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Dean Ambrose To Appear On Raw This Week, Top Ten Sinister Superstar Traps

Anutosh Bajpai
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Dean Ambrose To Appear On Raw This Week

Dean Ambrose was not present for last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw. WWE explained his absence with an angle of several pre-taped videos where he was seen trying to avoid Milwaukee.

Now the company has announced via the following video that the Lunatic Fringe will make an appearance at tonight’s episode of the show to address his TLC opponent and Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins:

It’s possible that we will finally see a confrontation between these two stars for the first time since Ambrose’s heel turn last month and it will be interesting to see what Rollins has to say if it happens.

Top Ten Sinister Superstar Traps

WWE posted another one of the top 10 videos from their YouTube account recently and this time it features the top ten ‘Sinister Superstar traps’.

The list begins with Mr. McMahon setting up a trap for arch-rival Stone Cold Steve Austin during a Royal Rumble match and beating him up with help from other wrestlers.

It has a lot more Steve Austin and also features some other trap angles which see a number of top superstars getting ambushed. You can check out the video posted by WWE below:

Lana Thought We Were Getting The Women’s Tag Titles At Evolution

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

While we don’t know when WWE is actually going to introduce the Women’s Tag Team Championships, they keep the discussion for it alive by having various superstars talk about it. This time it was Lana’s turn to do so.

The SmackDown Star was recently interviewed by Markeia McCarty where she talked about a number of things related to women’s revolution as seen below:

https://youtu.be/9AfJnVUOGWA

Discussing the recent Evolution PPV, Lana claimed that it was incredible and many of the female locker room members couldn’t have even imagined having an all women’s PPV.

She then said that she is very thankful for the experience to be a part of it and brought up the topic everybody has been discussing for the past several months.

The female star said that she was hoping that they will announce the Women’s tag titles on the same night and she felt like it was going to happen when they called everyone on the stage at the end of the show.

While this didn’t turn out to be the case and the angle was just a way to culminate the event, continuing on the topic, Lana said that it’s still exciting to be able to work towards these things. She hoped that one of these days they are going to get the tag titles.

Was Evolution the best opportunity to announce the Women’s Tag Titles which WWE missed? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Lance Storm Says Gail Kim Is The Greatest Of All Time

Chris Stephens
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Gail Kim was inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. She subsequently retired from in-ring competition in February.  Lance Storm believes Kim to be a G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time). He made his opinions known on Twitter recently:

https://twitter.com/LanceStorm/status/1069275387845214208

Gail Kim Involved In Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie Rivalry

Despite seemingly being retired, however, Kim made an appearance on Impact Wrestling this week. She prevented Tessa Blanchard from strangling a referee. Blanchard has been having her issues with referees as of late. She punched one in order to get purposely disqualified in her rematch with Taya as well.

Kim has mentioned that if she ever does decide to come out of retirement, she’d have her return match for Impact.

Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie III has been booked for Homecoming. The event will take place January 6th, 2019 from Nashville.

Earlier this year, Kim spoke to Women’s Wrestling Weekly about why she decided to retire.

“My back was starting to deteriorate and basically what happened was I just couldn’t walk after a couple of matches here and there. I never had an MRI and I never knew what was going on in my body for so long, and then it was coming to point where I was always wrestling and not being able to walk after. And I was like ‘ It’s time, I need to know what is going on. It’s a scary thought, but you have to know so you can help it’.So, I got an MRI done and I guess, I’m grateful it wasn’t worse.”

“My L4 and my L5, pretty much the discs, was just basically all gone and there was just a thin layer left to the point, it could be bone on bone soon. Basically, I made the decision that I didn’t want to keep on going, where I had to have that major surgery because that minor surgery; he (the doctor) told me I can get back in the ring in 7 weeks and that 7 weeks turned into 7 months.”

NXT UK Star Pulled from Frontline Wrestling’s J-1 League Tournament

Jake Skudder
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UK promotion Frontline Wrestling has confirmed some big changes to their J-1 League tournament. The Will Ospreay owned company released a statement on the ongoing tournament and one of the NXT UK affiliated stars that needed to be pulled.

The company stated that Martin Kirby, Travis Banks & Kyle Fletcher would be removed from the tournament. Frontline wrote that “Kirby unfortunately would only be able to make 1 out of the 6 shows in 2019 due to a scheduling conflict with another promotion.”

