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Darren Young Says He Could Be Back With WWE Next Year

Chris Stephens
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Darren Young was recently interviewed on the Roman Show hosted by Rodolfo Roman. On the show, Young teased a possible return to WWE next year.

“Recently, I was just at WWE in LA,” Young said. “They invited me back with open arms. So who knows? 2019 you could see me as an ambassador with the company. It’s just amazing, wrestling right now.”

Roman continued to ask if it’s possible we see Young back in a WWE ring next year as opposed to just being in an ambassador’s role.

“Just because moves aren’t being announced doesn’t mean moves aren’t being made,” Young teased. He continued to say he has interest in competing for both Ring of Honor and in Japan as well.

Darren Young Comments On WWE Superstars

“Pride Month is here and I’m celebrating with open arms and taking a stance against hatred and bigotry. Never let anyone shame you from being yourself.

Young also commented on current Smackdown Superstar, Sonya Deville, who came out as gay while being interviewed by Triple H on Tough Enough.

“That’s my girl (Deville),” Young said. “We need more representation, that’s what it’s all about. It’s not just about me, it’s not just about Sonya, it’s about everyone living their truth, living their honest life.”

He also commented on Finn Balor wearing the Pride colors on his merchandise.

“My dude, Finn is an amazing guy,” Young continued.

Shane Taylor Signs Exclusive Deal With Ring Of Honor

Chris Stephens
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0

Ring of Honor’s heavyweight division is going to be interesting to watch in 2019. The recent signings of Jeff Cobb, Brody King, and PCO will add a big boost to the promotion’s roster next year.

Shane Taylor, who wrestled his first match for ROH in late 2014, recently announced he has agreed to terms on a new exclusive contract with the promotion as well, bringing him back for another year with ROH.

“Incredibly excited to announce that I’ve officially agreed to terms on an EXCLUSIVE contract with @ringofhonor for 2019!! Trust and believe I’m going to continue to #ShatterTheGlassCeiling & show why I’m #TheREALBreakoutStar in ROH!!”

Taylor wrestled 28 times for ROH in 2018. His last televised match was a loss to Jeff Cobb.

Shane Taylor Featured In Orlando Sentinal Article

Taylor was featured earlier this year in an article by the Orlando Sentinal. He spoke in the article about how he knew wrestling was the profession for him shortly after debuting.

“I heard the crowd and felt that rush. It’s hard to explain, but I knew I was where I needed to be,” Taylor said. “Anytime you can love what you’re doing and get as much energy out of it as you’re putting into it, whether that’s music, painting or whatever, you know that’s truly what makes you happy.”

Tama Tonga Responds To Critics Of Jay White As Bullet Club Leader

Chris Stephens
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Tama Tonga has released a video on his YouTube channel where he addresses criticism some have of Jay White being named the new leader of Bullet Club. Tonga named White as the new leader of the faction in a series of Tweets last week.

“Yes, I said all that (that Bullet Club has no leader),” Tonga says in the video. “Right after I kicked out the Elite and right before we brought in Jay White. Now, think about this. With Jay White in, we got one man covering the direct route to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, right? You’ve got my brother and I; tag team duo, holding it down for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. We got Fale the monster. We got Ishimori chasing the Junior Heavyweight. Now, if it needs to be a junior heavyweight tag-team, we also got Robbie Eagles. We’re covering all angles, that’s smart, don’t y’all think?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLEcaePQqbE

Bullet Club at Wrestle Kingdom 13

The next show for NJPW will be Wrestle Kingdom 13 inside the Tokyo Dome. Tama Tonga and his brother, Tanga Loa, will defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against both the Young Bucks and Evil & Sanada in a triple threat match. Jay White will also take on Kazuchika Okada in a one-on-one grudge match.

Mustafa Ali Talks About Pinning Daniel Bryan, Move To SmackDown Live

Rayan Sayyed
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0

In a recent WWE Day Of video released online, Mustafa Ali talks about his recent win over Daniel Bryan in a tag team match where he pinned him on SmackDown on 18 December.

Ali took on the team of Andrade “Cien” Almas and Daniel Bryan while teaming up with AJ Styles. His team won the match when he pinned the WWE Champion after delivering the 054. The win was talked about by the WWE Universe and was a well received move.

