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Chris Jericho Avoided ‘All In’ Leak Just Prior To Event

Steve Russell
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During his most recent podcast, “Talk Is Jericho”, Chris Jericho recounts his involvement with the recent All In event. Topics include how he agreed to be a part of the event, the kinds of ideas that were pitched to him, and the challenges he faced using Pentagon Jr.’s second outfit for his surprise appearance.

The whole thing comes across as a comedy of errors, where if anything can go wrong, it probably will. One singular moment, however, could have unravelled all of the team’s hard work and secrecy.

Photo Finish

Jericho travelled to All In with his friend, Jack Slade, who would be instrumental in averting a leak over Chris landing in Chicago.

Arriving late to avoid the majority of fans, who would have already been at the Sears Centre, didn’t stop one fan from recognizing Y2J. Adorned in a Bullet Club t-shirt, he would attempt to take a discreet photo as Jericho exited the plane.

Having noticed, Slade was able to catch up to the fan and discovered they had taken more than one picture on their phone. After a brief conversation, the fan was decent enough to delete the pictures. With the amount of secrecy involved, Jericho knew it would only take one photo to leak for his appearance to have been completely ruined.

In this day and age where leaks are so prominent and social media so accessible, it’s amazing that they were able to keep Jericho under wraps the way they did, with the payoff – which saw Jericho appear disguised as Pentagon Jr. issue a beating on Kenny Omega – having even more impact because of it.

Listen to the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2WH-DDkVy8

Pentagon Jr. On WWE Rumors: “I Am Not Going Anywhere”

Steve Russell
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2

There has been a lot of speculation over the current status of both Pentagon Jr. and his brother, Fenix. Rumours have been rampant that the duo are WWE bound, with neither taking bookings in 2019 – a move that is, according to Dave Meltzer, “usually a sign of going to WWE.” Pentagon Jr. has added another element of intrigue into the fray, however, in a recent video uploaded to YouTube by PCW Ultra.

“I Am Not Going Anywhere.”

The video took place after a championship match up between Pentagon Jr. (wrestling here as Penta El Zero M) and Hammerstone. In it, Pentagon thanks the crowd, reminding them that he is their champion:

“Respect that I am the PCW champ and no one is going to take that from me. Thank you very much!”

But before heading to the back, Pentagon had one more thing to get off his chest:

“And before I forget,” he said. “I am not going anywhere. Penta will be in PCW for many more years.”

Another promotion, Major League Wrestling (MLW), had previously added to this confusion over the brothers’ futures when they Tweeted out the following:

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1037816334342676481

With so much evidence pointing towards the WWE, it’s interesting to see these teases and moments that contradict that narrative.

Championship Bros.

Pentagon Jr. has accomplished a lot on the independent scene. He has won the AAW Heavyweight Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, Impact World Championship, and Lucha Underground Championship.

Fenix accomplishments include the AAW Heavyweight Championship and currently, he is the AAA Mega Champion. He is also a former Lucha Underground Champion.

The Lucha Bros. currently hold the MLW World Tag Team Championship for Major League Wrestling.

Alicia Fox Changes Her Look (Photos), Maria Kanellis Injury Update, Zelina Vega and Lilian Garcia

Daniel Pena
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– Paige isn’t the only WWE star to change up her look this past week as Alicia Fox did as well.

After accompanying Alexa Bliss on Raw last Monday, Fox bleached most of her hair blonde. She showed off her new look at live events over the weekend and on Instagram.

https://instagram.com/p/Bnc_i-Pgu95/

https://instagram.com/p/BnhJjG2hWAO/

– Maria Kanellis revealed on Instagram on August 9 that she suffered a broken wrist while training for her in-ring return and would be in a cast for six weeks. In an update on the situation, Kanellis revealed on Friday that she is no longer wearing a cast.

https://instagram.com/p/BncYatuAosf/

Kanellis has indicated that she would like to wrestle at WWE’s first all-women’s pay-per-view event, WWE Evolution, on October 28.

– Zelina Vega is Lilian Garcia’s next guest on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia and the interview promises to be emotional. You can listen to it today via LilianGarcia.com.

Mixed Match Challenge: Matches Announced For Season 2 Premiere

Lesly Sincere
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WWE has announced the first two matches for Mixed Match Challenge Season Two.  The mixed tag team single-elimination tournament returns Tuesday, September 18th. Like the first season, Mixed Match Challenge will stream exclusively on Facebook Watch on Tuesday nights immediately following Smackdown Live.

