been trying to get him since the start of the year. Cobb had only agreed to a few dates,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
“They offered him a deal where he could still work New Japan and that’s where talks left,” the report continued. Being able to work with New Japan is said to be quite important to Cobb.
Jeff Cobb In NJPW
Cobb entered his first-ever G1 Climax tournament in 2019 with New Japan Pro Wrestling. He finished tied for 4th in Block B with 8 points. He still has yet to compete in a New Japan Cup. Cobb is also a former NEVER Openweight Champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He defeated Will Ospreay for the title at the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden before dropping it to Taichi at Wrestling Dontaku.
A new episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown is here and it’s a stacked show.
Several segments and matches have been announced thus far for this show including the return of The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella) where they will be interviewed by Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.
Also, WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg will appear in order to further his program with WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt ahead of their title match at Super ShowDown.
SmackDown Lineup
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for SmackDown. WWE holds this show from Glendale, AZ at the Gila River Arena.
WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
Goldberg returns to SmackDown ahead of Universal Title Match
The Bella Twins return this Friday night for “A Moment of Bliss”
Naomi and Carmella collide for the right to challenge Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Title at WWE Super ShowDown
The New Day & The Usos set to collide with The Miz, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode in Eight-Man Tag Team action
Lacey Evans to sit down with Renee Young for an exclusive interview
WWE will also be announcing matches for existing feuds that will take place heading into the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event.
Join us here later tonight for WWE SmackDown Results and Takeaways feature.
Today, New Japan Pro-Wrestling held their New Japan Road event at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. In the main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi won the IWGP Tag Team Championships from the champions, the Guerrillas of Destiny, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. The match ended when Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Tama Tonga after a High Fly Flow, and lasted 20 minutes and 10 seconds.
Following the main event, Suzuki-Gun members Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi, who have dubbed themselves as a tag team named “Dangerous Tekkers,” attacked the new champions, and proposed that they would be the first challengers.
The Guerrillas of Destiny’s reign lasted a mere 20 days with zero successful defenses, following winning the championships from Juice Robinson and David Finlay at a New Beginning USA show in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is Kota Ibushi’s first time as an IWGP Tag Team Champion. However, Hiroshi Tanahashi has already been the IWGP Tag Team Champion on two previous occasions in 2003 and 2004. His partners were Yutaka Yoshie and Shinsuke Nakamura, respectively.
The New Japan Road event can be watched on NJPW World with English commentary.
Late last year, Vickie Guerrero appeared on an episode of All Elite Wrestling’s YouTube show Dark. She joined Excalibur on commentary duties. During a recent episode of her podcast, Excuse Me: The Vickie Guerrero Show, Vickie addressed WWE’s reaction to her guest spot. Turns out they weren’t too happy with her decision, as she is no longer allowed to invite WWE Superstars onto her show.
Excuse Me
“They [WWE] didn’t call me for two years. What did they expect me to do? Just to sit here and wait for them to call so I could do some work?” Guerrero asked. “I love wrestling. I love to work in the ring. And if someone is giving me an opportunity to go and show up and have some fun, then I should be able to because I’m not obligated to anybody.”
She argued how promotions should encourage their talent to show off their ability and craft, regardless of who they are signed with. Vickie added how there are now enough jobs and promotions to allow everybody an opportunity to work and contribute to the industry.
“So when someone told me I couldn’t interview the Superstars because I went to AEW, I was just like, ‘Wow. They’re gonna be like that.” So you just quietly move on and you see how they are and you just have to take care of your own business.”
Vickie Guerrero appeared on the 12/11 episode of AEW Dark, which you can watch below:
It appears as though NXT UK Superstar Tyler Bate is dealing with an injury. The Moustache Mountain member was set to perform at an upcoming OTT Wrestling event this Sunday. However, the promotion took to social media to reveal that Bate unfortunately not be present at their Dead On event.
“Due to recent injury, Tyler Bate will no long appear at #DeadOn. This is unavoidable in wrestling, Apologies #OTT.”
Bate and his tag team partner Trent Seven were scheduled to defend the OTT Tag Team Championships against The True Pros.
Tyler Bate On NXT UK
At the time of writing, there are no further details as to what kind of injury Bate is dealing with. He and Seven last appeared on WWE programming on January 25th. They appeared on WWE Worlds Collide, where they lost a matchup to DIY. They also appeared on the WWE Watch Along stream for Royal Rumble. His tag team partner, Seven, would go on to wrestle against Finn Balor on NXT later that same week.
Although Tyler Bate appeared on last night’s episode of NXT UK, it’s worth noting that the episode was pre-recorded in January. The match saw him face off against Joseph Connors. Bate has not yet commented on or addressed the injury reports.