“I’m teaming with AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan and ‘Cien’ Almas, I’m just waiting to wake up. One week you’re facing Daniel Bryan and next week you’re teaming with AJ Styles. You’re in the ring with the best in the world. Part of me wants to tell myself they don’t just put anybody in the ring with them.”

“I obviously want to be as good as them and I feel like I can be and I can hang with them. Trying not to make it bigger than it is. This is still a very cool moment for me. I’ve watched those guys, in particular Bryan and AJ. I’ve watched them my entire life, my entire career. Even on the independent scene, they were stars. Here they are stars and now my name is next to theirs.”

As it was known recently that Ali has moved to SmackDown Live, however, he also said that he will always rep 205 Live and it will be in his heart because that’s where he started out in the WWE.

“I will always rep 205 Live. I will always support 205 Live. I will always be the heart of 205 Live. I will always be watching because you will never know when the heart of 205 Live will beat again.”

h/t to WrestlingInc for the transcription

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Harold Meij On His Dream To Connect The World To Japan Through Pro Wrestling

Rayan Sayyed
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1

New Japan Pro Wrestling President Harold Meij recently spoke to Japanese Government’s online magazine, Highlighting Japan, where he talked about his dream to connect Japan and the rest of the world though pro wrestling and how he is taking steps to globalize NJPW’s content.

Meij says that professional wrestling has the potential to become an integral part of Japanese culture as much as sushi, or Mount Fuji. His focus is to make it more popular in the promotion’s home country.

“The strong point of pro wrestling is that it is not just a sport, but rather an encompassing experience. Every time a wrestler does a grand move, they change the atmosphere of the stadium and the crowd cheers for their favorite wrestler. When their favorite wrestlers win, there is a rush of applause, when there are foul moves the fans get angry, and when they lose they cry and get upset.”

Meij also explained that his goal for the promotion is to make it popular and appealing to an audience worldwide.

“We have over 100,000 subscribers on our video channel, and almost fifty percent of them are outside of Japan,” he said. “When foreign subscribers visit Japan and attend a New Japan Pro-Wrestling match, they tend to share their experience on social media. So that more people get a deeper understanding of the sport and connect with the wrestlers, we put matches up on YouTube, including videos of the wrestlers themselves, their training scenes and videos of matches with English-language versions of the stirring, perfectly-timed announcements made by the Japanese pro-wrestling announcers.”

Becky Lynch Lambasts WWE Legend Saying She Should “Back Off Of ‘The Man’ Thing”

Rayan Sayyed
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18

Former WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch has gained massive popularity recently after a big slump in her career, when she got a change of character as ‘The Man’. The change has been well received by fans and critics alike.

However, one WWE Legend and Hall of Famer is not really impressed with Becky Lynch’s gimmick.

On the What A Rush podcast, Road Warrior Animal gave his thoughts on ‘The Man’ and said that she’s better off without the gimmick and should instead be a “pure white meat babyface that doesn’t quit.”

“I would let her back off of ‘The Man’ thing and let her just be a pure white meat babyface that doesn’t quit. Those are the kind of babyfaces that work,” said Road Warrior Animal. “When you come out there with the attitude and strutting your stuff like she’s some kind of tough guy, come on! Jesus, Lord, anybody that’s ever been in a fight can see right through it and I’m just being realistic because that’s what works in this business.”

Becky Lynch saw the article covering the podcast on WrestleZone and responded with the following:

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1076995831121743872

In the usual Becky way, she replied with “The first four words of your headline are a lie” implying that Road Warrior Animal doesn’t think.

The tweet has since blown up and is now at 22,000 likes. It is safe to say that pretty much everyone here disagrees with Road Warrior. Becky has been riding a wave of success and popularity with her new character, and it has been pretty entertaining to see and a change in her career in the WWE was long overdue.

h/t to WrestleZone for transcription

Matt Riddle Talks Earning Respect From Wrestling Fans

Chris Stephens
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0

One of NXT’s newest and brightest stars, Matt Riddle, was a guest on Edge and Christian’s “Pod of Awesomeness” this week. The 32-year-old spoke on having to earn over the respect of fans at EVOLVE and other independent wrestling events early in his wrestling career.

At first, Riddle said, the fans taunted him for coming from an MMA background.

“I remember my first match for EVOLVE, at EVOLVE 49, when I came out, the crowd chanted ‘Baby Lesnar’,” Riddle said. “And then the next night in Long Island the crowd chanted ‘You Can’t Wrestle.'”