The season premiere of MMC Season 2 will feature:

  • WWE Champion AJ Styles & Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Jimmy Uso and Naomi
  • Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss vs. Kevin Owens and Natalya

Mixed Match Challenge Season 2 Teams

Raw Teams

  • Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss
  • Bobby Lashley and Sasha Banks
  • Finn Balor and Bayley
  • Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
  • Kevin Owens and Natalya

Smackdown Live Teams

  • The Miz and Asuka
  • Jimmy Uso and Naomi
  • Rusev and Lana
  • R-Truth and Carmella
  • WWE Champion AJ Styles and Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair

Who do you think will win Mixed Match Challenge Season 2?

Velveteen Dream Competes At Two EVOLVE Events (Photos)

Andrew Ravens
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WWE NXT Superstar Velveteen Dream worked two EVOLVE events this weekend.

He beat Austin Theory (with Priscilla Kelly) at EVOLVE 112 on Friday in Joppa, MD at the MCW Arena and Darby Allin at EVOLVE 113 on Saturday in Woodside, NY at the La Boom. These matches did not air on IPPV but rather were dark matches for the live crowd who attended the shows.

https://twitter.com/BookItGabe/status/1038577686023729153

You can check out the full results from these shows here:

EVOLVE 112

Jaka defeats Leon Ruff

Facade & Jason Kincaid defeat Joe Gacy & Steve Pena

James Drake defeats Harlem Bravado

Priscilla Kelly defeats Aja Perera and Dementia D’Rose and Kiera Hogan

Darby Allin defeats Anthony Henry

Tracy Williams defeats Jon Davis

Josh Briggs defeats Chris Dickinson

WWN Title Match: Joey Janela (w/Penelope Ford) (c) defeats AR Fox

The Velveteen Dream defeats Austin Theory

EVOLVE 113

Anthony Henry defeats Facade and Harlem Bravado and Jason Kincaid and Jon Davis and Josh Briggs (15:40)

James Drake defeats Joey Janela (13:40)

Chris Dickinson defeats Stokely Hathaway (0:30)

EVOLVE Tag Team Title Match: Chris Dickinson & Jaka (c) defeat The Skulk (Adrian Alanis & Leon Ruff) (7:30)

Austin Theory (w/Priscilla Kelly) defeats AR Fox (13:50)

EVOLVE Title Match: Shane Strickland (c) defeats Tracy Williams (20:56)

The Velveteen Dream defeats Darby Allin (16:08)

Jim Ross Doesn’t Expect Cody & The Young Bucks At MSG G1 Supercard

Jon Fuentes
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WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross was recently a guest on Busted Open Radio. “Good Ole’ JR” sat down for a conversation with fellow Hall Of Famer Bully Ray.

The pair discussed next year’s G1 Supercard being put on by Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Some of the biggest names in indy professional wrestling are expected to be on the card.

Ross doesn’t expect three big names to be on the card, however. He says his gut tells him Cody and The Young Bucks probably won’t be a part of the show:

“No, I don’t think so,” said Ross. “I don’t have anything concrete to base that on other than my gut instinct. My gut instinct is no. There’s too many big, big dollars that are possible to obtain. Cody has to start a family, probably will someday. Money is big in this delicate business.

“Bubba, you’re a [expletive] tank. You don’t get hurt, but everybody ain’t like you. Some of these guys can’t even tie their shoes nowadays and they need to save their money. So I’m hoping these kids will learn from some of their peers and predecessors.

“Hey I can have my run and sell a bunch of T-shirts, but the bottom line is I gotta have a bunch of money in the bank.”

Discussion: Do you think Cody or The Young Bucks will be on the G1 Supercard? Let us know in the comments section below!

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Becky Lynch Sends Warning To Charlotte, WWE Ranks Top 5 Tag Team Title Wins On RAW

Andrew Ravens
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Becky Lynch Sends Warning To Charlotte

One of the top feuds currently on the SmackDown Live brand is between SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. It all started at SummerSlam last month when Flair won the title in a triple threat match involving Carmella and Lynch. After the match, Lynch turned heel by attacking Flair. The two had the following exchange on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BeckyLynchWWE/status/1038501775601324032

Lynch vs. Flair is one of the top program featured on WWE SmackDown Live right now. They are set to compete for the gold at two upcoming events including the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event on Sunday, September 16, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas at the AT&T Center.

Also, they will meet at the Super Show-Down event on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Australia. Both events will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network.