Frontline also confirmed that NXT UK Superstar Travis Banks would be removed as he “is signed with NXT UK and will not be able to participate with any Frontline Wrestling events.” Kyle Fletcher has taken out of the Junior Division tournament as he “competed for the PROGRESS Atlas Championship which now puts him at 205lbs (93KG). The weight limit to be a Jr Heavyweight is 85KG.”

New Entrants

The company confirmed that they are “now searching for 3 of the top Jr Heavyweights to take their place all starting from 0 points. Thank you for understanding. Two of the situations are out of our hands, but we are extremely serious about weight categories in Frontline and do not wish to stray.”

On Demand Service

Frontline revealed their new On Demand streaming service via the Pivotshare platform earlier this year. The service is available at a $4.99 per month cost and features the first two shows from the company. ‘Build Me An Empire’ and ‘S.P.I.R.I.T’ took place earlier this year and feature a stellar line up of talent.

Bulld Me An Empire is certainly worth the cost alone. The main event featured an outrageous bout between Chris Ridgeway and Japan’s KENOH. Ridgeway is an accomplished ‘strong style’ combatant in his own right but this match at the top of the card will be the bout that catapults him into the upper echelons of both the UK scene and, hopefully, Japan (much like how Ospreay’s bout against Okada for Rev Pro got him on a plane going East). We spoke to Ospreay earlier this year and he discussed his want to bring ‘puroresu‘ to the United Kingdom, this big time main event and the reaction from the crowd in attendance seems to solidify that strong style/puroresu has truly arrived in Britain.

LA Park Vs Sami Callihan, Falls Count Anywhere, Booked For MLW Never Say Never

Chris Stephens
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0

A Falls Count Anywhere match between LA Park and Sami Callihan will take place on December 13th in Miami. The match has been booked as part of MLW’s Never Say Never event the night before their live special on December 14th for BeIN Sports.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1069230773876731904

Park had previously been booked to wrestle PCO that night. PCO has signed with Ring of Honor, however, and has since pulled out of the event.

An MLW press release explained PCO’s departure as follows:

“PCO has withdrawn from his December 13th Falls Count Anywhere in Miami bout and has suspiciously vanished from the league. ”

LA Park vs Sami Callihan

“As league officials worked through the weekend on a new opponent for LA Park,” An MLW press release reads. “Rumblings about a falling out between Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado and their hired mercenary Sami Callihan began to surface.  Some claim Saline de la Renta was furious with Callihan failing to take out Lawlor last month in Chicago.  Another source claims LA Park was disrespectful towards Callihan backstage and it triggered Callihan into demanding a match.  While details are sketchy, one thing is for sure: there is bad blood between Callihan and Promociones Dorado.”

The match will be taped as part of the promotion’s Fusion tapings. Fusion airs Friday nights on BeIN Sports and full episodes are posted to YouTube the following day at 6:05 PM.

205 Live Superstar Noam Dar Talks Hydro Return and ICW/WWE Affiliation

Jake Skudder
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Noam Dar will be returning to ICW tonight for their Fear & Loathing XI event in Glasgow’s Hydro. The Scottish Supernova will be taking on Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate and Trent Seven in a huge bout.

Dar recently spoke to Scotland’s Sunday Post on his return to the company. When discussing his return to the Hydro he stated “I’m looking forward to creating those kind of memories again, this time with ICW.” Dar made his WWE RAW debut in the famous Glasgow arena, he described that experience saying “that whole night, the experience and atmosphere was mind-blowing. I can remember a lot of anticipation beforehand not knowing where and when I’d debut and get things started.”

Dar also discussed the well reported working relationship between ICW and WWE. Dar stated “I think it’s important to be able to highlight and showcase that these promotions like ICW exist with WWE and especially now that there’s a great working relationship there.” When talking about his return to ICW he claimed that  “I think that’s WWE’s token of gratitude to ICW; to allow guys that were homegrown there to come and put performances on now and again to give back and help. I think that’s really important to the development of the company and us personally, it’s really good to have these opportunities.”

You can check out the full interview here

Best Friends Showing Signs Of Dissension On World Tag League Tour

Chris Stephens
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1

A tag team which has been successful in Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and PWG might be falling apart on the World Tag League Tour. Chuckie T has gotten himself disqualified in multiple matches now and even took a swing at his partner and supposed best friend, Beretta.

