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PROGRESS ‘Hello Wembley’ Results

Jake Skudder
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UK promotion PROGRESS held the biggest event in their existence over the weekend. The 76th chapter event #HelloWembley took place at the SSE Wembley Arena in front of a 4,750 strong crowd. Here’s the full results from one of the biggest nights in UK wrestling history:

  • Chuck Mambo b. Big T. Justice, Chris Ridgeway, Damon Moser, Danny Duggan, Danny Jones, Darrell Allen, David Francisco, Drew Parker, Mad Man Manson, Rickey Shane Page, RJ Singh, Roy Johnson, Sid Scala, Stixx, The OJMO, TK Cooper, and ‘Pastor’ William Eaver in the Pre-Show Battle Royal – Mambo eliminated Spike Trivet to win the bout
  • Mark Haskins b. Matt Riddle – Haskins took the win in Riddle’s final ever independent show. He now heads to NXT with a ton of potential and buzz following him
  • PROGRESS Women’s Championship Match – Jinny (c) b. Millie McKenzie and Toni Storm – Jinny took the win over Storm after Laura Di Matteo turned heel to re-align herself with the House of Couture. Jordynne Grace made her debut and chased out the ‘House to finish the segment
  • ATLAS Championship Match – Trent Seven b. Doug Williams – Seven won the bout with Crossbody to win the Championship. Doug Williams now has to retire as per the stipulation of the match…this was emotional
  • Jimmy Havoc b. Paul Robinson – Havoc took the win in a devastating Deathmatch. Havoc hit an Acid Rainmaker following light tube attacks to win the bout
  • PROGRESS Tag Team Title THUNDERB*STARD Match – Aussie Open b. Bandido & Flamita, Chris Brookes & Timothy Thatcher, Mills & Mayhew, Sexy Starr, Grizzled Young Veterans, The 198 and the Anti-Fun Police – Aussie Open hit the Fidget Spinner to win the match and claim their first PROGRESS tag team titles

Triple Main Event

  • Pete Dunne b. Ilja Dragunov – This was billed as the biggest match in Europe and it more than lived up to the hype. Dunne beat the debuting Dragunov with a hand manipulation submission forcing the tap out
  • TLC Match – Eddie Dennis b. Mark Andrews – Dennis took the win after grabbing the Number 1 contenders contract on the top of the ladder. Several tables refused to break during the match
  • PROGRESS World Championship Match – WALTER (c) b. Tyler Bate – WALTER hit a piledriver to end an incredible bout. WALTER had a Nakamura styled violin intro that added to the big fight feel. Tyler Bate could be one of the best of all time at this rate. The match will be available to view FREE on demand later this week

Kenny Omega Comments On Facing Kota Ibushi In “Legendary Building”

Chris Stephens
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Kenny Omega has twice offered Kota Ibushi a shot at his IWGP Heavyweight Championship title. On both occasions, Ibushi has not seemed interested in facing his partner. Following the Golden Lovers victory last night, Omega again offered Ibushi a shot at his championship. Cody ended up interjecting himself into the matter, however, and now there will be a triple threat match for the belt at King of Pro Wrestling.

In the backstage area after the show, Omega told the press, “The Golden Lovers can only face each other in a ‘legendary building’ that’s even bigger than Budokan”

Kenny Omega vs Kota Ibushi – Legendary Building?

King of Pro Wrestling will be held at Ry?goku Sumo Hall in Tokyo. The venue holds just under 12, 000. The Budokan holds just under 15,000. Its possible Omega is referring to the Tokyo Dome as a legendary building that is bigger than the Budokan. For Omega and Ibushi to face each other in the Tokyo Dome this year, however, Omega would have to either lose the title beforehand or Ibushi would have to win the G1 Briefcase.

Omega will be looking to defend his title for a 3rd straight time at King of Pro Wrestling on October 8th. Omega has already defeated Cody and Tomohiro Ishii with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on the line.

John Cena Discusses WWE’s Travel Schedule, WWE Ranks 5 Greatest SmackDown Matches

Andrew Ravens
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John Cena Discusses WWE’s Travel Schedule

John Cena is slated to star in a new action-thriller with movie legend Jackie Chan. The title of the film is “Project X” and it’s scheduled to be released next year. By doing this, he’s been living in Yinchuan, China where he’s shooting the film. During this time, he has been posting some videos on YouTube showing off different things to do there.