WWE Ranks Top 5 Tag Team Title Wins On RAW

WWE’s official Instagram account has released this video looking at the top five WWE Tag Team Championship wins to take place on the flagship show of the company, Monday Night RAW. The list goes like this:

  1. The Uso defeated The New Age Outlaws
  2. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre defeated The B-Team
  3. Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins defeated The Bar
  4. Cody Rhodes and Goldust defeated The Shield
  5. John Cena and The Miz defeated The Corre

https://instagram.com/p/BneCb49nTnP/?utm_source=ig_embed

Possible SmackDown Match Involving Jeff Hardy, Mick Foley – WWE Network News

Andrew Ravens
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Possible SmackDown Live Match Involving Jeff Hardy

WWE has already announced that Rusev and Aiden English will take on The Bar as part of the mini-tournament to determine the new #1 contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles on next week’s episode of SmackDown Live. The winners of next week’s match will challenge The New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles at the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.

The company also announced Charlotte Flair vs. Sonya Deville. Now, the company is teasing Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for Tuesday’s SmackDown as Hardy tweeted today: “Before I dive deep into Hell…I shall CLEANSE my soul. @ShinsukeN still lingers..so This Tuesday…He must be rendered #OBSOLETE”

Mick Foley – WWE Network News

WWE Network will be airing “Mick Foley: 20 Years of Hell” after the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on September 16. This will be one of Foley’s touring shows where he talks about the match and 20th anniversary of his Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998.

As noted, the WWE Hall of Famer is also slated to appear on this coming Monday’s RAW to promote Triple H vs. Undertaker at WWE Super Show-Down.

CM Punk On Possibly Fighting In MMA Again

Jon Fuentes
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Former WWE star CM Punk was recently interviewed by 411 Mania to talk about various topics. First, Punk was asked about the state of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. In June, Punk suffered the second consecutive loss of his fighting career.

It’s likely that he’ll be cut from the UFC roster. Despite his defeat, Punk says that he’s still training in MMA:

“Yeah, of course. From January until my fight, I was inundated with offers to do all kinds of other stuff, but the focus had to be on the fight and the camp and all that stuff. So, what I’m doing now since my fight is I’m finishing all these other projects that I’ve been doing.

“Today’s my first day off from a four-week movie shoot. It’s week three, and this is like the first day that I’m off. Prior to that, I was up in Toronto working on a Soska Sisters remake of the legendary [David] Cronenberg film, Rabid.

“It’s a film I’m working on now. They’re kind of futzing with the title, but I think they’ve settled on Girl on the Third Floor.

“And there’s a whole bunch of other stuff in the queue I’m kinda just working on and working my way through. As soon as I wrap here, I’ll be right back in the gym.”

Punk doesn’t know if he’ll fight in MMA again. He’s focused on finishing up filming a movie right now. After that, he’ll reassess his fighting career:

“I don’t know. I’m focused on this movie right now. You’ll have to ask me when we wrap, which is in a couple weeks.”

Discussion: Do you think Punk will fight in MMA again? Let us know in the comments section below!

Curt Hawkins Reveals Advice He Gives To Those Wanting To Leave WWE

Jon Fuentes
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5

Curt Hawkins was recently a guest on Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast. During the show, Hawkins talked about his relationship with WWE CEO, Vince McMahon.

Hawkins said he has always had a good rapport with McMahon, and even said “The Chairman Of The Board” has called him a good hand several times:

“He’s obviously intimidating,” Hawkins said. “He’s the ruler of professional wrestling, but I’ve always had a good rapport with him. I am very comfortable talking to him and things like that.

“I think he has seen me wrestle all these years and knows that I am a very serviceable pro wrestler and knows that I work hard every night, and I think he appreciates that.

“I’m not Roman Reigns, but as far as where he sees me on a star level, but there is a value of Curt Hawkins for sure. He has called me a good hand several times in meetings and to my face.”

Hawkins’ first run with WWE lasted from 2006 to 2014. After being released he learned what it was like working in professional wrestling away from the company. Hawkins worked all over the indies, including stints with promotions such as IMPACT Wrestling.

Advice To Frustrated WWE Stars

In 2016 Hawkins inked a deal to return to WWE. When he comes across Superstars who want to leave the company and work the indies, Hawkins offers some advice:

“I try to give them my perspective. I had a great time on the indies. The experience was cool and I did some cool things, so, I love pro wrestling but it was a lot of hard work and a lot of hustle,” said Hawkins.