All Elite Wrestling’s Cody Rhodes has revealed which current AEW talent he considers to be the most underrated on the roster. During a recent medial call, Cody pointed to one half of the Hybrid 2 tag team Jack Evans.
“Underrated is a dirty word to me because sometimes it means under pushed or undervalued. But taking the word at face value, I think the most underrated guy in AEW is Jack Evans,” Cody revealed.
He continued, “He walks around backstage super-casual and I don’t think people have any idea what he’s capable of in the ring. He’s just special. He’s someone who I always say that I’d really like to get a singles with Jack. I don’t know if he knows how much we value him, but Jack Evans is underrated.”
Hybrid 2 On AEW Dynamite
Jack Evans and his Hybrid 2 partner Angelico both participated in this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT. They wrestled alongside several other teams, opening the show with a Tag Team Battle Royal. The winners of the match received an AEW Tag Team Championship opportunity at the promotion’s upcoming pay-per-view, Revolution.
Matt Jackson was eventually able to secure the victory for himself and his brother, setting an Elite showdown for the belts between The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega and Hangman Page.
NXT Superstar and former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush has opened up about his time away from the ring during his hiatus. Speaking with TV Insider, Rush confessed how he had “lost sight” of his WWE goals before his reemergence on the black-and-gold brand. Prior to this, Rush had been appearing on RAW as Bobby Lashley’s hype man.
“Last year was all over the place as far as ups and downs, trials and tribulations to get back to the WWE right now,” Rush confessed. “As far as how I approach WWE right now and my position, I’m setting the goal for myself this year in 2020 to just have fun. I feel like last year I kind of lost sight of that, I lost sight of why I wanted to be in WWE in the first place. I tried to control a lot of things that weren’t in my control.”
He noted how he is focusing on having fun and allowing things to happen organically. He is still working on the things he can control, and it’s a mindset he is bringing with him into WWE.
Lio Rush On NXT
Rush spoke about his surprise at receiving a phone call from Triple H, asking him to be a part of NXT. Despite the surprise, he couldn’t deny his excitement at the opportunity. He stressed how it’s an “incredible” time to be a part of NXT.
“When I got the call from Triple H to be in NXT again, I was a little surprised. At the same time, there was a level of excitement there. A lot of the USA viewers were familiar with me from my time on Raw, so I had an advantage in that sense to be one of a few who have had that exposure before. The level of talent on NXT is incredible. I can’t even wrap my head around how many top-tier athletes are in NXT right now at the performance center training every day.”
Lio Rush recently fell short in a championship match against the current NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Jordan Devlin.
Charlotte Flair has been paving a legacy of her own since she first began wrestling in WWE. Despite her own hard-earned success, some still point to her living in the shadow of her Hall of Fame father, Ric Flair. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Charlotte broached this topic, and how she uses the slight as fuel and motivation.
“I never have a hard time motivating myself. Being known only as Ric Flair’s daughter fuels my fire to keep working harder and becoming stronger,” she said. “Being my dad’s daughter is a huge chip on my shoulder. I think that’s why I’ve had so much success—nothing’s ever good enough. I’ll continue to prove the haters wrong.”
Charlotte Flair On Becky Lynch’s WWE 2K20 Cover
During the interview, she was asked about her long-time frenemy Becky Lynch. Primarily, Lynch being one the front cover of last year’s video game WWE 2K20 alongside Roman Reigns. Charlotte shared how she was excited for her friend, explaining how having Lynch on the cover in her ‘The Man’ t-shirt, positioned in front of Reigns, sends “such a positive message.” She noted how one woman succeeding and doing well means that the entire division is doing well.
WrestleMania 35 Helicopter Entrance
Charlotte Flair made history alongside Becky Lynch and “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey at last year’s WrestleMania 35 event. For the first time ever, women headlined “The Grandest Stage of Them All.” To capture the significance of the moment, WWE gave the competitors a chance to shine during their entrances. Flair, for example, got to enter the arena via helicopter—something she revealed wasn’t her idea.
“That was definitely not my idea,” Flair shared. “Do you think I actually went to the boss and asked for a helicopter? I didn’t even know about the entrance until our last go-home show before ‘Mania. They were like, ‘Hey, we have this idea. What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘That is incredible.’ With so many playbacks to my dad, it was very cool.”
Charlotte Flair is set to challenge NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36. The event takes place on April 5th from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
SmackDown Superstar Naomi recently returned to in-ring action at WWE’s January event, Royal Rumble. She recently joined the Women’s Weekly Wrestling podcast to discuss a range of subjects. During their conversation, she revealed how she had pitched for WWE to send her to their black-and-gold brand NXT.