Most recently on the World Tag League Tour, Chuckie T got disqualified for hitting Michael Elgin with the chair. It looked as though he was going to again take a shot at Beretta when his partner came to stop him, only Chuckie just went in for the hug instead. Beretta has been acting suspicious of his partner during at least the last 3 round-robin matches.

The team is 5-4 in the round robin thus far and by no means out of the running to make the finals. The dissension the team has been showing, however, seems to indicate they might not even be together much longer.

https://twitter.com/SexyChuckieT/status/1068888173202165761

Is Chuckie T Jay White’s Mole?

Chuckie T’s actions in the World Tag League also bring up the possibility that he is the mole Jay White has been referring to. Earlier this fall, White said he still had a mole working for him from within Chaos. As the Best Friends Are technically a Chaos team, it’s possible Chuckie could turn out to be the mole Jay White was referring to.

PAC Announced for Rev Pro High Stakes 2019

Jake Skudder
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Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) has announced that PAC will be heading to Bethnal Green in February. The company’s ‘High Stakes 2019’ event takes place on February 15th from the world famous York Hall in London.

This comes after Rev Pro announced that PAC would be facing Zack Sabre Jr in 2019. The former WWE Superstar will be heading to ‘Live at The Cockpit’ at The Cockpit Theatre in London on January 6th. PAC recently appeared for Rev Pro at their recent Portsmouth show, where he faced Mike Bailey.

In other PAC news Dragon Gate announced a huge Championship match for their December 4th show in Korakuen Hall. The former PAC/Neville will be facing Masato Yoshino. The bout will be contested for Yoshino’s Open The Dream Gate Championship.

PAC recently took part in his first singles match since leaving WWE. The former Neville faced Flamita in an International Special Singles Match for Dragon Gate’s ‘The Gate of Destiny’ event (11/04). PAC took the win after hitting his renamed ‘Black Arrow’ in around 18 minutes. You can check out some of the highlights from the incredible bout here

NJPW World Tag League Korakuen Hall (11/30) Results

Jake Skudder
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0

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s November scheduling is usually dominated by the World Tag League shows – and 2018 is no different. This year’s lineup of shows will of course feature some of NJPW’s top stars, but there are some notable exceptions. Some of the shows will be available on NJPWWorld.

Here’s the full results for the World Tag League in Korakuen Hall (11/30):

Results

  • 1st WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Tournament Match: Toa Henare & Togi Makabe b. Ayato Yoshida & Shota Umino – Henare took the win after hitting a Samoan Drop on Umino
  • 2nd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Tournament Match: Best Friends (Beretta & Chuckie T) b. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata – Chuckie T took the win following the Tornado Clutch on Nagata
  • 3rd WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Tournament Match: David Finlay & Juice Robinson b. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) – Robinson took the win after hitting the Pulp Friction on Kojima
  • 4th WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Tournament Match: Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka) b. BULLET CLUB (Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi) – Suzuki took the win after hitting the Gotch-style piledriver on Takahashi
  • 5th WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Tournament Match: Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) b. Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.) – Archer and Smith Jr took the win after hitting the Killer Bomb on Taichi
  • 6th WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Tournament Match: CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) b. Jeff Cobb & Michael Elgin – Ishii took the win after hitting the Vertical Brain Buster on Elgin
  • 7th WORLD TAG LEAGUE 2018 Tournament Match: Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) b. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA) – Loa took the win after hitting a Super Power Bomb on SANADA
  • BULLET CLUB (Bad Luck Fale, Gedo, Jay White & Taiji Ishimori) b.  CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero), Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA – Ishimori took the win after hitting the Bloody Cross on Romero

Impact Wrestling Announces Ultimate X Qualifying Match

Chris Stephens
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1

Impact Wrestling has announced the second qualifying match for the Ultimate X scheduled for Homecoming on January 6th. On Impact this week the first match, Ethan Page vs Matt Sydal was confirmed.

Willie Mack will take on Jake Crist from OVE on the next episode as well with the winner qualifying for Ultimate X.

The Ultimate X match at Homecoming will crown a new X division champion. Former champion, Brian Cage, will cash in “option C” that night and face Impact world champion, Johnny Impact.

Homecoming – January 6th, 2019 – Nashville Fairgrounds

  • Impact World Championship
    Johnny Impact (c) vs Brian Cage
  • Knockouts Championship
    Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
  • X-Division Championship
    Ultimate X Match
    TBD vs TBD vs TBD vs TBD
  • Impact Tag Team Championships
    LAX (c) vs Pentagon and Fenix

Next Week On Impact Wrestling

Several matches have already been announced for next week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.