In one of the most recent videos, he talked about how in the past, his schedule with WWE would’ve prevented him from doing this. He stated that the travel in the WWE is amazingly relentless, but it’s only because they have an audience that’s so spread out. You can see it here:

WWE Ranks 5 Greatest SmackDown Matches

WWE is expected to go all out for this month’s SmackDown 1000 episode at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC. The belief is that WWE is planning to load up the show to the point where they will bring in several stars from the past and the show will be similar to RAW 1000 back in 2012.

While promoting this event, WWE has been posting lists about various topics that were featured on the show throughout the years. WWE’s latest list ranks the five greatest SmackDown match of all-time. Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero was ranked at #1.

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

NWA National Champion To Be Crowned At NWA 70th Anniversary Show

Andrew Ravens
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NWA (National Wrestling Alliance), which is owned by Billy Corgan, announced on Monday (October 1) that the promotion will crown an NWA National Champion at their 70th anniversary show that takes place on October 21st in Nashville, Tennessee at the Nashville Fairgrounds and will be available on pay-per-view (PPV) via Fite.tv.

The NWA announced that there will be 8 competitors who will compete in two 4-man elimination matches with the two winners advancing to the championship match with the winner of this final match being crowned the new NWA National Champion. The competitors will include:

  • Sam Shaw
  • Willie Mack
  • Ricky Starks
  • Sammy Guevara
  • Scorpio Sky
  • Jay Bradley
  • Mike Parrow
  • Colt Cabana

It was also confirmed by Dave Lagana that the promotion will reveal details about another NWA Championship being defended at the 70th Anniversary show, which will either be the Women’s or Tag Team championships.

Cody Rhodes vs. Nick Aldis in a rematch for the NWA World Championship will headline this show. If you recall, Rhodes beat Aldis to win the championship last month at All In.

Liv Morgan Injury Update

Lesly Sincere
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Last week on Monday Night Raw, Liv Morgan took a botched Yes kick from Brie Bella in the face, resulting in a concussion. The question many were asking heading into the weekend then was would Morgan make her scheduled appearances on WWE’s house shows?

Appearing At Live Events

Reports are in and Liv Morgan did indeed appear at the WWE live events this past weekend but in the corner for the Riott Squad. She was substituted for in the ring by Alicia Fox.

While it seems that Morgan is not cleared to wrestle yet, she has been cleared to travel and appear at ringside. Similar to Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan may just be appearing in a temporary manager role until she has been cleared by WWE doctors.

WWE Super-Showdown

As of right now, The Bellas and Ronda Rousey are advertised to take on all members of the Riott Squad at WWE Super-Showdown in Melbourne, Australia this Saturday. Although, the match could change due to Morgan not being cleared to compete.

If the recent weekend live events are any indicators, the card could be changed to The Bellas and Ronda Rousey vs Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, and Alicia Fox with Liv Morgan in their corner. For that occur, however, Morgan would have to be given the green light for the long flight to Australia. Airplane travel has been known to worsen the effects of concussions so the fact Morgan has been traveling with the Raw brand should be seen as a good sign.

Adam Cole Comments On Undisputed Era Getting Cheered

Steve Russell
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The inaugural NXT North American Champion, Adam Cole, recently appeared on Edge & Christian’s show, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness. During the course of the show, Cole discussed his stable – a group comprised of indie darlings, the Undisputed Era – as well as his real life friendships and relationships with the wrestlers that comprise the rest of the faction. 

He also mentioned that Bobby Fish is ready to return to action, and highlighted that fellow former ROH-alumni Roderick Strong was a natural fit for the group when he eventually joined. 

One subject in particular struck a chord with Cole: the positive crowd reaction to Undisputed Era.

Cheering The Bad Guys

Cole and co. play bad guys within a heel faction. Despite this, they have been receiving major fan adoration from those in attendance, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by those in Undisputed Era. 

“We have come to terms with the fact that when we walk through the curtain, we’re probably going to get a positive response,” Cole admitted. “[…] we used to think, okay, what can we do on television or how can we walk out, how can we get the people to hate us, kind of from the gate?’”

The resolution is surprising, as he confessed that, “[…] we’ve kind of embraced the idea, ‘okay, they’re going to be excited to see us, but once the match starts, we’re going to really get them over time to root for our babyface opponents’ and we do run into that, which is good.” 

Cole added, “It’s more focusing on what story we can tell or how we can present it. Once the bell rings and over time getting people to really, really want our babyface opponents to win throughout the match almost. And on television, obviously, we talk a big game, we ruin a bunch of matches, which helps us get a bunch of heat.” 

You can hear the entire interview with Adam Cole (BAY BAY!) below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY0K66WUIg0

Becky Lynch Vents About Being Left Off Super Show-Down Poster

Steve Russell
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WWE Super Show-Down takes place October 6th from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia. The WWE advertising machine has been in full swing in support for the show, hyping the event and building towards it over the past few weeks.