“I asked about a year ago to go down to NXT to work,” Naomi revealed. “I just think NXT is awesome. I love NXT and also, the time I wasn’t being used much on the main roster so, I was like, ‘Dang, can I go down there and just see what I can get into, what could happen, and the talent down there is just so good.’”
Naomi had one NXT Superstar in mind if she had been granted her request: Bianca Belair. For her, it didn’t matter if they were feeding or teaming together. She revealed she had a dream of them making history as the first-ever African-American WWE Women’s Tag Team champions.
“I love Bianca, and her personality and her spirit is even more beautiful so, that was one idea I had,” she explained. “I either wanted to go work against her or to be with her or to do this story but it wasn’t the right time and also, ‘B’ is a star all on her own and I think they want her to be that and come into her own but, it’s just a dream of mine because we’ve never officially had two African-American tag team champions.”
Despite Naomi’s interest in becoming a part of NXT, WWE obviously didn’t allow her to move brands as they have for other Superstars. Following her Rumble appearance, Naomi has since returned to action on Friday nights for SmackDown.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War. AEW won in total viewers. It was close in every demographic group except Adults 50+, where NXT tied with AEW with a 0.38.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 794,000 viewers, which is up from 757,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.25 rating, up from the 0.24 rating the previous week.
The episode featured The Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin defended against Lio Rush, Kayden Carter vs. Chelsea Green, and the fallout from NXT TakeOver: Portland.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 893,000 viewers, up from the 817,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.31 rating, up from the 0.30 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured matches such as Cody Rhodes vs. Wardlow in the first-ever Steel Cage Match in AEW history, Jeff Cobb vs. Jon Moxley, #1 Contenders’ Tag Team Battle Royal, and AEW World Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. The Luca Bros.
Soon to be two-time WWE Hall of Famers Scott Hall and Kevin Nash recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. The former ‘Outsiders’ tag team were discussing the nWo faction on the show amid the group’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in April.
Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Syxx, Hulk Hogan and ?
Hall and Nash are being inducted alongside Sean ‘Syxx’ Waltman and Hulk Hogan, two of the bigger members of the eventually inflated group (Hogan of course being the main star and initial leader). During the show Graves asked the pair who they would consider should be appearing with them on stage at the ceremony. Scott Hall mentioned Eric Bischoff, who has been a name brought up by fans and critics alike recently. Kevin Nash however had a more intriguing suggestion:
“Kevin Sullivan. Though this was Eric’s idea, Sullivan was the one that made sure… there’s always been this equation; that if you’re heels, in order for you to be successful…it’s like a hot air balloon. The more you ‘heat’ that balloon the higher it goes.”
Driving Force Behind The ‘Heat’
Nash elaborated further, confirming that Sullivan was one of the driving forces behind the nWo group keeping their ‘heat’ every week. “Sullivan just really battled day in day out to make sure that they didn’t take heat off us. Nobody got to the nWo. And so he [Sullivan] always books heat, his booking of that heat is what made the nWo.”
Scott Hall would then eco Nash’s thoughts, saying “I want to concur Corey. Kevin Sullivan, who I’m a huge fan of, it was like what we call back in the day like a heel Booker. I’m gonna pile on with what Kev said. We were hot coming in the door because we came off Vince’s [McMahon] TV. We were Razor [Ramon] and Diesel, and what are they doing here!? This is before [the] internet, this was before anybody had a cell phone. People thought it was real, people thought Vince sent us there to destroy WCW.”
The nWo will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this April as part of WrestleMania 36.
You can catch the After The Bell podcast every Thursday through Endeavour Audio.
Outspoken former WWE and WCW Superstar Kevin Nash made some intriguing comments on this week’s edition of the After The Bell podcast. Nash answered a hypothetical question from host Corey Graves; indicating what ‘could’ have happened if ‘Big Daddy Cool’ hadn’t of gone to WCW back in 1996.
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in WCW
Both Kevin Nash and his ‘Outsiders’ tag team partner Scott Hall completely changed the landscape of professional wrestling when they left the WWF in 1996 to join the rival company: World Championship Wrestling. When it was revealed that Hulk Hogan was also part of their group; the nWo was formed and completely changed WCW’s fortunes at the time. This led to WCW having an impressive 83 week win streak over the then WWF. This with the nWo at the helm.
WrestleMania
“I wouldn’t have dropped the belt” Kevin Nash began. This referring to the WWF Championship that he won in 1994 and eventually dropped in 1995 after indicating that he was leaving the company. “I wouldn’t of dropped the belt to Bret, who would then give it to Shawn [Michaels], unless I was guaranteed to win at WrestleMania. I really wouldn’t have done it. It would have been three big losses in a row. I needed a big win right there.”