  • Johnny Impact & Taya Valkyrie vs Tessa Blanchard & Moose
  • Dark Allie debuts
  • Ultimate X Qualifier
    Matt Sydal vs Ethan Page
  • Ultimate X Qualifier
  • Jake Crist vs Willie Mack

The show will be the 4th from the promotion’s Las Vegas tapings held last month.

Impact Wrestling airs Thursdays at 10 PM on POP TV. The show is also broadcast globally through the Fight Network and other international television deals.

Titus O’Neil Honored On 2018 EBONY Power List

Chris Stephens
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Titus O’Neil has been honored on the 2018 EBONY Power List. O’Neil attended the EBONY Power 100 Gala on Friday night.

“Last night at the @EBONYMag #EbonyPower100 I had the opportunity to Sit&Enjoy what God has Done with my Life. I haven’t done anything outside of Being obedient to my Purpose,Love&Care 4others As others did for me&Above Everything else Unapologetically Be WHO GOD MADE ME TO BE!”

O’Neil joins such honorees as the NBA’s James Harden and Stephen Curry, as well as tennis champion Venus Williams,” a WWE press release reads. “As an MVP honoree, O’Neil will be featured in the December/January issue of EBONY magazine and on EBONY.com.”

Titus O’Neil

O’Neil’s charitable work includes working with the United Way’s Walking School Bus program and providing scholarships for youth in his home city of Tampa Bay. He is also a Lightning Community Hero with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

His efforts with Titus Worldwide have not been as successful, however. In recent months, both Apollo Crews and Dana Brooke have left the faction. The 41-year-old generally wrestles on live events and episodes of Main Event now. In recent weeks he has been defeating Curt Hawkins and also Mojo Rawley on those shows. He defeated Rawley on main event in his last match on November 26th.

Xavier Woods Says Complaining Wrestling Fans Are “Entitled Infants”

Chris Stephens
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Xavier Woods has no time for fans who complain about wrestling they don’t like. He made his comments during a recent WWE press conference in Manila.

“When people talk about the difference between the organizations – not even organizations – between like NXT and the main roster. So when they say like, ‘Oh man! Takeover killed it. SummerSlam, this is gonna suck!’” Woods said. “It’s on the same company. What is there to complain about?”

“And then like, you can watch New Japan. You can watch Triple A. You can watch so much wrestling from all corners of the world. And it’s all awesome and it’s all good. It’s all different guys and girls portraying their form of art that they love – that they wanna give to you,” he continued.

Woods said that as a performer it can be frustrating to give maximum effort and then receive criticism from a subset of the audience.

“So anytime anyone complains about wrestling it’s so annoying to me because people come off as these entitled infants,” Woods said.

Woods would then say the following:

“Because in reality, wrestling hurts so bad. And then we’re hurting ourselves to entertain the masses. And sometimes the masses wanna tell us how much it sucks,” he concluded.

Kurt Angle Praises WWE NXT Star, Talks Who He Would Want To Wrestle In Last Match

Andrew Ravens
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WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently did a Q&A on Facebook and commented on a number of interesting topics. Right off the bat, one fan asked him about who he thinks could be called up to the main roster next. This is where he noted that he would think it would be The Velveteen Dream and gave him some praise.

“I’m liking this Velveteen Dream kid. It’s different and he has a lot of promise. I remember meeting him at an Indy show 5 years ago. He’s come a long way!”

Angle also talked about who he would like to wrestle in his final match, which he noted that’s a tough question as there is so much talent in the WWE right now.

“AJ [Styles] or [Samoa] Joe or [Seth] Rollins or [Daniel] Bryan. Then you have Sheamus and Cesaro. [Baron] Corbin. [Chad] Gable and [Jason] Jordan. I’d have to go with either Rollins or Bryan. Only because I’ve never wrestled them and I’ve had my eye on them for 5 years.”

Finally, the WWE Hall of Famer talked about his favorite year in the WWE which is a hard question to answer due to the great career that he had with the company. He gave two different time periods.

“From a championship perspective, 2000-2001. From a workhorse perspective, 2001-2006. Yes, all 5 years. Why? Because I was undoubtedly the best in WWE during those 5 years. I’m not bragging, I’m being honest. My only setback was the neck injuries.”

Roderick Strong Teases Working EVOLVE Event

Andrew Ravens
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It appears that yet another WWE NXT star will be working under the EVOLVE banner as Roderick Strong is teasing just that on Twitter.