One person, however, isn’t happy with the advertising that has taken place.

SmackDown Live Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch, has taken obvious issue with the campaign that the WWE is running, highlighting, what she considers, to be an obvious omission:

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1046517778809856000

Despite the champion not being featured, the woman she bested recently at Hell In A Cell is featured prominently, as is the WWE Raw Women’s Champion, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey.

But no women’s championship representation for the blue brand?

Super Show-Down

WWE Championship Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe

#1 Contenders Match: The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Buddy Murphy

WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Charlotte Flair

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day (c) vs. The Bar

Triple H (w/Shawn Michaels) vs. The Undertaker (w/Kane)

John Cena and Bobby Lashley vs. Elias and Kevin Owens

The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre

The Bella Twins and RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. The Riott Squad

Asuka and Naomi vs. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce

Eddie Edwards Releases Kids Book, “Anything Is Possible: The Eddie Edwards Story”

Chris Stephens
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Eddie Edwards is the latest wrestler to release a kids book, something which is becoming more common. “Anything Is Possible: The Eddie Edwards Story” will hit bookstores tomorrow, October 2nd.

The Young Bucks have already released a kids book and Cody has said he’s writing one as well. The idea is that fans with young children are able to read their kids a book they both enjoy. Learn about former ROH and GHG World Champion, Eddie Edwards’, career while being a good parent as well. A link to purchase the book (on sale October 2nd, 2018) can be found here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFsHSxxk3UQ

Anything Is Possible: The Eddie Edwards Story

“With as much impact as his signature move, the Boston Knee Party, “Anything Is Possible: The Eddie Edwards Story” takes fans of all ages inside the ring for an inspiring look into world champion wrestler Eric Maher, aka Impact Wrestling’s Eddie Edwards’ journey to the top of the independent wrestling scene,” a press release for the book reads. “Maher teams up with co-writer and DC Comics artist Mark Poulton to deliver highlights from his incredible career. The only man in history to win the Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and GHC World Heavyweight Championships—professional wrestling’s triple crown, Maher recounts his days as a kid dreaming of a wrestling career, to training with the legendary Killer Kowalski, to  living and training in a Japanese dojo in the footsteps of his heroes.”

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed Results (9.30.18)

Chris Stephens
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New Japan Pro Wrestling presented a show from the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California tonight.

It was a big night for Cody, who would win the IWGP United States Championship and also seemingly book himself in a big match for King of Pro Wrestling.

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed
9/30/18, Long Beach Walter Pyramid

  1. Jushin Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, & ACH defeated Roppongi 3K (Sho, Yoh, and Rocky Romero) – Taguchi pinned Romero
  2. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian defeated Hangman Page and Chase Owens – Daniels pinned Owens after the Best Meltzer Ever
  3. Jeff Cobb, Chris Sabin, and Flip Gordon defeated Hirooki Goto, Beretta, and Chuckie T  – Cobb pinned Chuckie T after Tour of the Islands
    • Following the match, Hirooki Goto got in the face of Jeff Cobb. Cobb then challenged Goto to come at him but Goto ducked out of the ring, seemingly setting up a rematch between the two. Goto defended the title against Cobb successfully at the G1 Special in SF earlier this summer.
  4. Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, and Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Bushi, and EVIL – ZSJ pinned EVIL with a bridging pining combination.
    • Evil looked dejected after picking up the loss for his team. He walked to the back separately from the others.
  5.  “Switchblade” Jay White & Gedo defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA – Jay White pinned Tanahashi with Bladerunner
    • Gedo hit Tanahashi and Kushida with brass knucks behind the refs back, allowing White to hit the Bladerunner for the win.
    • After the match, White cut a promo on Tanahashi. He was heavily disliked by the crowd. He called on Tanahashi and NJPW to give him a shot at the G1 briefcase, citing his victory over Tanahashi during their G1 round-robin by this summer.

  6. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final
    Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay – wins via pin after the Graduation

    • With the win, Scurll moves on to face Kushida at King of Pro Wrestling on October 8th to declare a new champion.
  7. IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
    the Guerillas of Destiny (Bullet Club Firing Squad) defeated The Young Bucks (Bullet Club Elite) (c) – Title Change

    • Tonga pinned Matt Jackson after a Stun Gun
    • Matt Jackson favored his injured back for most of the match.
    • The Tongans now have both the 6-man titles and the heavyweight tag titles as well.
  8. IWGP United States Championship
    Cody defeated Juice Robinson (c) – Title Change

    • Cody reversed a super-plex into a pinning combination to get the 3-count.