Over time, however, Riddle won over the respect of not only fans of EVOLVE but fans from all over the independent scene.

“So I wrestled all over and by the time I got back to where they said I couldn’t wrestle, all they kept chanting was ‘Bro.'”

Matt Riddle Booked For Madison Square Garden Show

Matt Riddle will be wrestling on a WWE house show in Madison Square Garden on December 26th. Several members of the NXT roster are in a multi-person tag-team match on the show.

Riddle recently Tweeted out, “Wow I just can’t stop! If you haven’t heard my year isn’t over and I get to wrestle in the Legendary MSG in NYC on the RAW brand, which makes this my biggest DeButt of 2018 and it’s gonna be the DeButts of all DeButts!”

WWE Announces 2018 Awards On Instagram, Becky Lynch Comments

Chris Stephens
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2

WWE announced several year-end awards on Instagram stories recently.

  • Male Star of the Year: Braun Strowman
  • Female Star of the Year: Becky Lynch
  • Tag Team of the Year: The Bar
  • Breakout Star: Elias
  • Most Underrated: Naomi
  • Return of the Year: Dean Ambrose
  • Best on the Mic: Paul Heyman
  • Best Rivalry: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns
  • Diss of the Year: Ronda Rousey’s DNB promo to the Bellas
  • Best Match: Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair at Evolution
  • Shocking Moment: Randy Orton/Jeff Hardy screwdriver meets earlobe.
  • Best GM: Paige
  • Most Hated of the Year: Baron Corbin
  • Brand of the Year: Raw
  • Funniest Moment of the Year: Titus Worldslide

Becky Lynch Comments On Winning Female Superstar Of The Year

Becky Lynch decided to comment on her award by replying to a Tweet from Charlotte Flair.

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1076627601748303873

Asuka vs Becky Lynch at Royal Rumble Announced And Then Withdrawn

In other news concerning the Smackdown women’s division, a potential championship match was announced and then canceled last week. Asuka defending her title against Becky Lynch was announced for Royal Rumble 2019 on Main Event this week. Not long after, however, Smackdown General Manager Tweeted out that she had made the match before being relieved of her position.

“Soooo I tried to make one last match before my time as #SDLive GM came to end…but unfortunately @BeckyLynchWWE vs. @WWEAsuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship is NOT official for #RoyalRumble. #Oops”

All Elite Wrestling Files For New Trademark

Chris Stephens
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2

The LLC “All Elite Wrestling” has filed for a new trademark. The trademarked term appears to be for a potential charity wrestling event. Both the term “Fight For The Fallen” and an accompanying logo were filed on Friday.

fight for the fallen

All Elite Wrestling Trademarks

Previously filed trademarks for All Elite Wrestling also include:

  • All Elite Wrestling and AEW
  • Tuesday Night Dynamite
  • AEW Double Or Nothing
  • AEW All Out

All Elite Wrestling and Members of The Elite

One of the bigger questions surrounding the newly formed LLC is if wrestlers from the Elite will be permitted to perform for both NJPW and a new wrestling promotion based in the United States that isn’t Ring of Honor.

“Obviously, both AEW and ROH will want a business relationship with New Japan,” Dave Meltzer wrote recently in the Wrestling Observer.

“New Japan has blocked its talent from working for Impact, even though Don Callis is an announcer for New Japan, because of the ROH relationship,” he continued. “They have not blocked people from working for MLW.”

As it stands now, several members of the Elite have matches scheduled at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Kenny Omega will face Hiroshi Tanahashi, the Young Bucks will be in a 3-way for the heavyweight tag titles, and Cody will face Juice Robinson.

Chris Jericho Says Neville Turned Down Appearance At All In

Rayan Sayyed
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1

Chris Jericho recently on his podcast talked about how Neville turned down an offer to appear at the All In event in September.

All In was an important independent wrestling event in 2018, and there was quite a bit of talk going around that Neville will make his professional wrestling return at the event.

We instead saw him in the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate where he returned under his former ring name PAC and defeated Shingo Takagi at the Korakuen Hall.

Chris Jericho talked about this topic on his Talk Is Jericho podcast with guest Sami Zayn. (H/T Michael McClead of WrestleZone)

“They tried to get him to go to All In, like over the top and he wouldn’t do it. He wanted to make his debut with Dragon Gate,” Jericho said about Neville refusing to make his return at All In.

Sami Zayn added to this by saying how disciplined he is when it comes to these things and how much he respects him.