“A lot of lonely ‘Virgil’ moments where you have to suck it up. That autograph line is not never ending wherever you go. There are moments where you have to check your ego and I don’t think that a lot of guys who have not done it don’t understand what the experience is like.

“If you do a good job and consistently work somewhere, and not work a lazy match and just take someone’s money, because I was doing the opposite. I told them that they don’t have to pay me this much, but that I would like to be involved with storylines and feuds and earn rapport of the fans where people are coming to see ‘The Prince of Queens’ Brian Myers and not Curt Hawkins, so that was my business philosophy.”

Discussion: What do you make of Hawkins’ comments to fellow WWE Superstars who want to leave the company? Let us know in the comments section below!

Goldberg Comments On Hulk Hogan’s WWE HOF Reinstatement

Jon Fuentes
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WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg was interviewed by Inside The Ropes and discussed several professional wrestling topics.

Goldberg discussed Brock Lesnar’s eventual UFC return during the interview. The former Universal Champion will challenge Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight title. The UFC hasn’t announced a date for the fight as of this writing. However, it’s looking like it will be early 2019:

“Show me another guy who can do [UFC],” said Goldberg. “You gotta have cojones, you gotta have a special ability, you gotta have a desire to do certain things. Brock is a different human being.

“Brock is a guy who reinvents himself all the time and who capitalizes on opportunities that others don’t have the cojones to capitalize on.”

The former WCW World Champ then offered his thoughts on Hulk Hogan. “The Hulkster” was reinstated into the WWE Hall Of Fame this year. Goldberg offered a rather blunt response to the matter:

“Well if WWE didn’t think it could be a positive thing, he never would have been reinstated,” Goldberg said.

Discussion: What do you make of Goldberg’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below!

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

MVP Reveals How Much Longer He Wants To Wrestle

Jon Fuentes
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1

Former WWE Superstar MVP was recently interviewed by The Mirror to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Initially, MVP believed he would retire from wrestling at the age of 45.

Just a few weeks away from his 45th birthday, however, MVP’s tune has changed. He still feels great at his age and has decided to hang around for a few more years:

“I’m at a point in my career where I am ready to transition. I always said that I was going to retire at 45, and I’ll be 45 in October. I decided that I still look and feel pretty good, so I’m going to hang around for a couple more years, but I know that my actual in-ring career is coming to a close.

“I’m ready to move into the next phase of my career, which would be motivational speaking. I know that my life story is an inspirational one and one that can, hopefully, help others achieve goals in their own lives.”

MVP worked with WWE from 2005 to 2010. During his time with the company, he won two United States titles and a Tag Team Title reign with Matt Hardy. MVP says he looks back on his time with WWE with pride:

“Sure, absolutely. I think about that young kid who grew up in Florida with a single mom and in poverty, essentially. I made some bad decisions and was able to overcome that because Vince McMahon gave me an opportunity.

“Society said ‘You’re an ex-convict, we’ll give you a minimum wage job,’ but Vince said ‘Hey, you’re talented, let’s give you an opportunity.’ I was able to travel the world as one of WWE’s top talents.

“I was able to take people that I watched on television with awe and make them my peers and my colleagues, and I was a two-time United States Champion and a Tag Team Champion. So I look back and go ‘Wow – I’m in the history books!'”

Discussion: What do you think about MVP’s comments regarding how long he wants to wrestle? Let us know in the comments!

Photo: Paige Shows Off New Look

Andrew Ravens
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WWE SmackDown General Manager Paige decided to make a change to her look and show it off in a recent photo that she shared on her official Instagram account.

In the caption of the post, she thanked her stylist by writing the following, “Thank you Wayne Tuggle Hair for absolutely KILLING the hair game. Amazing friend and amazing stylist.” You can see the photo here:

https://instagram.com/p/Bnb5LxQneTj/?utm_source=ig_embed

Although she is no longer allowed to compete in the ring, she has made a great transition from being an active wrestler to being an authority figure on weekly WWE television.

She was in a six-woman tag match back in late December at a live event that needed to be called off after she took a hard kick to the back from Sasha Banks that she wasn’t ready for and it stunned her. The early belief was it was just a mild stinger, leading to her losing feeling in her extremities.

WWE pulled her from the ring and set up further testing that led to the call being made that she would not be cleared by WWE doctors to wrestle again. It was a situation described as similar to Edge’s medical disqualification from competing in the ring.