  9. The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) defeated Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)

    • The Golden Lovers hit the Golden Trigger on Ishii for the win.
    • After the match, Omega told his friend Ibushi that the fans wanted to see the rematch between the two of them. Cody then came out and said there should be a three-way match between Omega, Ibushi and him.
    • Omega agreed with Cody and said they should have it at King of Pro Wrestling. It will be just the second triple threat match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in history.

Cody Wins IWGP United States Championship

Chris Stephens
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Cody has won his second major championship inside of a month. He defeated Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship tonight at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed.

Cody reversed a super-plex into a pinning combination for the 3-count. Jim Ross remarked that it looked as though both competitors had their shoulders down, however. Still, the referee awarded the match and the title to Cody.

He wasn’t finished there, however. Cody would come out following the night’s main event and interject himself into a match between Omega and Ibushi. He’ll now face Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega in a triple threat match at King of Pro Wrestling. It will be just the second triple threat match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in history.

Cody – IWGP United States Champion

Cody becomes the 4th wrestler to hold the IWGP United States Championship, which was introduced just over a year ago. Kenny Omega won the inaugural championship on night 2 NJPW’s trip to Long Beach last year, July 2nd, 2017.

Jay White then defeated Omega at the New Beginning in Sapporo back in February. White dropped the belt to Juice at the G1 Special in San Fransico. Now Cody has defeated Juice to earn him his second belt currently in his possession.

Cody’s Recent Championship Matches

Cody’s two title victories in September help to erase the memory of a summer’s worth of losses in big matches for him. He lost an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match to Omega at the G1 Special in San Fransico. He then dropped two straight ROH World Championship matches back in June.

Finally, at All In, Cody was able to defeat Nick Aldis to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. It is Cody’s second world title, having won the ROH World Championship previously. Now, he adds the IWGP United States titles to his collection as well.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match Set For King Of Pro Wrestling

Chris Stephens
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Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay today at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed. The win earns him a spot in the finals of a 4-man tournament to declare a new champion. Former champion, Hiromu Takahashi, was forced to vacate the title due to injury in August.

Kushida defeated Bushi at Destruction in Kobe on September 23rd to advance to the finals as well.

Marty Scurll vs Kushida for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship will take place at King of Pro Wrestling on October 8th, 2018.

Marty Scurll vs Kushida – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Kushida is a 5x former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. He’s defended the title 8x and held it a combined 586 days, good for 7th all-time.

Marty Scurll won the title for the first and only time at Power Struggle 2017. He would lose it 60 days later at WrestleKingdom 12 to Will Ospreay.

Scurll and Kushida have met 3 times previously, twice in Ring of Honor and once in NJPW. Kushida has won all 3 matches. He defeated Scurll twice in 2017 in ROH, first to win the TV title and then again to defend it. They met for the 3rd time at the Best of the Super Juniors this May.

Marty Scurll vs Will Ospreay Stats

Scurll’s victory over Ospreay avenges the most recent match between the two. Ospreay defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Scurll at Sakura Genesis in April. Prior to that, Scurll had defeated Ospreay 5x in a row.

Guerrillas Of Destiny Defeat Young Bucks, Win IWGP Heavyweight Tag Titles

Chris Stephens
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Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa defeated the Young Bucks tonight at Fighting Spirit Unleashed. The win earns the Guerillas of Destiny the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. They are now 4x holders of the titles.

Matt Jackson’s back seized up early, which would be a factor throughout the match. He was eventually pinned by Tama Tonga after a Stun Gun.

Guerillas of Destiny – IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions

The Guerillas of Destiny have successfully defended the titles twice and held them a combined 176 days throughout their 4 reigns.

Young Bucks Title Reign

The Young Bucks reign ends at just 112 days and 1 title defense. They won the titles from Evil and Bushi at Dominion in Osaka and defended them against the same team at the G1 Special in San Fransico.

Bullet Club Elite vs Bullet Firing Squad

The Firing Squad’s initial attack against the rest of Bullet Club took place at the G1 Special In San Francisco this summer. Tama Tonga and Bad Luck Fale then spent the entire G1 tournament breaking the rules and getting disqualified. On the final night of the tournament, however, the Guerillas of Destiny and Taiji Ishimori won the 6-Man tag titles. They are now able to add the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships to their list of held belts.