“That’s the kind of guy he is dude, lot of love, a lot of respect for him. He’s principled. He told me straight up, a lot of money – the indies weren’t what they were when I left five years ago. Old timer in the indies back in my day [Don Cherry impression]…there wasn’t as much money on the indies and I did really well by indie standards right before I signed [with WWE]. He was telling me straight, ‘Man there’s a lot of money being offered in a lot of directions,’ but he’s never been an overly money driven guy. That’s why maybe he didn’t fit in the WWE system very much because the culture here is very overly ambitious and money and success and that has to be what takes you to the next level and he’s never really been like that. So he went back because he’s a loyal guy and he always just loved wrestling for Dragon Gate, so he went straight back to Dragon Gate.”

You can listen to the entire episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast here.

Neville In The Indies

Neville or PAC right now is doing well in the indies wrestling and has been booked for promotions like BWR Wonderland, Over the Top Wrestling and Defiant Wrestling.

He had also won the Open the Dream Gate Championship at Dragon Gate’s “Fantastic Gate 2018” event, by defeating Masato Yoshino.

He will be facing Will Ospreay for Revolution Pro Wrestling at the “High Stakes” event in London, England from the York Hall on February 15, 2019.

 

 

 

Bayley Believes Women Will Headline WrestleMania

Rayan Sayyed
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5

Bayley recently talked to The Star promoting the upcoming WWE Live Tour 2019 which is set to take place at the Sheffield FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, England on May 16.

Besides talking about the tour, Bayley also said that she believes WWE WrestleMania will be headlined by female superstars in the future.

She said she does not know when or where it will happen, but according to her it is inevitable.

“Oh yes, I believe it definitely will happen,” said Bayley. “I don’t know when or where but with everything we’ve accomplished over the past few years I definitely know its going to happen. I don’t know who it will be. But I can’t wait for the day.”

Bayley also talked about the fact that how it was looked down upon for girls watching wrestling, and how much that is changing right now. She recalls her childhood when she used to be called weird for watching wrestling.

“It’s very cool to inspire other girls to be a WWE star. They used to say it wasn’t a girlie thing and it’s something i used to get all the time – they looked at me weird because I watched wrestling. But now it’s such a normal thing to be a fan and cool to be a female superstar some day.”

You can listen to the full interview on The Star’s website by clicking here.

WWE’s Sheffield tour has names such as Bayley, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor and Dolph Ziggler lined up for the event. Matches already set for the card are Braun Strowman vs Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose. You can check out more info here.

 

Seth Rollins Looks Back On Past Year In WWE

Rayan Sayyed
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1

Seth Rollins has had a great run in WWE this year as he went on to win a number of titles and had a lot of cool moments.

He won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 34, where he pinned The Miz in a triple threat match also involving Finn Balor.

We also saw him and his brothers Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose reunite as The Shield which was one of the most memorable moments this year.

The Architect also won the Raw Tag Team Championship with Dean Ambrose, before Ambrose turned on him. Currently he’s involved in a feud with Ambrose as he lost the Tag Team titles to AOP in a handicap match and the IC title to Ambrose on the Tables, Ladders and Chairs PPV.

Rollins posted a deep and insightful message on Instagram where he revealed how 2018, which he calls it his favorite year, is so important in his career.

“This year was my favorite year in professional wrestling because it was the most intentional of my career,” Rollins wrote. “At the start of 2018, there wasn’t a lot of buzz around me and some people were wondering (including me) if maybe my best years were behind me.”

“With the support of my friends, my fans, and my WWE family I was able to capitalize on opportunities given and transform that doubt into momentum. I hit a stride so smooth that my confidence shot through the stratosphere. I began to flourish in the roles of general and leader.

“I was able to travel the world, make new friends, share the ring with some of the most talented humans on the planet, and learn a little about a lot I didn’t know before. I don’t know what 2019 is gonna look like, but I am forever grateful that I am able to experience the life I’ve been given.

“Thank you to everyone out there that played any part in making my 2018 what it was. It’s never too late to turn it all around.”

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

Daniel Bryan Talks Being ‘The Best Wrestler on The Planet’

Jake Skudder
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2

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan recently appeared in WWE’s YouTube series entitled WWE: Day Of. The filming took place the day of the TLC PPV and Bryan was discussing his opponent in AJ Styles amongst other topics.