The Rock On HBO Renewing Ballers, WWE Story Time Episode Airing After RAW

Andrew Ravens
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The Rock On HBO Renewing Ballers

We noted earlier this week that HBO announced that the company decided to renew “Ballers” for a fifth season. Former WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a producer and lead actor for the show that is currently in the middle of its fourth season.

Rock took to his official Instagram account to react to the news by writing the following:

“HBO’s #1 highest rated show (30min) for years now is officially back – for SEASON 5. Thank you to my great partners at @HBO for circling up our wagons one more time and renewing @ballershbo for a 5th straight season. Most importantly, THANK YOU FANS worldwide for rockin’ with us and being the driving force behind our success. Besides us being HBO’s highest rated show – I also feel my character’s ambition, drive & demons is an extension of our loyal fans who watch – and we’ll continue to go hard and rock this motherf*cker til’ the wheels fall off. Our next season will be our best yet. Let’s roll.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bnbe3Yvl8LY/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=k7k4c3bdys2a

WWE Story Time Episode Airing After RAW

The WWE Network has updated its schedule for this coming week where it was revealed that the streaming service of the WWE will be airing a new episode of Story Time after this Monday’s episode of RAW. Here is the synopsis for the show:

“This collection of stories includes WWE Superstars and Legends recalling their first step into unchartered waters, including Dolph Ziggler’s early character struggles, Jake Roberts’ problems with nationally televised broadcasts, and Cesaro’s debut in a dive bar. These tales shed some light on rough first days and not-so-nice new beginnings, from Chris Jericho’s first night in Madison Square Garden, to Paul Heyman’s early days riding with Rick Rude!”

PROGRESS Releases Huge Show on YouTube feat. NXT Champion

Jake Skudder
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PROGRESS are in the midst of the biggest show in company history. The UK based promotion will be heading to Wembley Arena on Sunday September 30th for the biggest British wrestling show in decades. Some of Europe’s biggest stars will be on hand as well as the likes of NXT’s Matt Riddle.

In celebration of this historic night the company has released Chapter 36 for free on YouTube. ‘We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again’ took place in September 2016 and features an incredible roster of talents, including the current reigning NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, NXT’s Nixon Newell, Aleister Black, 205 Live’s Jack Gallagher and NJPW’s Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr.

Here’s the full card for the event and the show is available at the bottom of the page:

  • ATLAS Tournament Final – Rampage Brown vs Joe Coffey
  • Jinny, Alex Windsor & Dahlia Black vs Pollyanna, Laura Di Matteo & Nixon Newell
  • PROGRESS Tag Team Titles Match – London Riots (c) vs British Strong Style
  • Tommaso Ciampa vs Zack Sabre Jr – 2/3 Falls
  • The Origin vs F.S.U., Jack Gallagher & Damon Moser
  • PROGRESS Title Match – Marty Scurll (c) vs Mark Haskins vs Tommy End

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-iAhlPte3o&feature=push-u-sub&attr_tag=7pf_RowpmWftNTKC%3A6

Check out more of our UK coverage here

Tetsuya Naito Calls Out Minoru Suzuki

Jake Skudder
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3

Tetsuya Naito is set to face Minoru Suzuki September 17th in the main event of Destruction in Beppu. Interestingly, the leader of the Los Ingobernables de Japon stable has decided to call out the devastating Suzuki…even calling him a hypocrite of sorts.

Naito appeared on camera following his ‘Road To’ bout against the Suzuki-Gun stable alongside his Ingobernables team. Naito made the following comments; “2018…back on March 6th. After the match in Ota City Gymnasium. You still do remember what you said backstage don’t you? We fought for the Intercontinental Title in the semi-main event. The main event was a special singles match between Okada and Ospreay. On that day you were very upset, weren’t you? But in a couple of weeks, on September 17th in Beppu Plaza…there will be a title match that will once again be the semi-main event. The main event will be a special singles match. The NEVER title, which you once said was your treasure, is in the semi-main event. And the special singles match, which the King (Suzuki) will be featured in, is the main event.”

Naito went on to state: “Don’t you have anything to say about this? 6 months ago you were furious. Will you just stay silent because now you are in the main event? You only speak when it benefits you huh?”

Opinion: Naito is a very brave man

Check out more of our New Japan coverage here

You can check out the full interview below

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada Talk Upcoming Bout

Jake Skudder
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3

Hiroshi Tanahashi will be putting his Wrestle Kingdom title match in jeopardy on Sunday September 23rd. The ‘Ace’ of New Japan will step in the ring with Kazuchika Okada in an IWGP January 4th Challenge Rights match for the Destruction in Kobe show.