He noted in a recent account that he could be appearing at the EVOLVE 117 event and teased that he might just end up challenging EVOLVE Champion and WWE NXT superstar Fabian Aichner for the title. He brought up how he has won every title under the WWN banner except for the EVOLVE Title. It should be noted that WWN is the parent company of EVOLVE.

EVOLVE 117 goes down on December 15th in Queens, NY while EVOLVE 118 takes place on December 16th in Deer Park, NY.

Strong wrote the following in his post on his official Twitter account, “Thought of the day- NXT Superstars holding #EVOLVE titles? Well there are no bigger Superstars than the #UndisputedERA and I’ve won just about every @WWNLive title but the #EVOLVE title. So Maybe Dec. 15th I come to La Boom and #ShocktheSystem? #OurERA.”

EVOLVE 117 Card

  • Kassius Ohno vs. Darby Allin.
  • EVOLVE Champion Fabian Aichner vs. Austin Theory.
  • EVOLVE Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. TBA vs. AR Fox & Leon Ruff.

EVOLVE 118 Card

  • Darby Allin & The Street Profits vs. Austin Theory & TBA.
  • Kassius Ohno vs. Anthony Henry.

Lucha Star Taking Advantage Of Recent Negative Publicity

Jon Fuentes
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10

A very unfortunate incident occurred last month during a Lucha Memes and Lucha Libre Boom event on +LuchaTV. Wrestlers Demonio and El Cuervo de Puerto Rico competed in a match at “Rumores Blasfoemos.” During the bout, Demonio tossed a concrete block outside of the ring at Cuervo, hitting him in the head. Cuervo was knocked unconscious for a brief period of time before waking back up.

It appears that Demonio tossing the concrete block was a receipt for some hard chair shots from Cuervo earlier in the match. Cuervo required brain surgery to remove a blood clot as a result of the incident. As for Demonio, he was indefinitely suspended by Mexico’s Boxing and Wrestling Commission. Earlier this week it was announced that Cuervo had finally been released from the hospital after his brain surgery.

Demonio, on the other hand, seems to be reaping the rewards of Cuervo’s injuries. He has recently been promoted by The Lucha Juarez promotion in Mexico as a top star, and they’re even using the cinder block used on Cuervo as a big selling point. Since the incident, Demonio has seen a rise in bookings under the name “The Brick Thrower.”

Despite his newfound fame, Demonio released the following statement regarding the incident with Cuervo:

“I feel very bad for the guy, I am devastated as a person and dismayed for Cuervo, for me it has been very difficult  these days, I just ask that it (surgery) goes well”

If you haven’t already, take a look at Demonio hitting Cuervo with the concrete block here:

What do you think about Demonio’s recent promotional push?

Nia Jax Tells Ronda Rousey To Learn How To Wrestle

Jon Fuentes
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15

Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax have begun their social media back-and-forth ahead of their title bout. Rousey will defend her RAW Women’s Championship against Jax at the Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) pay-per-view (PPV). Jax earned the opportunity when she won a Battle Royal at Evolution, WWE’s first-ever all-female PPV.

Rousey was briefly involved in a feud against SmackDown Live’s Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, however, for now, she’ll focus her attention on Jax. Jax has garnered quite a bit of heel heat for herself in recent weeks. Things really kicked off for her when she legitimately broke Becky Lynch’s nose and gave her a concussion on an episode of RAW.

As a result, Lynch was removed from last month’s Survivor Series PPV, and fans have held a grudge ever since. This won’t be the first time Rousey and Jax have shared the ring. At the Money In The Bank PPV earlier this year, Jax defended the RAW Women’s Title against Rousey. However, MITB briefcase winner Alexa Bliss attacked both women before cashing-in, defeating Jax for the title.

Rousey went on to defeat Bliss at SummerSlam for the RAW Women’s Title, which she has held ever since. Recently, Rousey took to Instagram and threw out a shot at Jax ahead of TLC. Jax responded by telling Rousey to lay off social media, and instead spend more time “learning how to wrestle”:

“The #IrresistibleForce and the #MonolithicMute are apparently some busy ladies with no spare time to catch the ass whoopin’ that’s coming to them. Good thing this Monday on #RAW @niajaxwwe and @saronasnukawwe have a hot double date with me and @natbynature. And the tables will turn, cause this time THEY are going to be the ones leaving repulsed by their choices. #RowdyHartVsMuteForce”

“I don’t have time for a social media war. spend less time on here and more time learning how to wrestle”

https://twitter.com/NiaJaxWWE/status/1068628278003539968

What do you think of Jax’s comments to Rousey?