The match that Nash is referring to is of course his WrestleMania 12 bout against The Undertaker. This would of course meant the end of Taker’s streak. However, it is worth noting that back in 1996 the ‘streak’ was not being referred to on television. “That could have been a possibility” Nash stated. Nash also claimed that Undertaker would’ve likely been happy to “do business” at the time.
How Things Could’ve Changed
“I’m not saying that would have happened, I’m not saying Vince [McMahon] wouldn’t have put me over, but I definitely wouldn’t have crossed up without something. [But] I was leaving, so man it was just like ‘alright.’ there’s a lot of things that could have changed.”
For fans of Undertaker’s streak it seems advantageous that Nash would leave for the competition at the time. Nash also wanted to make it abundantly clear that he did not want to leave WWF at the time. However the seemingly open chequebook of Turner Broadcasting made it almost impossible for he and Scott Hall/Razor Ramon to stay in the WWF.
You can catch After The Bell every Thursday through Endeavour Audio.
Samoa Joe could potentially be on the shelf for an extended period of time due to an injury suffered at a recent WWE commercial shoot. According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, Joe hit his head on a table while filming a stunt for a commercial last week. While there is no timetable for Joe’s return, it is being reported that he could be out of action for “a considerable amount of time.”
Joe was recently pulled from a tag team match on RAW due to potentially suffering a concussion as well. The injury occurred on the January 27th, 2020 edition of RAW from the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Joe returned to action on a February 8th, 2020 house show. He also missed some time with a broken thumb in late 2019.
Samoa Joe Out of Action
Joe recently took part in a podcast with Fightful where he mentioned that Vince McMahon didn’t initially want him in WWE.
“Everywhere that I’ve gone—ROH I remember walking into and Gabe Sapolsky telling me, ‘listen, we can’t afford to fly you in from California, you’ll never work here again, but thanks for coming tonight,’ and shortly afterwards ‘hey, you’re working every show from here until forever,’” Joe said.
Samoa Joe Championship Statistics
WWE Championships:
NXT Champion (2x)
United States Champion (2x)
TNA/Impact Wrestling:
TNA Heavyweight Champion (1x)
Tag Team Champions (2x) w/Magnus (1x) w/himself? (1x)
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley recently spoke to Metro in the UK about her friendship with Simone Johnson. The 18-year-old daughter of the Rock was recently announced as a new signee at the WWE Performance Center.
”I’m very, very excited for Simone. She’s one of my close friends, and I’m so happy that she’s here at the Performance Centre with us,” Ripley said of Johnson.
Ripley would continue to talk about advice she has already given Johnson.
“The main thing I always tell her whenever I do see her is to just ignore the drama, stay in your own lane, work the hardest and try your best. Just succeed and excel within your own brackets of talent.”
Ripley continued to talk about advice she’s given to Johnson. She says she is helping her stay away from the drama that comes with the business.
“Just try and not let everything get to you, because that’s the hardest bit in any sporting background. It’s just the drama that comes with sport unfortunately, and the one thing I’m trying to get her to stay away from.”
The full interview with Rhea Ripley from Metro in the UK can be found here.
Many fans noticed that Raven could be seen attending last night’s Dynamite show in Atlanta. The former leader of the Flock was seated not far from where Evil Uno and the Dark Order spokesperson appeared in the live crowd during the tag team battle royal.
AEW posted the following Tweet with the caption “Did you see it? The exalted one is always watching.” Raven is sitting ominously in the crowd acting very unfazed by the brawling Stu Grayson and Scorpio Sky next to him in the video.
Did you see it? The exalted one is always watching.
Raven has been the leader or apart of several factions with a similar dark cult-esque type feel to them as the Dark Order has. There is perhaps nobody in wrestling history more closely associated with such angles.
In ECW, Raven led a stable of lackies known as “the Nest” which featured the Dudleys, Stevie Richards, Cactus Jack, and several others throughout its history. When he first brought the Raven character to WCW, he then debuted a similar faction known as The Flock with Perry Saturn, Billy Kidman, Lodi, Kanyon (though he was somewhat separate from the other members) and many others. Later in WCW, he was apart of the Dead Pool/Dark Carnival with the Great Muta, Vampiro, and the Insane Clown Posse.
In TNA Wrestling, Raven debuted “the Gathering.” This group included Alexis Laree, CM Punk, Julio Dinero, and Cassidy Riley. Later in TNA Wrestling, Raven would change things up a bit and debut a faction with A Clockwork Orange styled gimmick named Serotonin. This faction featured Johnny Devine, Frankie Kazarian, and Michael Shane.