Traditionally the winner of the G1 tournament is expected to defend his title shot. Well, the G1 winner should defend against the competitors who beat him during the tournament. Interestingly Tanahashi announced that he would defend the rights against Okada even though their epic bout went to a time limit draw during this year’s G1.

Tanahashi spoke on camera following his bout at the ‘Road To’ event last night. The ‘Ace’ stated that “I know Okada far too well. Please show me the part of you that I’ve never seen before. But..just winning is not enough, because I’ve already lost and drew to him. It won’t satisfy me. Then what should I do? I’m looking for something more.”

Kazuchika Okada also appeared in a backstage interview segment, the former IWGP Heavyweight made the following comments: “It’s obvious isn’t it? Tokyo Dome and the IWGP Title…they need me. The answer is there. That’s why Tanahashi wants to beat me isn’t it? He needs to beat me in order to get to the Tokyo Dome. You’re being naive aren’t you? But the IWGP Title…The main event at Tokyo Dome is not your place. Well…we’re just getting started. There will be more preview matches. I will get everything out of Tanahashi and I will finish him in Kobe.”

Check out the full video below:

Kenny Omega Comments on the ‘Best’ G1 2018 Matches

Jake Skudder
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3

The New Japan Pro Wrestling ‘Road to’ Destruction shows are in full swing. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and his ‘Golden Lovers’ tag partner Kota Ibushi faced CHAOS rivals Tomohiro Ishii and Will Ospreay at last night’s Korakuen Hall event.

The bout was stellar and was unexpectedly so for what is traditionally a ‘lesser’ show in NJPW’s scheduling. The ‘Road To’ shows tend to act as a series to build to the bigger events such as Destruction later this month. The company may be looking to up the ante with the expected drive in ALL IN subscribers getting the megashow at a heavily discounted price.

Omega took to the mic following the bout to discuss his upcoming IWGP Heavyweight Title bout. Kenny will be facing Tomohiro Ishii at Destruction in Hiroshima September 15th. Ishii earned the bout by defeating Omega in their G1 Climax tournament bout. Omega stated (in Japanese) that “My next defence will be against Ishii. Many American fans say that our G1 match was epic, the best bout from G1. My personal opinion…the best matches were all of Ibushi-san’s. Don’t you agree Ibushi-san?”

Check out the full results here from the show here

You can check out the show on NJPWWorld now. You can also check out full reaction from the September 7th ‘Road To’ show below via YouTube.

Chelsea Green Shares How She Became Daniel Bryan’s Physiotherapist On Raw

Chris Stephens
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7

Chelsea Green turned a lot of heads at All In last weekend. The “Hot Mess” participated in the well-reviewed fatal 4-way match along with Tessa Blanchard, Madison Rayne, and the fastest rising dentist on the independent scene, Dr. Britt Baker DMD.

Now 4 years into her pro-career, Green is a former Knockouts Champion and was ranked #26 in the PWI Female 50 rankings last year. Her career in wrestling began in rather unique fashion, however. Just months into her pro-career, Green was admitting to having an affair with Daniel Bryan live on Monday Night Raw.

Green was a guest on the most recent edition of Edge and Christian’s podcast and told the story of how she was given the role of Megan Miller on WWE programming. Miller was Daniel Bryan’s storyline physiotherapist in the summer of 2014.

Chelsea Green On Role As Daniel Bryan’s Physiotherapist

Green is from Victoria, British Columbia. The coastal city is also where Taya Valkyrie is from. As Taya would years earlier, Green also decided to train at the Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary. Storm’s school has an excellent reputation and as such WWE will reach out periodically for his students if they need extra performers.

“I started in January and by August I was already cutting a promo on Raw,” Green said.

Green was touring through Canada and got a call to be a “Rosebud”. Green dropped what she was doing and joined WWE at their house show in Vancouver. In the back that night, she overheard WWE offer another indy wrestler a larger role on Raw. Green knew this Canadian indy wrestler didn’t have a passport and wouldn’t be able to work the show, however.

“What she didn’t tell WWE is that she didn’t have a passport. So she said ‘yeah’ but I’m standing beside her and I know she doesn’t have a passport,” Green said.

Eventually, Green was given a call and offered the spot. She was called into an office with Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Stephanie to talk about the role of Daniel Bryan’s physical therapist. She admitted that she would likely feel more pressure if she met the same three today.