David Arquette Responds To Jake Roberts’ Criticism

Jon Fuentes
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4

David Arquette’s recent return to the professional wrestling world has been met with a lot of criticism. Arquette won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship back in the early 2000s. This came shortly after his success in the film “Ready To Rumble,” which was a big hit with the professional wrestling community.

WCW made the decision to bring in Arquette for real storylines, and he eventually won the World Title. Arquette’s reign as World Champion was viewed as a huge embarrassment and a key contributor to WCW eventually going out of business. Almost 20 years later, however, Arquette wants to earn the respect of the professional wrestling community and lessen to blow his reign had on his reputation.

He has been competing on the independent circuit for the past few months. Recently, Arquette took part in a controversial Hardcore match with Nick Gage. On a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, WWE Hall Of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts reviewed the match with Joe Rogan. Roberts doesn’t seem to be much of a fan of Arquette’s in-ring work. The Hall Of Famer told Arquette to get a “day job.”

Arquette Responds To Roberts

Speaking to Booker T on the “Heated Conversations” podcast recently, Arquette responded to Roberts’ comments:

“I was supposed to do a Game Changer event during SummerSlam, I think, in New York, and it didn’t work out with my schedule or whatever, so I had to back out last minute and I was supposed to wrestle Ethan Page, who is an incredible wrestler, and so is Nick Gage.

“I’m not knocking that guy, but it wasn’t gonna be a hardcore match. It was gonna be a regular match, but then Joey Ryan got injured recently, so they had a slot open up and it was in L.A., my hometown. Nick Gage, I wasn’t really aware of him. I knew of him, but I wasn’t really aware of the extent of the whole thing.

“After I started researching him [laughter], I’m like, ‘What am I getting myself into?’ So, I agreed to do it and I’m crazier than some people know. Hollywood definitely knows. That’s why I don’t work quite as much as maybe I’d like to, but I’m real. I always loved Mick Foley, I always loved Terry Funk, – I always loved Jake “The Snake” until he said I should get a day job. I got a day job, Jake The Snake, I got a day job, thank you.”

What do you think about Arquette’s responds to Roberts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m13ALmCEow8

H/T WrestleZone for the transcriptions

NXT TakeOver Moved To Friday Night Of WrestleMania 35 Weekend

Chris Stephens
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3

WWE has announced a change to WrestleMania 35 weekend. NXT TakeOver will now take place on Friday night that weekend as opposed to Saturday. The Hall of Fame ceremony will now take place on Saturday night instead.

“WWE will be going back to its previous WrestleMania Week schedule with NXT TakeOver on Friday, April 5 and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, April 6. We believe this better serves our fans,” WWE stated to Pro Wrestling Sheet.

The change in schedule also means WWE avoids going head-to-head with ROH/NJPW. The G1 Supercard is scheduled for April 6th, 2019 from Madison Square Garden.

WrestleMania 35 Weekend

WrestleMania 35 takes place Sunday, April 7th, 2019 from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. As has become custom in recent years, however, a weeklong celebration will be held in the area.

“WrestleMania is more than just a one-day event,” a WWE press release reads. “It is a week-long celebration. In addition to WrestleMania, other events include: WrestleMania Axxess®, WWE’s interactive fan festival, and four spectacular live events taking place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, including the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony; NXT® TakeOver®, Monday Night Raw® and SmackDown® Live.”

“WWE will also host activities designed to give back to the local community during WrestleMania Week including Be a STAR® bullying prevention rallies, hospital visits and Make-A-Wish events. “

PCO Signs With Ring Of Honor

Chris Stephens
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1

Pierre Carl Ouelette, now known as PCO, has signed with Ring of Honor. The news comes 2 weeks after SEScoops exclusive report revealed PCO’s rival, Brody King, had done the same.

The 50-year-old will be leaving MLW as a result of his new contract with ROH. The exclusive contract will also prevent him from appearing for Black Label Pro as well.

PCO teased the news earlier on Twitter:

Signing with ROH also opens up the possibility both PCO and Brody King could compete with NJPW as well.

PCO Revitalizes Career in 2018

PCO appeared on the Steve Austin podcast in September. During the interview, he referred to 2018 as the best year of his career, including the years he was with WWE.