Towards the end of the interview Bryan started talking about his return to in-ring competition and how he is seemingly returning to his former glory. Bryan stated that “It’s interesting, there was a period when I was on the independent scene. Probably about 2007/2008 where I literally felt like there was not a better wrestler than me on the planet. And, there were guys who were better at certain things. Sure, but overall there was nobody better on the planet. And now I’m getting back to that point.”

Bryan also discussed how AJ Styles was possibly the ‘best’ when he was out injured. Bryan stated “when I was out I looked at AJ Styles. I looked at AJ Styles and thought ‘he might be the best wrestler on the planet.’ I don’t feel like that anymore. I don’t feel like AJ Styles can touch me.” Bryan also made some rather interesting comments on the independent scene and Japan in particular, saying that “I don’t feel like all the people who get hype on the internet, over in Japan or anywhere else on the independents…I don’t feel like they can touch me. There’s nobody who is better than the New Daniel Bryan.”

Check out the interview below:

NXT Superstar Shoots Down Rumor On His Future

Jake Skudder
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0

Kassius Ohno recently took to Twitter to deny rumors of his alleged upcoming release from NXT. BodySlam.net reported that Ohno was “rumored to have told multiple independent wrestling promoters he may soon be available for independent bookings and appearances.”

Ohno sent out a message saying that “You couldn’t be more wrong. Get better sources!
First time I’m hearing of @BodyslamNet & I presume it will be the last.” Kassius has been performing for several independent promotions whilst under his NXT contract. These include some of the bigger indies such as PROGRESS, ICW and EVOLVE.

In other Ohno news: EVOLVE Wrestling has announced the opponents for Kassius Ohno at two upcoming events. Ohno will wrestle EVOLVE Champion Fabian Aichner at EVOLVE 115 while he’ll take on Shane Strickland at EVOLVE 116.

EVOLVE 115 goes down on December 15th in Queens, NY while EVOLVE 116 takes place on December 16th in Deer Park, NY. The promotion sent out the announcement on Twitter by writing the following, JUST SIGNED: NXT star and ex-EVOLVE Champ Kassius Ohno will challenge EVOLVE Champion Fabian Aichner at EVOLVE 115 on Nov. 9th in the Detroit area! JUST SIGNED: Kassius Ohno vs. Shane Strickland at EVOLVE 116 on Nov. 10th in the Chicago area! http://Ticketfly.com for info.”

Ronda Rousey Talks TLC Main Event Intervention

Jake Skudder
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1

Ronda Rousey recently held a Q&A on her YouTube channel. The RAW Women’s Champion discussed a number of topics with the main highlight being her intervention in the TLC Main Event. Rousey interfered and cost Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch the match, leaving Asuka to climb the ladder and grab the Smackdown Women’s Championship.

Rousey said that “I have a lot of respect for Asuka and I’ve always have. I didn’t really want to rain on her parade at the Royal Rumble. I just wanted to come out and congratulate her and bring more eyes to her incredible moment. She didn’t seem too thrilled about that.” Rousey then turned her attention to Lynch and Flair, stating that “At TLC, both Charlotte and Becky are a bunch of cheaters, they had it coming to them. I don’t have to explain my actions to anybody. I was completely justified by my actions.” Ronda elaborated further, saying that “Payback is a b—- and Askua deserves to be champion more than either of them. She’s never had to cheat. She never had to walk out of a match because she was losing. She’s just the best and now she’s the champ.”

You can check out the full Q&A below.

Credit to Ronda Rousey and H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

NJPW New Beginning In USA Shows Sell Out Quickly

Chris Stephens
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1

NJPW’s New Beginning in the USA tour is sold-out. Both the January 30th show in Los Angeles and the February 1st’s show in Charlotte, NC were sold-out in mere minutes today.

Kevin Kelly broke the news on Twitter:

As is usually the case for any sold-out event, a limited number of tickets could be put on sale at a later date.

Expected Attendance At NJPW New Beginning USA

Charlotte, North Carolina’s Grady Cole Center is listed at holding 3,000-3,9000 people. It’s hard to find attendance numbers for LA’s Globe Theatre. PWG held a show there in the spring. One website lists 1500 as a possible capacity but I have no idea how reliable it is.

New Japan Pro Wrestling Ticket Sales

New Japan Pro Wrestling has also been touting that tickets to Wrestle Kingdom 13 are selling even faster than they did last year.

