WWE NXT tag team The Street Profits, Angleo Dawkins and Montez Ford, recently spoke to the The Miami Herald. Dawkins and Ford explained during the interview where their “Street Profits” name originated from, and how they feel they’re helping WWE advance:
Dawkins:
“That was definitely us. We were like, ‘Yo, what would be hot right now? What should we name ourselves?’
“We went down the list, and as soon as we both said Street Profits, we were like, ‘Oh man. That gotta nice little ring to it.'”
Ford:
“We’re profits – we’re advancing in life, we’re advancing the tag team division, we’re advancing the goal.
“We’re advancing the skill, we’re advancing the style, we’re advancing everything. The profit is an advance, and that’s what we do.”
Dawkins and Ford also discuss how they formed as a team and their experiences with fans at live events. Read the full interview by clicking here.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Rocky Romero believes there’s one big thing that sets NJPW apart from WWE.
Romero recently spoke to The Orlando Sentinel and discussed the different mindset between WWE and NJPW’s business models. Romero explained that NJPW isn’t about “selfishness,” as opposed to WWE.
NJPW strives to all work together to put on an excellent show. Romero notes WWE wants their talent to reach for the “brass ring” and compete with one another for top spots:
“We’re not about selfishness. It’s different with WWE. They’re telling wrestlers to reach for the brass ring and compete with each other for top spots.
“The Japanese mentality is to work together to make the ship run better. It’s been instilled in me for a long time and now I’m passing it on to Sho and Yoh [of Roppongi 3K] to guide them, let them learn from mistakes and make them the best.”
Romero’s Career
The 35-year-old Cuban vet has been in the business since 2003. He worked for several years in Mexico and also did work for Ring Of Honor (ROH). In 2010 Romero signed on with NJPW.
He has seen extraordinary success with the promotion; including and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title run, eight IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title wins, and won the 2016 Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament with Beretta.
Romero also had a one-off mixed martial arts (MMA) career. He was submitted in 2004 in 20 seconds of the first round via kneebar.
PJ Black (better known as Justin Gabriel) has had a ton of injury woes over the past year.
Last year Black broke his leg and lost a finger in a base jumping accident. It was the third base jumping injury Black had suffered. He previously had broken both his ankles the fall before the incident.
For those who don’t know, base jumping is when one jumps off a cliff or high surface while wearing either a wing-suit or a parachute.
Black recently spoke to Interactive Wrestling Radio about the injury he suffered last year. He was unable to wrestle the entire year and described it as “the hardest year of my life”:
“Oh, bro. It has literally been the hardest year of my life. I was out the whole year. Six months in the hospital… I had to re-learn how to walk. It was literally the toughest year of my life.
“But, this year has been the most rewarding year of my life! I’m back to 100%! I don’t think I’ll ever be back to a full range of motion in my leg but that hasn’t stopped me from doing anything.
“But, right now, I’m great! I’m super happy to be alive, I’m super happy to be working! I’m super happy for the new season of Lucha Underground to be airing!”
Former WWE Superstar Brian Christopher has passed away at 46 years old, according to multiple reports. Christopher was best known for his role as “Grandmaster Sexay” during the Attitude Era. Along with tag team partner Scotty 2 Hotty, the “Too Cool” – along with Rikishi – were one of the hottest acts during a wild time in WWE. He was also the son of WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler. SEScoops extends our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Brian Christopher.
Christopher was arrested this past week in Memphis and charged with DUI and attempting to evade police. The 46-year-old was reportedly speeding and swerving around at 1 A.M. on July 7th. Cops attempted to pull Christopher over, but he refused. Police say Lawler told them he initially refused to pull over was because he was trying to get home.
One police pulled him over, they smelled alcohol in the vehicle and found an open container in the center console. Christopher was arrested immediately. He was booked on DUI and evading police. Bail was set at $40,000. Last month, Christopher was arrested for [allegedly] attempting to run out on a hotel bill in Memphis.
Remembering Brian Christopher
Some of Brian Christopher’s former colleagues and other members of the pro wrestling community have commented on his untimely passing.
Praying for the families of the departed now. Brian was special to me at a really special time in my life. Nikolai and my dad were good friends. Brickhouse and my late brother Brad were close. #RIPBROTHERS God bless the families!