“The greatest year of my life as far as a pro-wrestler because I’m making more money this year than I made in 1993 with Vince, in 1995 with Vince, in 1998, 1999, or in 1996 with WCW.”

In terms of what is left for the man who recently bit the head of a fish, PCO had this to say:

“My goal is to fight the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 35. My PCO character is a bit like a French Frankenstein, and is tailor-made to fight the Deadman,” PCO said to Grizzly Media earlier this summer. “I am presently in an incredible form, and I am in all the major events of the independent scene. I declined an offer from TNA because I really believe that I can reach WWE for one last run.”

It looks as though the rivalry between Brody King and PCO will continue in 2019, this time in Ring of Honor.

Cody Announces Charitable Partnership With RedRover

Chris Stephens
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1

In 2018, Cody has begun supporting various charities by donating money from Meet and Greets, t-shirts, and other fundraising efforts. Yesterday, Cody revealed a new T-shirt with all proceeds going to the animal welfare charity, RedRover.

“Pharaoh, Winston, and Ultra Tito present to you this “Elite Dogs” shirt! W/PROCEEDS GOING TO RedRover! RedRover helps animals rescued from disasters/neglect, domestic violence victims seeking safety w/their pets, animals with life-threatening illnesses.

Cody’s Charitable Work

Cody also donated his earnings from the NWA 70th Anniversary show to charity. He later posted a receipt to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for the amount of $2000.

RedRover Animal Welfare Charity

RedRover listed the following as their missions statement: “RedRover helps animals rescued from disasters or neglect, domestic violence victims seeking safety with their pets, and animals with life-threatening illnesses. We use innovative solutions to prevent cruelty.”

The animal welfare organization has put boots on the ground in areas devastated by the Camp Fire, California’s deadliest wildfires in history.

“RedRover Responders are dedicated to helping these poor animals recover from this horrifying experience,” said RedRover Director of Field Services, Beth Gammie. “We will continue to provide soft hands and warm hearts when animals are in pain and work collaboratively with agencies to help animals recover from trauma.”

Jim Ross Congratulates Kevin Kelly And Don Callis On AXS TV Deal

Ethan Renner
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As Jim Ross’s contract with AXS TV comes to a close at the end of the year, AXS TV has announced that they will begin airing same-week coverage of NJPW events in 2019.

On this week’s Jim Ross Report, Ross congratulated Kevin Kelly and Don Callis on being named the new AXS TV broadcast team for NJPW, replacing himself and Josh Barnett.
Ross had nothing but kind words for the duo.

“Of course, congratulations to Kevin Kelly and Don Callis. They’ll do a good job, no doubt about it.”

AXS’s press release does not make clear whether or not Kelly and Callis will record specialized audio for the events, as Ross and Barnett have. Ross indicated Kelly and Callis will be using their audio from the original NJPW World live broadcasts.

Perhaps as a nod to criticism of not always being as knowledgeable of the NJPW product as fans might expect from a play-by-play announcer, Ross says that won’t be an issue with Kelly and Callis.

“They’re both conscientious guys, smart guys, and they know the brand very, very well,” Ross said. “Product knowledge is the key to what you’re doing.”

Ross began calling NJPW events for AXS in March 2016. His final show with the network should air on Friday, December 28.

The full episode of The Jim Ross Report can be found below. When referencing this transcript, please credit SEScoops.com. This transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Xavier Woods Says Customs Agent Refused To Believe He Isn’t Kofi Kingston

Chris Stephens
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Xavier Woods is having an interesting trip to Malaysia. Upon arriving in the country, Woods says he had a rather interesting interaction with a customs agent. Woods described the encounter on his Twitter account:

“Landed in Kuala Lumpur Customs agent: You’re with WWE Me: Yea CA: Kofi Kingston Me: Nah I’m the other black guy CA: hmm, so you’re not Kofi Kingston Me:
No CA: (Takes me to a shady side room) Guys, pretty sure this is Kofi Kingston and he just doesn’t wanna tell me”

It does appear Woods was allowed into the country without incident, however.