“If I met them now my knees would be shaking,” Green said. At the time, she says, she was just trying to be professional.

Chelsea says her performance on the August 11th, 2014 Raw was the first of her sports entertainment career. It can be viewed below:

Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rematch Set For NWA 70th Anniversary

Jake Skudder
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4

Wrestling MediaCon will host a historic match tomorrow evening. Former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis will be facing Doug Williams to determine the Number 1 contender to current Champion Cody Rhodes.

Williams appeared during a ‘Ten Pounds of Gold’ panel featuring Aldis and challenged him to a bout. It was soon confirmed that the Number 1 Contender stipulation would be added. The winner of the bout will go on to face Cody Rhodes in Nashville at the NWA 70th Anniversary show.

This will be an interesting bout for longtime fans of the TNA promotion. Both men were part of the British Invasion stable alongside Rob Terry. The team held the New Japan IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and TNA World Tag Team Championship. Doug Williams was also a 1 time X Division Champion in the promotion.

Aldis lost the NWA belt at last weekend’s huge ALL IN event. The bout is available to view via FITE, Ring of Honor’s Honor Club service or New Japan’s NJPWWorld streaming platform. The NJPW option is the cheapest if you have not yet seen the event and you get an entire month of NJPW content in the mix, including the Destruction shows.

The 70th anniversary show will be available to view on FITE for $24.99 on Sunday October 21st.

Rev Pro/NJPW British J Cup Day 1 Results from Wrestling MediaCon

Jake Skudder
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Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) started their British J Cup tournament this evening. Wrestling MediaCon in Manchester will host the 2 day event, the Convention is available on FITE.tv for $29.99.

This will be the second iteration of the tournament, the debut field in 2017 included Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, Kushida, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Kyle O’Reilly, Josh Bodom, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask IV. This year’s tournament will be taking place from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England on September 8th and 9th.

Liger won the inaugural tournament and he will now defend his title against the following stars: Rocky Romero, Chris Ridgeway, El Phantasmo, Rich Swann, Tiger Mack IV, Bandido, Dean Allmark, Flamita,  KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, David Starr, Kurtis Chapman, Sho, Yoh and Kyle Fletcher.

Here’s the results from Day 1:

Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger b. Kyle Fletcher – Liger took the win with a Shotei Palm Strike followed by a Brainbuster

El Phantasmo b. Bandido – Phantasmo took the win with a Senton followed by a Moonsault from the opposite corner

Rocky Romero b. Kip Sabian – Romero took the win with a standing Sliced Bread

SHO b. Dean Allmark – SHO took the win with a Package Piledriver to advance in the Cup

The Great-O-Kharn b. Mark Davis – O-Kharn took the win after hitting a Claw Slam in a non-tournament bout

David Starr b. Tiger Mask – Starr took the win via roll up after removing Tiger’s Mask

KUSHIDA b. Chris Ridgeway – KUSHIDA took the win via the Back to The Future

YOH b. Taguchi – YOH took the win via count out, this was an odd bout to say the least 

Rich Swann b. Flamita – Swann took the win after hitting a 450 from the second rope

Check out more UK Wrestling news here

War Raiders Give Thanks To Their NJPW Mentors

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Hanson and Raymond Rowe are now known as the War Raiders in NXT. The team formerly known as War Machine were a successful team in New Japan Pro Wrestling before signing with WWE, however.

The pair recently Tweeted out praise for some of their mentors from NJPW.

https://twitter.com/RAYMONDxROWE/status/1038432008005984256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1038432008005984256%7Ctwgr%5E373939313b636f6e74726f6c%7Ctwcon%5Elogo&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mandatory.com%2Fwrestlezone%2Funcategorized%2F995877-nxt-superstar-hanson-gives-thanks-to-mentors-rowe-follows-up-with-tweet-of-his-own

As War Machine, Rowe and Hanson are 2x IWGP Heavyweight Tag-Team Champions.

Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima are one of the most successful tag-teams in NJPW history. As Tencozy, Kojima and Tenzan are 6x IWGP Tag-Team Champions. They also won the Wrestling Observer award for Tag-Team of the Year in 2001. Tokyo Sports gave them the same award the following year.

War Raiders In NXT

At Takeover: Brooklyn IV, War Raiders inserted themselves into the NXT Tag-Team Championship picture. The pair attacked the Undisputed Era after the current champions had disposed of Moustache Mountain.