I only met Brian Christopher once, last year at an indy show in Kentucky. He was very friendly and just genuinely happy to be a part of the show, the life of the party. I almost left before introducing myself to him last minute. I'm glad I did. Rest in Peace Brother ?
Sadly, Nicolai, Brickhouse Brown & Brian Christopher all have passed. Unimaginable pain for @JerryLawler My heart goes out to him. Very sad day for the business I love. ?
— ? Frankie Kazarian ? (@FrankieKazarian) July 29, 2018
Vince McMahon doesn’t appear on WWE TV as often as he used to.
“The Chairman Of The Board” was prominently featured on weekly WWE programming during the ’90s to mid/late ‘2000s. Today, McMahon primarily runs the show from backstage while Triple H and Stephanie McMahon appear regularly on TV instead.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez recently discussed this on Wrestling Observer Radio. Alvarez pointed out that McMahon is looking very old these days. Meltzer responded by revealing that’s the reason McMahon doesn’t wan’t to be on TV so much.
Instead, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have been made the new faces of the company. In fact, Vince McMahon wasn’t heavily involved in the negotiations for WWE’s new TV deal. That was handled by “The Game” and Stephanie. Meltzer described the ordeal as a “transition.”
McMahon On WWE TV
In recent months McMahon has been featured a bit more on WWE TV, but not regularly. He was briefly involved in Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania 34 build. McMahon also was attacked by Kevin Owens last year on SmackDown Live.
McMahon was on TV for the WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble trophy presentation and the announcement of WWE Evolution on last week’s Monday Night RAW – but said very little.
Discussion: How do you feel about Vince not being on TV as regularly as he used to be? Is it time to hand the reigns over to Triple H and Stephanie?
WWE Hall Of Famer Nikolai Volkoff (real name Josip Nikolai Peruzovi?) has sadly passed away.
PWInsider has confirmed the news. Volkoff was 70-years-old. He had been hospitalized in Maryland several days before his passing. Volkoff was being treated for dehydration in addition to some other issues.
Volkoff made his professional wrestling debut back in 1967. He did work for the NWA in addition to having several WWE runs. After a run with AWA, Volkoff returned to WWE. He portrayed an evil Russian who teamed up with The Iron Sheik. The pair captured the Tag Team Titles in 1985.
In 2005 Volkoff was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame by Jim Ross. It is one of the most star-studded HOF classes of all time; as it also included Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, Jimmy Hart, Paul Orndorff and The Iron Sheik.
We here at SEScoops offer our thoughts and prayers to Peruzovi?’s family during this difficult time.
Kenny Omega is having a great G1 Climax 28 tournament thus far. The current IWGP Heavyweight Champion is undefeated in the round-robin portion of the tournament. He defeated LIJ’s Sanada in his last tournament match.
Omega took to Twitter to comment on his most recent opponent. He also took a shot at his upcoming tournament opponent as well.
You know, I hate to say it but SANADA may a future wor…. Woah, I’ll stop myself there. *Ahem* it was an easy 2 points. ? ZSJ next. He’s about to get that Hanes underwear model body pulverized. #g128#njpw
“You know, I hate to say it but SANADA may a future wor…. Woah, I’ll stop myself there. *Ahem* it was an easy 2 points. ZSJ next. He’s about to get that Hanes underwear model body pulverized.”
Kenny Omega G1 Climax 28
Omega has stated several times that he is not a fan of Tetsuya Naito’s Los InGobernables de Japon.
Last month, Omega clarified his feelings regarding the Naito and his faction.
“Naito in a way is a Pseudo-Stone Cold Steve Austin, anti-hero-esque character. I really don’t appreciate his message and I really only think it works in Japan,” said Omega. “Naito’s message is rather than trying to follow your dreams, rather than try and strive for something more than that, just calm down, just don’t worry about it, and don’t care.”
Omega’s comments are likely a way to build a future angle, however, and not his true feelings.
“LIJ is just rinse, wash repeat. Sure they are talented, maybe they have an interesting type of charisma, but they are very local and not the type of worldwide image NJPW is looking for,” Omega continued. “They’re assets, we can use them, but they’re niche.”