Lita Makes Unadvertised Appearance At Indy Show As Referee (Video)

Chris Stephens
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Amy “Lita” Dumas made an unexpected appearance at a Maryland Championship Wrestling event last night. Lita wrestled a match for the promotion in 2017 as well. She then competed in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match earlier this year.

You can watch video of Lita’s appearance in the Tweet below:

https://twitter.com/JeffreyBJones/status/1046273663438397440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1046273663438397440&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wrestlinginc.com%2Fnews%2F2018%2F09%2Flita-makes-unadvertised-appearance-at-indie-show-video-646305%2F

Is Lita Going To Wrestle Past Evolution?

Lita recently spoke on the prospect of wrestling more matches beyond WWE’s all-female  October pay-per-view.

“You go in with it being the idea of a one-time thing, but it’s very, very likely and potentially – the excitement of it or the crowd’s response of it could turn it into something more than a one-off. Like my life in general, I just take it all as it comes. So, we’ll see.”

“You never know who’s gonna show up at an Show
Welcome Home, Lita”

Lita is a former 4x WWE Women’s Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014. WWE Evolution

WWE’s first ever all-female pay-per-view takes place October 28th, 2018. The event will be held in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

  • Lita vs Mickie James
  • Alexa Bliss vs Trish Stratus
  • 2018 Mae Young Classic Final
  • NXT UK Women’s Championship Match
    TBA vs TBA
  • NXT Women’s Championship
    Kairi Sane (c) vs Shayna Baszler
  • WWE Raw Women’s Championship Match
  • WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Match

Tenille Dashwood To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

Chris Stephens
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1

Ring of Honor’s Tenille Dashwood announced today she’s been wrestling with a bad shoulder and now needs surgery. She broke the news at the ROH tapings today. There is no timetable for her return at this point.

The legitimate injury was made part of her match with Sumie Sakai on Friday night at Death Before Dishonor. Sakai retained the WOH World Championship when Dashwood passed out while in her armbar. Dashwood came into the match with a heavily taped up shoulder which she favored for most of the bout.

Tenille Dashwood Offer Contract

It is also being reported that ROH officials have offered Dashwood a contract. Her injury is not expected to affect the status of the offer either. It is also being said Dashwood is expected to sign.

Women Of Honor Roster

With Dashwood out it opens up a spot at the top of the Women of Honor division. Champion, Sumie Sakai, won the inaugural title earlier this year.  Sakai defeated Dashwood in the semi-finals of a tournament to declare the first champion before defeating Kelly Klein in the finals.

She has now defended her title 6x. Sakai’s defeated Stella Grey, Jenny Rose, Chardonnay, Hazuki, Madison Rayne, and now Tenille Dashwood.

Ring of Honor has been beefing up their division as of late. The company recently signed Madison Rayne to a one-year contract. Brandi Rhodes, Kelly Klein, Karen Q, and Mandy Leon are all regularly featured as well.

Photos: Mia Yim Debuts At NXT Live Event

Staff
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Mia Yim made her NXT live event this weekend. As advertised, the Mae Young Classic competitor wrestled at Saturday’s NXT live event from Fort Pierce, Florida. In her first match for NXT, Mia Yim defeated Aliyah in singles action.

Mia Yim has wrestled on and off for Impact Wrestling between 2013-2017. She was expected to sign with WWE after last year’s Mae Young Classic tournament, but was sidelined with a leg injury. During a recent interview with TVInsider, Mia revealed the hardest part of her recovery was the mental aspect.

“The hardest part of the recovery was the mental,” Yim said. “Going to physical therapy, learning how to walk again and run again, rolling around in the ring — it was all easy compared to the mental part.”

She recently signed a developmental deal with WWE and has been training at the Performance Center. Here are some photos from her NXT debut from this weekend:

https://twitter.com/DemetriThomasX/status/1046220686614810626

Watch: Mia Yim talks about her dream to wrestle for WWE

Rob Conway Talks Randy Orton Getting Him A Guest Coaching Spot At WWE PC

Chris Stephens
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Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Rob Conway, recently visited the WWE Performance Center and served as a guest coach. WWE correspondents caught up with Conway, who credited Randy Orton for the opportunity.

“Well, it started talking a lot to Randy Orton,” Conway said. “He’s somebody that I helped when he first started and he had asked me what involvement I would want to stay in wrestling because my in-ring career is coming to a close and I told him that I really enjoy helping people and training people. I’ve done it in the past so he let the office in WWE know that it was something I was interested in and we kind of went from there. Its worked out great.”

Rob Conway WWE Career

Conway was a former 3x WWE Tag Team Champion. Along with Sylvan Grenier, he helped form La Resistance after Renee Dupree left the team. He also held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from 2013 to 2015.