Tickets to New Year’s Dash, NJPW’s “Night after WK” in Korakuen Hall, are sold to only club members and are said to be nearly impossible to obtain.

The strong ticket sales are the latest in a string of good financial news for the company. A report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter earlier this week stated the company’s total earnings are up 25% this year.

Eddie Edwards Reacts To Sami Callihan Winning Impact Wrestler Of The Year

Chris Stephens
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3

Eddie Edwards received a broken orbital bone in January after a botched baseball bat spot with Sami Callihan. At Impact Wrestling’s January 2018 tapings, Callihan struck Edwards in the eye with a baseball bat. Callihan had been swinging at a chair which was positioned atop Edwards at the time.

This week, Impact Wrestling fans voted Sami Callihan as the promotion’s MVP of the year. They also voted the infamous baseball bat spot as “Moment of the Year”.

Eddie Edwards Reacts To Sami Callihan’s Awards

Edwards, who will face Moose at Homecoming, reacted to Callihan’s awards.

Edwards spoke to Sports Illustrated not long after the incident. He said his initial concern was losing his eye.

“Losing my eye was my immediate concern. As soon as I got hit, I put my hand over my eye, started walking up the ramp to the back and all I was thinking was that I really hoped my eye was not hanging out of my head or in my hand.”

Callihan also spoke with TMZ Sports not long after the botched spot took place.

“I hit this man in the face with a baseball bat and in the last 24 hours I’ve been getting all this hate and all this negativity online and Impact says ‘Yo, you have to go out of your way to make this right,'” Callihan said. “People are saying we crossed the line, so from the bottom of my heart, I have to tell each and every one of you that I’m not sorry for a single thing that happened. Look at me and tell me I’m not being serious. I do not feel bad. TMZ is messaging and interviewing Eddie Edwards when they should be interviewing me. The most dangerous man in professional wrestling today. Oh yeah, and Jim Cornette, you can kiss my ass too.”

WWE Network To Air 4 New Shows Next Week

Chris Stephens
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1

The WWE Network will air 4 new shows over the next week. Over the holidays, the WWE Network will feature a cooking show, gaming show, a Fashion Files cold-case episode, and a blooper show hosted by the Club.

4 New WWE Network Shows Announced

Fashion Files: Cold Case Unit

A new episode of Fashion Files will air on the Network December 24th. Fandango and Tyler Breeze will try and solve the cold case of “the Mysterious Pie Face Perpetrator”. The tag-team will look to solve the long-running mystery of who threw a pie at Kevin Owens a few weeks back. The show will start at 11 PM est following a taped airing of Raw.

Xavier’s Arcade Challenge

On December 25th, the WWE Network will feature Xavier Woods’ new gaming show. Woods will visit the arcade scene in different cities on the show playing games such as “NBA Jam”. He visits Philadelphia first. The show will air at 7 PM est.

WWE Kitchen SmackDown

An Iron Chef type show featuring Bo Dallas will hit the Network on December 26th. Dana Brooke, Alicia Fox, and Curtis Axel will compete in a cookoff with Mark Henry Noelle Foley, and Big E as the judges. The show will air at 7 PM est.

Botch Club

Similar to the popular underground blooper series, Botchamania, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows will host a blooper show on December 27th on the Network. The “Titus Worldslide” which occurred in the Greatest Royal Rumble will be featured on the show. The show will get going at 7 PM est.

Sami Zayn Says He’s “Not Even Close” To Returning From Injury

Chris Stephens
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3

Despite recent vignettes stating he is returning soon, Sami Zayn says he is “not even close” to doing so. Zayn had double-shoulder surgery this summer. At the time, his timeline for return was listed at just before WrestleMania.

Zayn was Chris Jericho’s most recent guest on Talk is Jericho and spoke about his recovery from double rotator cuff surgery. Jericho asked him if he is close to returning on the show.

“No, I’m not even close, I need a few more months,” Zayn said about his pending return.

He would later mention he is currently rehabbing at the WWE Performance Center.

Sami Zayn On Being Injured

Zayn also said he’s been enjoying his time away from WWE.

“I know wrestling fans, maybe don’t want to hear this, but I’ve been loving being off,” Zayn said. “I think wrestling fans want to hear, ‘I can’t wait to be back and I miss everything.’ I don’t miss anything, I don’t miss it yet. I’m surprised by how little I’ve missed it. Five months and I don’t miss it. What’s up with that?”