Omega and Naito met on night 2 of the G1 Climax 28. Omega defeated Naito in the main event of the first night of round-robin matches for the B Block. Naito won the G1 Climax 27 tournament last year by defeating Omega in the finals. Omega had won the G1 Climax 26 tournament the year before.
Chris Jericho’s cruise is starting to shape up as one of the better match cards this year. Already confirmed for the event is the Sea of Honor tournament presented by Ring of Honor and the Bucks of Jericho/Y2Jacksons taking on Cody, Marty Scurll, and Hangman Page.
Another match which could be confirmed shortly is between Konnan’s LAX and the Young Bucks. Konnan spoke about such a match recently on his “Keepin it 100” podcast.
“I’m gonna put that out there: Young Bucks meet LAX on international waters. First blood, first death, whatever the hell you wanna call it and let’s do this.”
“All right, Young Bucks, we’re calling you out,” he continued. “You can stop a revolutionary but you can’t stop a revolution. Boom. We’re serious like a late period. Bring it.”
LAX vs the Young Bucks
Should this match be confirmed, it could possibly be a champions vs champions tag match. Santana and Ortiz are the current Impact Wrestling tag-team champions, although the OGz recently stole their belts. The Young Bucks are the current IWGP Heavyweight tag-team champions as well.
The Young Bucks have made statements in the past regarding facing LAX one day. In a Q&A session with fans back in March, the Bucks stated they would like to face the Usos as well as LAX.
We are almost a month away from All-In but still have little idea as to who the Bucks might face that night. They have previously listed the Revival as a team they would like to face and have even hinted WWE might let the team participate in the event.
During their post-match media scrum from the G1 Special in San Francisco, the Bucks made some vague statements.
“How cool would it be to win the WWE tag team championship belts and not even have to perform on their show?” Jackson asked, seemingly out of nowhere. After Matt made the comment Nick asked his brother, “a little one off?”, to which Matt replied, “yeah, a little one off.”
As reported earlier this week New Japan Pro Wrestling appear to be seriously considering offering Shinsuke Nakamura an opportunity to return to the company once his reported three year deal with WWE ends in the next few months.
As a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion Nakamura can be considered amongst the greatest performers to ever step foot in an NJPW ring, but should the ‘King of Strong Style’ return to the company which put him on the global wrestling map?
In terms of presentation, presence and performance there is no denying that Shinsuke is as unique and electrifying a character as anyone in pro wrestling today. Since joining WWE he has grown his brand and worldwide notoriety in a way that simply would not have been possible if he had stayed as part of the New Japan roster. It is arguable however that Nakamura’s greatest works came as part of his time in New Japan and he has not reached the heights of the G1, Wrestle Kingdom et al since he made the leap over to WWE, aside from an incredible showing in his debut against Sami Zayn.
With the international expansion plans and strategy to target a more western audience New Japan would be hard pressed to find a performer on the planet with the upside of Nakamura. He already has a strong following in his native Japan and has built a strong fanbase amongst WWE’s ‘universe’ so this really would be a win-win for them. Realistically though how likely would it be for Shinsuke to change course and return to the company that ‘made’ him?
Shinsuke has absolutely toned down his style since arriving in WWE, the striking prowess is still evident but the velocity of his arsenal is nowhere near what it once was in New Japan. Would Nakamura want to risk leaving what is widely regarded a ‘safer’ style in the WWE and return to the ‘dangerous’ New Japan formula (although this is left up to interpretation)? Nakamura now sits as one of the premiere focal points of the Smackdown brand, you can argue that being United States Champion isn’t a premiere position but there are only a finite amount of belts in the company and Shinsuke possesses one of them…that to me is a very strong position to be in.
Sure, seeing the ‘Rockstar’ of old in New Japan tearing it up with the likes of Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, Will Ospreay and Kota Ibushi is an extremely exciting prospect but can you compare these marquee bouts to being on a WrestleMania card? That is a decision that Nakamura may well have to make in the near future but with WWE seemingly looking to solidify their stranglehold on the pro wrestling market across multiple regions (I’m looking at you UK division) and one of their star attractions being looked at by a competitor you can bet that a deal with a very attractive number will be heading towards the Nakamura camp in the near future.