Hanson and Rowe reported to the WWE Performance Center in January. Candice LeRae and fellow NJPW alumni, Ricochet, are also in their class of trainees. Triple H had the following to say on the class back in April:

“I mean the talent level, the amount of people, the amount of amazing athletes that want to come here, that want to be a part of NXT, that want that opportunity like there was tonight to stamp their place in history and immortality and become those icons…this is the place to do it.”

Charlotte Flair To Face Sonya Deville On Smackdown

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Charlotte Flair is currently part of one of the most talked about angles in WWE. The supposed Becky Lynch heel turn has left many fans unsure who to cheer for.

Flair won the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Summerslam. She pinned Lynch in a triple threat match which also involved then-champion Carmella.

Smackdown General Manager Paige has announced Charlotte Flair will be in single’s action on Tuesday. She’ll face Paige’s former Absolution protege, Sonya Deville.

Charlotte Flair vs Sonya Deville

This will be the first-ever meeting between Deville and Charlotte. They have been on opposing tag-teams at live events but have never faced each other on WWE programming or in single’s action.

Under the often-disputed WWE rule that a non-champion beating a champion in a non-title match leads to a future title match, this is a big opportunity for Deville. This same rule allowed Flair to be added to the Summerslam title match. Flair had defeated then-champion Carmella in a single’s match on Smackdown.

It is also the same rule which R-Truth has been comically misunderstanding for the last few weeks.

Based on what has been established on Smackdown recently, however, if Deville beats Charlotte she should be added to the match between Lynch and Flair at Hell in a Cell.

Matt Riddle Takes Shot At Dana White, Calls UFC President “Dummy”

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Matt Riddle was fired from the UFC while on a 4-fight win streak. The issue was that he had two of those victories overturned due to failing drug tests for marijuana.

UFC President Dana White took Matt Riddle to task in 2013 for failing another marijuana test. White fired Riddle and called him a “weak-minded dummy” for his failure to abstain from marijuana. What new evidence is showing, however, is that Riddle could have abstained from marijuana for months and still flunked those tests.

With his NXT debut pending, Riddle took an opportunity to take a shot at his former employer.

“You have to go to work three times a year, and you couldn’t pass a drug test?” Dana White asked of Riddle in 2013. “You’re so weak-minded and so addicted to marijuana, that you couldn’t stay off it enough to pass a drug test three times a year. Well, guess what dummy, they drug test in the real world, too!”

Science Now Unsure About Cannabis Test Matt Riddle Failed

The tests used to determine that Riddle had consumed cannabis not long before his UFC fights have recently been shown to be based on disputed-science, however. The latest research in this area is stating such tests are flawed and lead to false-positives for medical or frequent cannabis users.

Studies out of Norway in 2014 have shown that THC does not leave the body in a time-determined manner. Thus previous claims by medical testing companies that their devices only test for “recent cannabis use” have been misguided. This includes the testing used by the UFC prior to the advent of USADA. This is a controversial issue, however, and several medical testing companies still claim otherwise.

Based on the new research though, Riddle could have abstained for months from marijuana before his fights and still failed the tests he was given. Don’t cry for Matt Riddle, though, he seems to be doing just fine.

Lana Is Not Happy With Her WWE 2k19 Character Model (Updated)

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WWE 2K19 will be the first game to feature a playable version of Lana. In previous games, she was only available as a manager or valet.

2K released an in-game image of Lana yesterday. The Ravishing Russian herself voiced criticism of the job they did in recreating her image, however.

Lana Not Happy With 2K

According to Lana’s Tweet, she’s never wrestled in that gear or worn her hair in that style.

Perhaps in response to Lana’s critique, 2K re-tweeted a side by side comparison of Lana’s model with an actual image of her.

The above image is not of Lana in a match, however. The image is from a WWE photoshoot from earlier this year. The photoshoot involved Superstars recreating current movie posters. Lana was portraying the lead role of “I, Tonya”.

ILana 43a21d7eece4606d47bde73a8900c7e2 e1536418825566

UPDATE: It now appears Lana is aware of the “I, Tonya” photo 2K used. She responded with the following:

Lana and Rusev Mixed Match Challenge

Things are going slightly better on Smackdown for Rusev Day. The team of Aiden English and Rusev will face the Bar on Tuesday night with the winner earning a tag-team title opportunity.

Lana and Rusev are also once again entered into the WWE Mixed Match Challenge. In the inaugural tournament, Lana was able to score the first victory of her career on the WWE main roster.

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