Kevin Owens is also scheduled to come back in the first quarter of 2019. Zayn also spoke to his friendship with Owens on the show with Jericho:

“He lives like two blocks from me and when he lived in Montreal, he lived like two blocks from me. We can’t get away from each other if we tried. I get moved to RAW, he gets moved to RAW. Even when he got signed he got put into a program with me right away and since our names have been linked here in one way or another since. We can’t get away from each other if we tried. I’m sure he’d like to get away a little bit. There are times I’d like to get away a bit. It’s good.”

Several other topics were discussed by Jericho and Zayn on the episode. They opted to title the show “The Mental State of Sami Zayn”.

Impact Wrestling’s Scott D’Amore Speaks On New TV Deal

Chris Stephens
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6

Impact Wrestling will be moving to the Pursuit Channel in 2019. The first episode of Impact Wrestling on their new channel will be on Friday, January 11th, 2019 at 10 PM. Anthem Sports and Entertainment owns a minority stake in the Pursuit channel as well.

Impact co-Vice President, Scott D’Amore, spoke to Nick Hausman of the WINCLY podcast regarding the move:

“First and foremost, I have to say POP TV — despite all the frustrations that are our very passionate fan base has — they have been a very supportive partner over the years that we’ve been there, and they’ve been supportive through this process,” D’Amore said. “We’ve been looking and evaluating things on an ongoing basis, when myself and Don [Callis] came on board at the beginning of the year, we always said it was going to be a slow process. It was going to be a bunch of small victories, a bunch of small maneuvers that would lead us to bigger and better things. We think we had a great 2018 where we made a lot of positive steps, and as we look back to the beginning of the year to where we are now, we’re very hopeful and excited about things.”

Impact Wrestling Moves To The Pursuit Channel

A key part to the deal appears to be the demographics of who watches Pursuit versus who watches POP.

“POP is changing up things on the network and while both sides acknowledged we were never the right fit for a female-dominated network, we enjoyed a few years together,” D’Amore continued. “We’ve been looking at moving on, doing some other things, as we looked at the options it seemed like the best time to make a move to Pursuit, which is a sister company to Impact Wrestling. There’s an ownership stake that [Impact parent company] Anthem Sports & Entertainment has in them and Pursuit is a male-dominated demographic.”

Jay White Officially Declared New Bullet Club Leader

Chris Stephens
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When “Switchblade” Jay White joined Bullet Club at King of Pro Wrestling this fall, it was made clear he was not the new leader. A few weeks after his defection, White commented that he was not the faction’s leader in a backstage promo.

https://twitter.com/JJWilliamsWON/status/1053850457263800323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1053850457263800323&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mandatory.com%2Fwrestlezone%2Fnews%2F1012317-jay-white-leader-bullet-club-passionate-promo

Evidently, something has changed. Today, Bullet Club founding member, Tama Tonga, declared on his social media accounts that White is, in fact, the new Bullet Club leader.

Jay White Bullet Club Leader

Jay White was scouted into NJPW and Bullet Club by Prince Devitt in early 2014. Devitt was performing on a VPW show in Australia and was impressed by White. Not long after Devitt’s visit, White received a phone call from Bad Luck Fale, who has a dojo in White’s native New Zealand.

Arrangements were made for White to train at the New Japan Dojo starting in early 2015. He would leave for excursion to the United States the following year. He would return in time to challenge Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 12. This year at Wrestle Kingdom, White has another top NJPW star opposing him. White, with Gedo in his corner, will take on Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 13. The two have built up an intense rivalry after White spent much of 2018 ruffling feathers from within as a member of CHAOS.

Sarah Logan & Ray Rowe Married In Viking Ceremony (Photos)

Chris Stephens
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Sarah Logan of the Riott Squadd and Ray Rowe of the War Raiders were married yesterday.

They were married in a Viking style ceremony as well. Several members of the WWE Universe, including Logan’s Riott squad teammates, were in attendance.