He held the Ohio Valley Wrestling heavyweight title 5 times. Conway would also give his opinions on the Performance Center:

“I mean it’s so much different. It’s still guys and girls working really hard. Everybody having a dream and wanting it to become a reality but the new P.C. is so much more advanced as far as how many rings.”

Daniel Bryan Talks 2019 Royal Rumble At Chase Field

Chris Stephens
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1

Many are predicting Daniel Bryan could win the 2019 Royal Rumble. Fans expecting and then not getting Daniel Bryan as the winner of this particular match has been something of a contentious issue in the past.

Bryan was in Arizona recently where the 2019 Royal Rumble is scheduled to take place at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spoke with the local ABC affiliate in the region about next year’s event.

“It’s an incredible stadium. We were actually just talking about what the metamorphosis would look like,” Bryan said.

According to Bryan, the wrestlers will make their entrances from the player dugouts.

“Right now, the thought is that we’d come out of the dugout. We’ve never had a Royal Rumble in a baseball stadium before. I’m super-psyched. I’ve never come out of a dugout to go into a wrestling show before.”

Daniel Bryan on 2019 Royal Rumble

Bryan would continue to say he sees wrestling differently than many do.

“For me, it’s always about improving and evolving my own art form, and a lot of times that involves me doing other martial arts like jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, that sort of thing, and incorporating that stuff into what I do,” he continued.

Bryan’s not taking anything for granted now that he’s been able to resume his career. He still looks to improve his skills whenever he can.

“The way I view pro wrestling is different from the way a lot of people view it as. I view it from the spectrum of martial arts. I look at it as my own martial art,” he said. “For me, it’s a real art form that I like to work on constantly.”

The full interview can be read here.

Doug Williams Announces Retirement After 25-Year Career

Chris Stephens
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3

Legendary British wrestler, Doug Williams, has announced his retirement from professional wrestling. The 46-year-old’s career came to an end earlier today at Progress’ Hello Wembley show. Williams put his career on the line in a match against Trent Seven for the Atlas Championship and lost.

Williams spoke with the SportBible earlier this week about the upcoming retirement match.

“It was more their decision than mine,” Williams said. “They approached me with doing a different kind of storyline, which was a disgruntled veteran that was bitter about the new guys taking over. But I switched it on them and said I’m thinking about retiring next year anyway, why don’t we do a storyline that could culminate in that possibly happening?”

Doug Williams’ 25-Year Career

Williams started working as a teenager in the 90s with NWA UK Hammerlock. He was then a member of the Ring of Honor roster started their first year in 2002. He would remain with the promotion until 2007.

By 2009, he had already appeared with Impact Wrestling a few times. The promotion would then make the UK a bigger priority and Williams was cast in the British Invasion faction.

Earlier this month, Williams had a chance to earn an NWA World Heavyweight Championship match against Cody but lost to Nick Aldis.

Final Lineup For NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed

Chris Stephens
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1

New Japan Pro Wrestling presents a show from the Walter Pyramid tonight in Long Beach, California.

Two championship matches will take place on the show. Juice Robinson will defend the IWGP United States Championship against Cody and the Young Bucks will defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa.

Fighting Spirit Unleashed
September 30th, 2018
Long Beach Walter Pyramid
Long Beach, CA

  • The Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) (Bullet Club Elite) vs Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)
  • IWGP United States Championship
    Juice Robinson (c) vs Cody (Bullet Club Elite)
  • IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
    The Young Bucks (Bullet Club Elite) (c) vs the Guerillas of Destiny (Bullet Club Firing Squad)
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament
    Semi-Final
    Will Ospreay (CHAOS) vs Marty Scurll (Bullet Club Elite)
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA vs “Switchblade” Jay White & Gedo
  • Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Bushi, and EVIL (Los Ingobernables de Japon) vs Zack Sabre Jr., Lance Archer, and Davey Boy Smith Jr. (Suzuki-Gun)
  • Jeff Cobb, Chris Sabin, and Flip Gordon vs Hirooki Goto, Beretta, and Chuckie T (CHAOS)
  • Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian (The Addiction/SCU) vs Hangman Page and Chase Owens
  • Jushin Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi, & ACH (Taguchi Japan) vs Roppongi 3K (Sho, Yoh, and Rocky Romero)

ROH Star Departs Company, Headed To WWE

Chris Stephens
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Ring of Honor held a set of television tapings yesterday in Las Vegas. The company also held their Death Before Dishonor Friday night in the same venue. According to a report from PW Insider, Punishment Martinez was saying his goodbyes at the show and is believed to be headed to WWE shortly.