Do you think that Shinsuke should return to New Japan? Let us know in the comments
WoS/World of Sport re-debuted on ITV last night in the 5pm time slot. This was the first time that the programme had aired on the channel since the New Year’s Eve 2016 special which reportedly earned around 1.25 million viewers.
The rating now appears to be in for the first show as the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) allegedly posted a number of 0.9 million (around 920,000) average with an 8.7% share. The show apparently peaked at 1.1 million. This has however now been refuted by John Williams, a scheduler at ITV who claimed that this figure was incorrect, or at least wasn’t the full picture:
the figure you published does not include +1 or HD viewing
Apparently the overnight numbers published by BARB do not include +1 or HD viewing, so the 920k figure would purely be based on Standard Definition/SD viewers. What this means for the actual number is now really up in the air…The 5pm time slot on ITV last week drew around 1.5 million at a 16% share and peaked at 2.3 million according to The WATW who initially posted the overnight numbers, this was for well established game show ‘The Chase’ which itself is not an ‘on demand’ heavy programme as it’s regularly shown and not episodic:
Slightly lower. Last week, The Chase averages around 1.5m, 16% share. Peaked at 2.3m.
So if ITV were able to draw an extra 500-600k viewers from the HD and +1 versions of the show then this would be a far more respectable number than the initially believed 920k. Either way the fact that nearly 1 million people saw British professional wrestling is quite the achievement for a show that was not heavily publicised…however it is also true that numbers will likely need to improve for the coming 9 weeks to truly be classed as a success both on the WoS and ITV fronts. It is also very important to remember that potential viewers via Sky Plus (DVR) or the ITV Hub (on demand) could be taking a portion off of the live viewership.
A re-run of the debut episode ran this morning on ITV in the 10:50am-11:50 time slot and it will be extremely interesting to see the number that this generates, the show is definitely aimed at a family demographic and the ‘breakfast viewing’ audience could be lucrative.
Some new details are now available regarding how much money WWE made off the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudia Arabia this year. WWE released its financial earnings report this week and have been touting their success to investors.
“This success is evidenced by the completion of our new U.S. distribution agreements with USA Network and Fox Sports, the staging of another record-breaking WrestleMania,” WWE’s financial report reads. “And the development of a 10-year strategic partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority.”
While specific figures regarding the Saudi deal were not released in the report, some assumptions can be made.
WWE Earnings From The Greatest Royal Rumble
WWE breaks down their financial earnings into 4 categories: Network subscriptions, content fees (TV deals), advertising fees, and “other”.
The category of “other” increased from $11 million at this time last year to $60 million. Some are speculating the large increase is due to fees paid for the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Since the deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority is for 10-years, some are assuming WWE will be paid $45 million per year for the length of the deal. This is just speculation based on the earnings report, however. How the number got rounded down from the $49 million extra revenue to $45 million is not clear.
The report only confirms WWE was paid approximately $49 million extra this year and nobody is giving details as to where it came from.
In terms of how the deal with the Saudis is structured, there is little clarity here either and certainly, no firm conclusions should be made. The $49 million could have been a lump sum paid in advance for future events or the deal could be back-loaded to be more lucrative near the end of the 10-year deal. There are likely only a few people who know the exact details.
How Many WWE Network Subscribers Are There
WWE stated in their recent earnings report they are now at 1.8 million subscribers. It is not clear how many of these subscribers are currently on a free month trial, however.
WWE’s revenue from the Network increased slightly from this time last year. The company had earned $52.1 million in Network subscriptions by this time in 2017. They are now up to $56.2 this year.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom.
Jake Jeremy – Ok, so Night 11 of the G1 Climax…here’s the scheduled matches:
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs YOSHI-HASHI
Togi Makabe vs Bad Luck Fale
Michael Elgin vs Kazuchika Okada
Jay White vs Hangman Page
EVIL vs Minoru Suzuki
Ian Carey – Tanahashi beats YOSHI-HASHI – no surprises there at all
Jake Jeremy – I would go for an upset but Tanahashi is going to be in the running to the end now
Ian Carey – I think Makabe beats Fale, likely via DQ again. Fale will have two words for him but it won’t be Suck It
Jake Jeremy – Suck em? haha. I agree Fale will lose via DQ due to Firing Squad interference
Ian Carey – Okada beats Elgin but I’m expecting Elgin to have a good showing here. I feel like him and Okada will have a strong match. Elgin looks like he’s dropped weight. He’s moving faster but doesn’t appear to have lost any strength.