Liv Morgan Tweeted out the following:

Rowe and Morgan are seen just after the ceremony here:

Logan posted the following to her Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrsNusbnECB/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=g329ydzerpog

In this photo you can see 4-Horsewoman Jessamyn Duke attended the wedding as well:

https://twitter.com/KicksByNox/status/1076441515063496704

Duke also sent the following out on her Instagram account before heading to the wedding:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrpmVSkHGap/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=1e1ckctbtwmxr

NXT Women’s Champion, Shayna Baszler, isn’t one for weddings. She posted that she enjoyed the dress code for Ray Rowe and Sarah Logan’s Viking wedding, however. Baszler sent this out on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrrVuX4F8bh/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=13ra19s5ooojp

Logan posted the following this spring:

British Legend Reacts to Pro Wrestling: EVE Hall of Fame Induction

Jake Skudder
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UK promotion Pro Wrestling: EVE has inducted a British legend into their Hall of Fame. The EVE HOF will be housed in a physical location, Bishopsgate Institute in London, England.

Klondyke Kate is one of the pioneers of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom. The legend began her career at age 14 in the now famous city of Blackpool, England. William Regal of course got his start in the same territory for reference.

Kate took part in an interview with Calling Spots magazine back in 2016 and she listed her favourite opponents, including some WWE Superstars. Kate stated “I spent quite a few months working with Natalya who was then Nattie Neidhart, actually wrestled her Dad funnily enough. If I am honest I would say I really enjoyed the competition and the viciousness of working with Saraya Knight (mother of Paige).”

The British star was one of the most dominating heels of her time. At her largest Kate weighed 28 stones (around 400 pounds) and only stands at 5 foot 4. In recent years she has lost an incredible amount of weight, she mentioned to Calling Spots she had “lost about 14st 9lbs at last count.”

Kate reacted to her induction by tweeting “For every woman who thinks she can’t……I’m telling you she most certainly can!“

Congratulations to Kate and all at Pro Wrestling: EVE. You can find more info via the tweet below.

Eric Bischoff Believes Becky Lynch Is The Next Stone Cold Steve Austin

Jon Fuentes
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Former WCW President Eric Bischoff just threw out a comparison that has been making the rounds as of late. Now-former SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Becky Lynch has been getting comparisons to Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin. Lynch has become, arguably, WWE’s biggest star in recent months. After turning heel on Charlotte Flair, the WWE Universe really began to get behind “The Irish Lass Kicker.”

She went on to capture the SDL Women’s Title at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view (PPV) from Flair. However, she recently lost it to Asuka in a Triple Threat Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) match. That’s thanks in part to some interference from RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey. With that being said, Lynch is undoubtedly one of WWE’s hottest stars at the moment.

Its been quite some time since fans have gotten behind a Superstar the way they have for her. During a recent edition of the “After 83 Weeks” podcast, Bischoff explained his comparison between Lynch and Austin:

“I’m more of a Becky Lynch fan right now than I have been a fan of anybody in the last fifteen years. It’s because about two weeks ago I began noticing her social media, tweets, the messages she was putting out…

“If she has somebody writing them for her, I want to know who that person is because they are a really smart writer. If she doesn’t have somebody [writing the tweets] for her and she’s doing it herself, she’s going to be the next Stone Cold Steve Austin for WWE because she is a believable character.

“Forget about what I’ve seen on television. I’m not discarding it, but setting it aside. Her ability to capture my imagination on social media was profound. I mean, I went, whoa! She’s got it! She’s becoming so believable and unique and you can’t teach that.“

What do you think of Bischoff’s comparison between Lynch and Austin?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2alxPmRda_8&feature=youtu.be

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Update: Asuka vs Becky Lynch Not Official For Royal Rumble 2019

Chris Stephens
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Despite the match being announced on a recent episode of Main Event, Asuka vs Becky Lynch is not confirmed for the Royal Rumble. Former Smackdown General Manager, Paige, Tweeted that she made the match before she was relieved of her position and that the match is not official.

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/1076219918637395968?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

“Soooo I tried to make one last match before my time as GM came to end…but unfortunately vs. for the Smackdown Women’s Championship is NOT official for . ”

Paige’s statements do leave the door open for the match still taking place, however, only the match is not official. It’s not clear what led to the match being announced and then later retracted.

Royal Rumble 2019

Three matches are confirmed so far for the Royal Rumble PPV this year. Braun Strowman will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. There will also be the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches with R-Truth and Carmella having earned the 30th entrant in their respective Rumbles.

Royal Rumble 2019 is scheduled for January 27th, 2019 from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

John Cena Praises Becky Lynch

John Cena offered up some praise for Lynch earlier.

“I love any instance where people feel comfortable enough with self to be expressive,” Cena said of Lunch. “For so long I didn’t know what or who Becky Lynch was. And now I do. And that fires me up.”

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