Martinez lost the ROH TV title to Jeff Cobb at the event as well. Cobb challenged him for a match on Friday night at Death Before Dishonor after Martinez had defeated Chris Sabin.

Punishment Martinez WWE

36-year-old Luis Martinez is a former martial arts champion in Puerto Rico who got the itch to try wrestling after seeing Carlos Colon’s World Wrestling Council. He began his training at the Monster Factory in 2014 and debuted with Ring of Honor the following year.

He competed in the 2015 Top Prospect tournament but was eliminated in the semi-finals by Lio Rush. ROH signed him anyway, however, and he would also compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling at Honor Rising 2017.

Martinez won his first and only title in Ring of Honor earlier this year. He defeated Silas Young at State of the Art in Dallas on June 16th, 2018. Martinez defended the title 4x total during his reign. He defeated Hangman page, Scorpio Sky, Aaron Solow (hasn’t aired yet), and Chris Sabin at Death Before Dishonor.

Spoilers: ROH TV Tapings In Las Vegas (9/29/18), New Champion Crowned

Andrew Ravens
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ROH held TV tapings on Saturday night (September 29th) in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Orleans Arena. This was an important taping as it’s the first since their Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view event that took place on Friday night at the same venue.

Punishment Martinez finished up with Ring of Honor at tapings as PWinsider.com reports that he saying his goodbyes to the locker room as this was his final scheduled date for the company. It was noted that he opted not to sign a new deal with the promotion as he wanted to be free going forward.

ROH TV Tapings Spoilers

Here are the spoilers from the tapings, courtesy of @MrJacobCohen:

– Luchasaurus defeated Hyperstreak

– The Kingdom walk out to the ring to force ring announcer Bobby Cruise to list off Matt Taven’s achievements.

– Kenny King defeated Chase Owens

– Shane Taylor vs. Flip Gordon doesn’t happen after Bully Ray, Silas Young, and Taylor all beat up on Gordon. After the beatdown, they challenge wrestlers to come out from the back and help Gordon. However, nobody comes out.

– Nick Aldis defeated Christopher Daniels (HonorClub Exclusive Match)

– The Briscoes defeated Coast 2 Coast to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championship

– Jeff Cobb defeated Punishment Martinez to become the new ROH World TV Champion

– Tenille Dashwood walked out to the ring to cut a promo about how she’s not doing well physically as she has an autoimmune disease, skin condition, and needs surgery to repair a shoulder injury.

– Marty Scurll defeated Chris Sabin

– Brandi Rhodes defeated Heather Monroe

– Hangman Page defeated Scorpio Sky

– Shane Taylor defeated Eli Isom. After the match, Cheeseburger and Flip Gordon ran down to the ring to make the save as Gordon beats up Taylor with a chair then says he’ll get extreme with Bully Ray any match. It was revealed that next week in Philadelphia there will be a match sees Bully and Gordon bring a wrestler. The stipulation was that if Bully’s guy wins (Silas Young), Bully gets to do whatever to Gordon and vice versa.

– Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham defeated Jushin “Thunder” Liger and KUSHIDA

– Cody defeated Willie Mack to retain NWA World Heavyweight Championship

– Young Bucks defeated The Addiction, Best Friends, and SANADA & EVIL

– The closing segment saw Young Bucks, Cody, Adam Page in the ring to thank the fans. They noted that this was the first time they’ve been together since All In. Cody then teased All In 2 with a hand signal. They added that if ROH returns to Vegas then they don’t want to see any empty seats, it better be sold out.

Maria Kanellis Cleared To Return To The Ring

Daniel Pena
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Maria Kanellis has been cleared to return to the ring.

After suffering a broken wrist last month while training for a return to the ring, Maria revealed on her podcast (Mike and Maria in Wonderland, which she co-hosts with her husband, Mike Kanellis), that her doctor cleared her on Wednesday to “come back to the WWE.”

Maria then shows off her healed wrist and says, “I will be back.”

Mike adds, “Who knows when.”

Maria revealed the news at around the 48-minute mark of her podcast, which you can also find on iTunes.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALgD3aVGMDw?start=2870&w=560&h=315]

After parting ways with WWE in February 2010, Maria embarked on a search for “the perfect partner,” only to find one in her husband, Mike. Maria returned to WWE in June 2017 alongside Mike as part of SmackDown LIVE, where they vowed to educate everyone on the power of love. Maria, however, went on a leave of absence from WWE after announcing a year ago this week that she’s pregnant.