Jake Jeremy – Okada wins, I don’t mention Elgin that often
Ian Carey – I’m going to call a bit of an upset and say Hangman Page beats White. I know White’s antics and rivalry with his own stable are a big story this tournament but I feel like they have to give Page a few more points and a win over White seems plausible.
Jake Jeremy – I’m going for White here so that he is still in the running for the last night of block matches
Ian Carey – I always underestimate where NJPW ranks EVIL – he went 6-3 last tournament. Despite this, I’m still feeling like Suzuki gets the win here.
Jake Jeremy – I’m going EVIL because you’re right they randomly decide to push him hard sometimes
What are your predictions for Night 11? Let us know in the comments
– Bret Hart attended tonight’s UFC event, UFC Fight Night: Alvarez vs. Poirier, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and appeared on camera during the television broadcast on FOX.
UFC Heavyweight/Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier got excited putting “The Hit Man” over on commentary, saying, “The Intercontinental Champion, the tag team champion, the WWE Champion! He’s the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be, “The Hit Man” Bret Hart! Welcome Bret to the UFC!”
Daniel Cormier sounded like the happiest man in the world introducing Bret Hart on screen at tonight's UFC card in Calgary pic.twitter.com/Tzyi25NLQ6
Before beating Gadzhimurad Antigulov via TKO, Ion Cutelaba entered the Octagon wearing Hart’s trademark sunglasses as the wrestling legend’s WWE entrance theme played.
During the show, Hart posted a photo on Instagram of himself with UFC President Dana White.
https://instagram.com/p/Bly30tHBHlL/
– Brandi Rhodes noted yesterday on Twitter that she will not be wrestling at “ALL IN,” which takes place on Saturday, September 1 at the Sears Centre in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. She will, however, still appear at the event “with as many Beyonce style costume changes as time will allow.”
I’m not wrestling at #ALLIN But I’ll be appearing of course. With as many Beyoncé style costume changes as time will allow. https://t.co/1IO316CB9j
Rhodes appeared as a ring announcer for WWE before leaving the promotion in 2016. She is currently under contract to Ring of Honor and also appears for various independent promotions alongside her husband, Cody Rhodes.
– Sting will be Lilian Garcia’s guest this Monday on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia.
– Moose suffered a concussion during Sunday’s Impact World Championship Match at Slammiversary against Austin Aries, IMPACT Wrestling announced Friday.
As a result, Moose will not wrestle at Sunday’s Confrontation LIVE event in Greensboro, North Carolina. He was advertised to face Jaxon Stone at the show, which IMPACT Wrestling is co-promoting with AML Wrestling.
IMPACT adds, “We will provide updates as they become available.”
In the main event, Moose came up short to Aries as the former 205 Live star connected with a second Brain Buster to win the match and retain the Impact World Championship.
After weeks of mysterious vignettes, Bordeaux made her IMPACT Wrestling debut last Thursday. Calling herself “The Smoke Show” during an interview with Alicia Atout, she vows to make wrestling “sexy again.”
– Kona Reeves is firing back at harsh criticism from fans.
Before his match against Kassius Ohno at Thursday’s NXT live event in San Diego, California, the official Instagram account of NXT posted a photo of Reeves backstage and noted that he only drinks “The Finest” coffee. The post drew a lot of harsh criticism from fans towards Reeves and he responded in the comment thread by calling them “dirtbags” who are jealous of him.
Reeves wrote, “All these #DirtBags on this comment thread are just jealous of me because I’m living my Dreams, while they are working their 9-5 common life!! They live life to the fullest? Well, I Live Life To #THEFINEST.”
https://instagram.com/p/Blt_wKiBmsO/
Reeves lost to Kassius Ohno in the opening contest.
– Jessica “Jessie” Elaban made her NXT road trip debut at Thursday’s show in San Diego, California, teaming with Kairi Sane in a victory over Taynara Conti and Vanessa Borne. This is a huge step for her since she only began training to wrestle about a year ago at the WWE Performance Center.