Xavier Woods Left Up To His Own Devices

Woods is an adventuristic superstar. On Friday WWE was in Manila in the Philippines. Woods did not take long to become enamored with the country:

“JUST GOT OFF THE PLANE IN MANILA AND I ALREADY HAVE A PET CHICKEN AND A BAG OF SODA – DO NOT LEAVE ME TO MY OWN DEVICES ”

Xavier Woods On Survivor Series Raw vs Smackdown Scoring

Woods was not happy following Survivor Series recently. While the Smackdown tag-team division defeated the Raw tag-team division on the pre-show, WWE neglected to mention this when touting Raw’s “clean sweep” over Smackdown on the main PPV.

Woods sent out the following in regards to the controversial brand vs brand scoring:

Aleister Black And Zelina Vega Were Recently Married

Chris Stephens
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Former NXT Champion, Aleister Black, was recently married to Zelina Vega. Multiple sources are now confirming the two have tied the knot, though details regarding where and when are not available.

Little is known about when the two became linked. Black did appear in an Instagram training video along with Vega recently, however.

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

Vega had also been linked to Austin Aries while both were in WWE developmental. She has since stated the relationship is over and no longer wishes to be associated with Aries, however.

In a since-deleted Tweet, Vega mentioned, “I am going to say this once:
We are NOT together and have not been together for a very long time. We were certainly NEVER married or engaged. I’ve moved on a long time ago and do not wish to be associated with him.”

Zelina Vega’s Emotional 9/11 Story

Vega was a guest on Lillian Garcia’s podcast earlier this fall. During the course of the show, Vega shared the emotional story of losing her father in the September 11th, 2001 attacks. She overheard her father tell her step-father to raise her as if she was his own.

“When he got onto the phone with my step-dad he said ‘honestly Kermit, I don’t think I’m going to make it out of here. I know you’re a great man I need you to be a father to my kids,” Vega said. “Love them like I would.”

Joe Koff: Cody & The Young Bucks Not Expected Back In ROH Next Year

Chris Stephens
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Ring of Honor COO, Joe Koff, is not expecting the Young Bucks, Cody, or the rest of the Elite back in ROH next year. Koff spoke to Wrestling Inc recently regarding what the future holds for ROH in 2019.

“I don’t think (the Elite will return), and I don’t think that’s new news either,” Koff said regarding the pending departures. “They definitely have something in mind… and I’m very thankful for Cody and The Young Bucks and Page and their contributions to ROH.”

Members of the Elite played a pivotal role in ROH’s 2018. The promotion is used to talent making a splash and leaving, however.

“They were part of our great year,” Koff continued. “They’ll always be a part of the ROH family and I’m always excited when people choose to take a different direction or go in a different direction because it’s exciting for them as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.”

What Is Next For ROH? What Is Next For The Elite?

“These guys are very good marketers and very strong,” Koff said regarding the Elite. “Throughout the years, we’ve provided wrestlers a unique platform to showcase their talents to worldwide audiences. We’re so proud of our wrestlers, who’ve not only gone on to successful careers outside of ROH, but [also] the ones who have continued to stay here because they understand what ROH represents.”

Another big question remains for Ring of Honor as they approach Final Battle, however. What happens if Cody defeats Jay Lethal and regains the ROH World Championship.

“If he does it, then we’ll have to deal with it,” Koff answered. “I think Jay’s a formidable competitor. He’s been a great champion and I don’t think it will be a walk in the park for either. But as always, the best man will win and that speaks to itself.”

Ruby Riott Releases Statement Regarding Rivalry With Natalya

Chris Stephens
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Last month, Ruby Riott broke sunglasses which used to belong to Natalya’s father, Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart, kick-starting a rivalry between the two. Recently on Total Divas, Natalya was shown giving the eulogy at her father’s funeral.

While Natalya would get a measure of revenge recently, defeating Riott in single’s action on Raw, the rivalry between the two appears to be far from over.

Riott sent out the following to Natalya on Twitter yesterday:

Ruby Riott and Natalya

Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart passed away this summer at the age of 63. He is said to have died after falling and hitting his head at his home. Natalya sent out the following statement on August 13th:

“I can’t put into words how hard it is going to be for myself and our family to have to say goodbye to my dad,” she Tweeted. “He meant he world to us, and nothing will ever replace the special times we shared together as a family. My dad was always a fighter and an incredibly special person. There was no one like him! I’m just gonna miss him so much. We are going to hold all of the moments we had with him close to our hearts forever and never let them go. I promise to keep your memory alive. We love you so much, Daddy!”

“On behalf of my entire family, we would also like to personally thank everyone for the outpouring of thoughts and prayers. It’s meant so much to us,” Natalya continued.

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