The couple welcomed their first daughter, Fredrica Moon, back in April. The very same month, Mike joined Raw through the Superstar Shake-up. Although Mike still has yet to wrestle on Monday Night Raw, he’s had a number of matches on WWE Main Event.

It’s unclear whether Maria will join Mike on Raw since WWE.com still has her listed as a member of SmackDown LIVE. When Maria revealed that she had suffered a broken wrist, her goal was to recover in time to wrestle at WWE’s first all-women’s pay-per-view event, WWE Evolution, on October 28.

XFL Commissioner On Players Standing For The National Anthem

Jon Fuentes
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Vince McMahon picked the perfect time for the relaunch of the XFL. There’s currently a ton of controversy within the NFL over the National Anthem. Several years ago, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem.

Kaepernick began the silent protest to shed light on what he believes to be an epidemic of injustice against people of color at the hands of police within the United States. The topic has attracted mainstream attention and has divided the United States even further. While some sympathize with the protest, others believe the playing of the Anthem is nor the place or time.

Vince McMahon is part of the latter. During the announcement of the XFL’s relaunch, McMahon called the playing of the anthem before sporting events, “a time-honored tradition.” He made it very clear that players in the XFL would be required to stand during the anthem being played.

XFL And The Anthem

XFL CEO and commissioner Oliver Luck dove further into the topic. He appeared on former Green Bay Packers linebacker AJ Hawk’s podcast, The HawkCast. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:

“Vince feels strongly about that, so that will be one of those things that will differentiate us from the NFL. Remember, unlike the NFL we will not have a union when we start. There won’t be collective bargaining….we could say to a player, ‘Hey there is a clause in the contract that says I hereby agree to stand for the National Anthem.’

“Period. End of story. That won’t have to be collectively bargained. My position would be as long as a player knows beforehand that that’s part of the contract then that’s a workplace rule and we can enforce that workplace rule.

“If you go into a contractual situation, knowing what the workplace rules are, you’re obligated to follow those rules, otherwise there will be consequences.”

H/T WrestleZone for the transcriptions

Sting Reveals Vince McMahon’s Reaction To Him Signing With TNA

Jon Fuentes
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There’s no doubt Sting is one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever step in between the ropes. The WWE Hall Of Famer began his WCW tenure back in 1987 with Jim Crockett Promotions. He was a staple in the company’s history, winning several World Titles under their banner.

Sting is a former NWA World Champion, a six-time WCW World Champion, and a two-time WCW United States Champion – to name only a few. Of course, WWE eventually bought out WCW and signed a few of their stars in the process. Sting, however, was not one of those stars.

He’d instead briefly work with World Wrestling All-Stars before signing with Jeff Jarrett’s new promotion, TNA in 2003. Speaking on the Apter Chat podcast recently, Sting revealed Vince McMahon’s reaction to him deciding to sign with TNA:

“I’ll never forget that conversation I had with Vince. He’s on the phone with me and he says: ‘You know Sting, I find this hard to believe. The legacy that you leave behind and the thought of you going to TNA… it just bleh!”

“So you fast forward to you know coming back to do WrestleMania I had set out a text to Vince and Triple H that just said, ‘have you guys turned the page on Sting yet?’ And I honestly did know? Did they turn the page? Are they done? Or would they consider a run up there?”

Sting would leave TNA in 2014 after over a decade with the company. That same year he’d make his WWE TV debut and begin the build to his WrestleMania match with Triple H. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2016.

Do you think Sting should’ve gone straight to WWE?

H/T Wrestling News Source for the transcriptions

Kofi Kingston Explains What He Learned From CM Punk

Jon Fuentes
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Kofi Kingston has etched himself into the WWE record books. The New Day member broke WWE’s record for most days as a Tag Team Champion in history recently. He passed up Billy Gunn after racking up over 954 days reigning as a Tag Team Champion.

This is including all of Kingston’s combined days as ever holding Tag Team Titles. Over the years, Kingston has had partners such as The New Day, R-Truth, Evan Bourne, and CM Punk. Kingston spoke to ESPN recently to get his reaction to his record-breaking accomplishment.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I set the goal to be the longest-reigning tag-team champion,” Kingston said. “I’m lucky and blessed to have so many tag-team championships.”

More specifically, Kingston was asked about his days teaming with CM Punk. Punk is on the outs with WWE since walking out on the company back in 2014. He has since embarked on several new career paths, such as mixed martial arts (MMA), acting, and comic book writing.

In regards to what he was able to learn from Punk, Kingston said the former WWE Champion was a good example of how to be a star:

“I learned so much from him,” Kingston said. “Learned so much about what it takes to be a star.”

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