On her road trip debut, Elaban posted the following on Instagram.
https://instagram.com/p/BluLS49AOO4/
Elaban had another first at last night’s show in Riverdale, California as she worked her first singles match on the road. Although Elaban came up short to Borne, she enjoyed the experience.
Kenny Omega and Roman Reigns connect with professional wrestling fans very differently.
Both “The Cleaner” and “The Big Dog” spoke with Mel Magazine to offer their philosophies on how they connect with their audiences. Reigns noted that he likes to project an image of self-confidence when he’s in the ring:
“That’s what makes me appealing— that I’m confident, I believe in myself and I think everybody can relate to that,” Reigns said.
“That’s something everybody should relate to. It’s called self-esteem for a reason. You can’t get it from anybody else.
“If I project that, if I portray that, it’s empowering to so many people who are a little insecure, who get nervous.”
The IWGP Heavyweight Champion heard Reigns’ comments and rebutted. Omega said Reigns’ style of projection isn’t true. He himself prefers to put himself in a position to feel pain with his audience:
“[Laughs] It also doesn’t seem true, either,” Omega said. “People go through [heartbreak] in all walks of life, regardless of age, sex, religion or whatever.
“There are times you break up with a loved one, a friend or whatever. You feel alone. It’s a very easy feeling to understand—the feeling of loss, heartache and pain.
“So I’ve put myself in a position to feel pain alongside with the fans.”
In the end, Omega doesn’t put Reigns at full fault. He understands that WWE has a philosophy of keeping things as simple as necessary – so “The Big Dog” can’t take all the blame:
“[WWE] keeps it simple, because they feel as simple as possible is best. It’s the easiest to book for television as well,” Omega said. “You can micromanage things to the second that way.
“If there’s real emotion you can’t. … Even if you can’t really understand what’s going on [as a child], you can feel, and as long as you can feel something, it’s better than coming out of it and feeling nothing.”
One WWE married couple you don’t hear too much about is Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae on NXT.
The couple married in September of 2016 and met each other on the indies. Gargano recently spoke to AZ Central and told the story of how he met LeRae backstage at a show in California:
“I remember [Candice] brought her cousin to the back, and they were just hanging out talking, and I decided I was going to try to get to [Candice] by talking to her cousin about her cellphone. It didn’t really work that well, but we developed a friendship.”
Check out Gargano’s full interview with AZ Central, where he discusses NXT drawing hardcore wrestling fans and being a true nerd, here.
Gargano In WWE
Gargano began working with WWE in 2015. He and former tag team partner Tommaso Ciampa were standouts in NXT’s tag team division under the name DIY. DIY won the NXT Tag Team Titles from The Revival at NXT TakeOver: Toronto in 2016.
They dropped the straps in January of 2017 at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio to The Authors Of Pain. At NXT TakeOver: Chicago several months later DIY failed to recapture the NXT Tag Team throne. After the match Ciampa turned on Gargano, sparking the beginning of an epic rivalry.
The WWE is always looking for talent to add to their already stacked roster.
It looks like they may finally get their hands on a prospect they have been chasing for years. 31-year-old former Lucha Underground Champion Angelico is currently up for grabs. He recently announced his departure from the promotion this past April.
WWE has been speaking to Angelico on-and-off for the past several years, per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The only hold up has been his deal with Lucha Undergorund – but that’s no longer an issue.
The South African began his career back in 2007 for WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T’s now-defunct Pro Wrestling Alliance: Africa promotion. In the years following he has worked for promotions such as Lucha Underground, AAA, Westside Xtreme Wrestling, PWG and more.
In his last match he was defeated by Mike Bailey at the OTT That Ring Really Tied The Room Together show in Ireland on July 7th. He is a former two-time Lucha Underground Trios Champion and a three-time AAA World Tag Team Champion.
If there was ever a better time for CM Punk to return to professional wrestling, it’s now.
The former WWE Champion’s mixed martial arts (MMA) career is currently on the decline. Punk recently suffered his second consecutive loss under the UFC’s banner in June. After the loss there has been a ton of speculation that he could return to wrestling.
The possibility of Punk returning to the squared circle has drawn interest from Ring Of Honor (ROH). The promotion is reportedly interested in booking Punk for their upcoming Madison Square Garden joint-show with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in April.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reports that the chances of Punk returning for ROH are “slim.” It appears those close to Punk say he currently has no interest in participating in pro wrestling.
Punk’s Recent History
Punk departed from WWE back in January of 2014. The UFC inked Punk to a multi-fight deal just several months later. The former WWE Champ made his Octagon debut in September of 2016.
He succumbed to the jiu-jitsu skills of Mickey Gall in the first round. Punk trained for two more years before taking another fight. He squared off with former Houston Golden Gloves winner Mike Jackson this past June.
Although Punk went the distance with Jackson, he was defeated in a lopsided decision. Now with an 0-2 record in fighting Punk’s MMA career looks unclear. Many professional wrestling fans would love to see him return to the ring, but Punk seems to have no interest.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax is widely regarded as the greatest tournament in pro wrestling today. Two blocks of competitors are competing in a round robin format to determine the number 1 contender to Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at January 4th’s Wrestle Kingdom. The tournament has now begun and here are the results from Night 10:
Zack Sabre Jr b. Tama Tonga – ZSJ took the win via DQ after Fale interfered, Tonga was already tapping out to an Armbar out of a Gun Stun
Juice Robinson b. Toru Yano – Juice took his first win of the tournament after hitting the Pulp Friction
Kota Ibushi b. Tomohiro Ishii – Ibushi took the pinfall win after hitting the Kamigoye. This was possibly the best match of the tournament thus far
Tetsuya Naito b. Hirooki Goto – Naito took the pinfall win after hitting two Destinos
Kenny Omega b. Sanada – Omega took the pinfall win after hitting the One Winged Angel
WoS/World of Sport’s first show of their re-debut took place tonight on Britain’s biggest mainstream channel ITV. The programme is set for a 10 show stint running into October and is available to every television set in the United Kingdom.
The stars of the show took to Twitter after the event to react to pro wrestling returning to British television, including Davey Boy Smith Jr, Will Ospreay, Grado, Stu Bennett, SoCal Val and Kip Sabian.
— Harry Smith, “Davey Boy Smith JR” (@DBSmithjr) July 28, 2018
With so much packed into that 1hr show (we don’t do ‘filler’ at @WOSWrestling..) it was impossible to give our incredible female athletes the platform they DESERVE in episode 1. All I’ll say is DON’T MISS EPISODE 2 ???
Gutted to have lost the title (after holding it for 574 days, on my 1st defence ???)…. BUT delighted British Wrestling is back on the telly and it looks like the response has been SUPERB ?
Cheers to all of you who tuned in (& sent such WONDERFUL tweets & feedback) in support of the first @WOSWrestling episode on @ITV! More action to come next week! Same time, same channel! ????#itv#woswpic.twitter.com/PF8tyDSWNx
World of Sport’s (WOS) premiere episode took place on Saturday night on Britain’s biggest mainstream channel, ITV. The program is set for a 10 show stint running into October and is available to every television set in the United Kingdom.
One of the major news items coming from the show was the announcement that WoS Champion Grado would be defending his title in the main event. WoS Commissioner Stu Bennett/Wade Barrett announced that a 5-man elimination match would determine a number 1 contender and after some confusion former PROGRESS ATLAS Champion Rampage Brown and Justin Sysum were added to the main event.
The Triple Threat bout headlined the show and Rampage Brown eventually took the win to become the NEW WoS Champion, defeating Grado in his first defence since winning the belt on New Years Eve 2006. Rampage is a well respected veteran in the UK scene having performed for the likes of DEFIANT, ICW, NGW, IPW:UK, IMPACT, PCW and the aforementioned PROGRESS.
The next episode takes place Saturday night on ITV at 5pm, you can check out more information at the official WoS website.
On recent episodes of his “Keepin it 100” podcast, Konnan has been talking about what a great time it is for the wrestling business. Konnan himself is keeping quite busy, working with AAA, Impact Wrestling, and Major League Wrestling.
In fact, Konnan just returned to the ring for the first time in almost 5 years recently. Konnan was entered into the MLW’s Battle Riot which was taped on July 19th and aired last night on BeIN Sports. The episode has yet to be uploaded to their YouTube account as of this writing, however.
On his most recent episode, Konnan talked about Impact turning the corner lately.
“What was amazing to me was that when the Hardy Boyz left and Jeremy Borash left, I was like, ‘Wow man, this place is gonna be f****d’,” Konnan said. “That’s a big loss. But they just put it all together.”
In terms of the atmosphere in the back right now in Impact Wrestling, Konnan was also complimentary.
“It’s very easy to talk to management and they let you collaborate and everybody’s joking around and having a good time,” he said. “Like the locker room’s real relaxed right now and everybody’s pulling together to really make this work. I thought that was a great PPV. I saw every single match and I thought it was really good.”
He would continue to talk about positive recent changes in the business.
“It’s very fun right now because a lot of the people that are running these companies are not old school grizzled vets,” Konnan said. “Everybody knows that now, you’ve gotta just treat people with respect and gotta treat them right, you can’t treat them the way they used to treat us.”
Konnan mentioned Impact will be in New York in the same building MLW runs. Impact will run the Bound for Glory show from the venue this October. Konnan praised the atmosphere inside the building. He also stressed LAX has an upcoming surprise which will get over well with the New York crowd.
Ronda Rousey and the Rock appeared together at WrestleMania 31, 3 years before Ronda would have her first WWE match at WrestleMania 34. The Rock and Rousey were promoting the upcoming Expendables movie at the time.
Rousey will also appear in the upcoming movie, Mile 22. While promoting the movie, Rousey was asked if the Rock gave her any advice about her movie career.
“No, not really. Just have fun, really,” she said. “The object is to have fun.”
She would also comment on Alexa Bliss, fan response to her matches thus far, and her WrestleMania experience.
Chris Van Vliet commented on how when Ronda was leaving the interview room, he let her know he would be interviewing Alexa Bliss shortly. Rousey was then quoted as saying “Tell Alexa I’m going to kick that stupid pink hair right off of her head.”
Ronda Rousey On Fan Response To Her WrestleMania Match
She was also asked about fans who were surprised her match at WrestleMania went as well as it did.
“Going into any new career like wrestling or acting or anything like that, a lot of people assume you can only be really good at one thing,” Rousey said. “And that if you master one thing you will never be able to master anything else as well.”
Rousey would continue to say there were low expectations from fans about how well she would do at WrestleMania. She also stressed it is hard to learn something new while the world is watching.
“There was a lot of low expectations going into things,” she continued. “It’s harder to learn while with the world watching.”
Rousey’s first match was at WrestleMania but she’s now up to 9 total matches now, 7 of which were on house shows. Not surprisingly, she is a perfect 9-0 thus far. Her two matches on WWE pay-per-views came at WrestleMania when she teamed with Kurt Angle to defeat Triple H and Stephanie and then at Money in the Bank when she defeated Nia Jax via disqualification after being attacked by Alexa Bliss.
“It helps me improve even quicker that my first match was at WrestleMania,” Rousey continued.
WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix will take part in the upcoming WWE Evolution pay-per-view this fall. What she will be doing on the show is still a mystery, however, even to her.
I’m so flattered by the @WWEUniverse response to me being at #WWEEvolution …I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Thank you for demanding more all these years. My heart is so full! #MushFest
A notable inclusion here is Phoenix’s close friend Natalya, who inducted Beth in the Hall of Fame this year. The two friends only met in single’s action once during their careers. Phoenix defeated Natalya on an episode of Smackdown in 2012.
Beth Phoenix At WWE Evolution
Beth Phoenix is one of the most decorated female champions in the history of WWE. In fact, only 3 other women have held a Women’s Championship for more combined days.
Phoenix won the WWE Women’s Championship 3 times and the Divas title once. In total, she held a Women’s World Title in WWE for 571 combined days, good for 4th all-time in the category. Only Alundra Blayze, Trish Stratus, and the Fabulous Moolah can top that. Considering that 26-year-old Alexa Bliss is already closing in on 500 combined days as champion, expect Beth Phoenix to get bumped down on this list before the end of the year.
Beth Phoenix on Commentary?
If Phoenix is not wrestling on the Evolution show, it’s possible she does commentary. Phoenix did commentary for the Mixed Match Challenge recently. Facebook Live showcased the inter-gender tag-team tournament earlier this year.
It’s possible that Phoenix is brought back to do commentary at Evolution. WWE host, Renee Young, has already volunteered to be on the broadcast team should WWE decided to go with an all-female version.
