The current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Hiromu Takahashi, will be out of action for at least 9 months. Takahashi was injured during the G1 Special in San Francisco after being dropped on his head in his match with Dragon Lee.
Updates from NJPW on his condition have been scarce (as is often the case with NJPW). The promotion announced shortly after the injury that Takahashi was awake and conscious and later that he had been transported back to Japan. It was reported last week he was still in hospital.
“The New Japan doctors believe it will be nine to 12 months before he can return,” Dave Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer. “The belief is that he suffered a broken neck, which sounds terrible and that’s why nobody has said anything public.”
Although Takahashi is believed to have suffered a broken neck there was not said to be any nerve damage.
Hiromu Takahashi Injury Update
While a broken neck sounds bad, several wrestlers have sustained the injury and returned. Sean “X-Pac” Waltman mentioned on Twitter that he broke his neck twice and came back each time.
“I broke my neck twice,” Waltman Tweeted. “2nd time had it surgically repaired. I was able to make a full recovery & return for the most successful run of my career. Takahashi walked out of the ring on his own. He’s not done yet.”
Juice Robinson was a guest on Waltman’s podcast shortly after Takahashi’s injury.
“When you hear broken neck people think (he could be paralyzed) but that’s not with every broken neck but hopefully his broken neck is just you know time off,” Juice said. “Even though that still sucks but that beats the alternative. After seeing it, this is probably the best case scenario cause that looked like it could’ve been the last bump he ever took.”
WWE has expressed interest in the services of both Lucha Brothers. Both Pentagon and Fenix are believed to be locked into contracts with Lucha Underground, however. Their current deals require them to prioritize Lucha Underground tapings throughout 7 seasons.
Lucha Underground’s 4th season is currently airing.
“There’s been overtures to Fenix and Pentagon Jr.,” wrote Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer. “Even though as far as I’ve heard both still have three seasons left on their Lucha Underground deals.”
Pentagon and Fenix have been all over the professional wrestling scene as of late. Pentagon Jr is the Lucha Underground champion (unless he lost it last night) and was the Impact World Champion earlier this year. Fenix is also a former Lucha Underground World Champion.
WWE has been interested in several talents as of late who have decided not to sign. Eli Drake opted not to give the company another chance after his developmental experience didn’t go as planned. Brian Cage gave a similar reason for not signing with WWE before he signed with Lucha Underground. Juice Robinson completely rebuffed WWE last week after rumors the company was interested in him surfaced.
Fenix and Pentagon are scheduled to face the members of oVe tonight on Impact Wrestling.
Earlier this year, Pentagon spoke with Sports Illustrated regarding the influence Konnan, Rey Mysterio, and Alberto El Patron have had on his career.
“Those three men are very, very important, especially Konnan,” said Pentagon. “He’s always been with me, he is my guide and a friend. Rey Mysterio has also had a major influence on me. He is one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, a great person. Before, he was my idol. Now, he is my friend. Alberto is another person I admire and he is someone who believed in me. I am grateful to have support from my idols.”
New details have been released as it concerns Rey Mysterio’s return to WWE. There has been a long back-and-forth between the two sides ever since Mysterio’s Royal Rumble appearance earlier this year.
In all likelihood, Rey Mysterio will be back in WWE before October.
Mysterio does not have any bookings past the first weekend of September, meaning a WWE return not long after is almost certain. The WWE 2K19 video game is released October 5th, 2018 and Mysterio is a featured character in the game’s advertising. It’s unlikely he won’t return in time to promote the game. Mysterio returning before October would also allow him to participate in the Australian mega-show on October 6th, 2018.
Rey Mysterio to WWE Update
“It appears (Mysterio’s) last dates are the first weekend of September,” stated Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer. “They did push the idea of bringing him in sooner, to keep him off All In in particular as well as some of the other shows he’s got but really All In was the key one.”
Earlier this week, Mysterio’s match for All-In was announced. He will team with Fenix and Bandido to face Kota Ibushi and the Young Bucks.
Mysterio’s WWE return was likely sealed at this year’s Royal Rumble.
“It’s been incredible,” Mysterio said to the Mirror UK. “I have nothing to say but to thank the fans for their loyalty, for their respect, for being a Rey Mysterio fan from day one… and for all those fans that have never seen me on TV, because this is a new generation of fans that are watching the WWE.”
“So to all the new fans that have heard about Rey Mysterio, or played as me in a video game, or seen me on the Network, for the first time if you got the chance to see me at the Royal Rumble, thank you very much for being part of it as a fan.”
It’s not a surprise that a lot of people remember Mick Foley for his Hell In A Cell Match with Undertaker from 1998 because it’s one of the most iconic bouts in the history of professional wrestling.
However, during a recent interview with Fanfest, Foley revealed that in the start it bothered him that fans only remembered him for that match with the Dead Man.
Though continuing on the topic, Mick claimed that after a while he stopped regretting it. Instead, he realized that he is lucky that people remember the moment so fondly.
During his interview, Foley was also asked about a match from his career he thinks has been overlooked and the Hall Of Famer said that his Boiler Room Brawl from 1996 deserves another look:
“I think the 1996 Boiler Room Brawl was overlooked. I think there’s a lot of good stuff in there. (It) could have done with more commentary as they left it blank there for 12 minutes. It was really odd, which I think made it come off as a little unusual, but I think that was what Mr. McMahon was looking for.”
Apart from this Mick Foley discussed the recent cage match between Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman revealing that he is yet to check it out. The Boiler Room Brawl he talks about can be seen in the video below:
It has been reported multiple times that Jason Jordan has been cleared to compete but WWE is delaying his return for some reason and a latest report make it seem like the company is waiting for another injured star to get cleared.
During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez talked about Jordon and revealed the original plan the company had for his comeback.
According to him, Officials were originally planning to reunite Jordan with his American Alpha partner Chad Gable and have them compete as a team again.
Dean Ambrose would have returned to rejoin his Shield-brother Seth Rollins as well and the company was planning for these two teams to feud with each other.
No word yet on if plans have changed since then but if this is still what they have in mind then Officials may simply be waiting for Ambrose’s return to bring Jordan back on TV.
Jason Jordon underwent a successful neck surgery back in February this year and the former NXT Star was originally expected to be away from the ring for only a few weeks.
Dean Ambrose, on the other hand, suffered a triceps injury in December which is supposed to keep him out of action for 9 months and he can return sometime after SummerSlam.
While not everyone seems to be happy about it, Hulk Hogan is back into the WWE fold with his reinstation to the WWE Hall Of Fame and it looks to be only a matter of time before he starts making appearances for the company again.
During her recent appearance on Zaslow, Romberg & Amber podcast, Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss revealed her thoughts on Hogan’s return to the company among other things.
While talking about the Hulkamania brand, Alexa claimed that the former World Champion has become an icon. Bliss then voiced support on his reinstation and said that it’s great that Hulk is back into the WWE fold.
She explained the WWE locker room to be a ‘dysfunctional family’ and went on to claim that it’s upsetting when someone leaves, but time heals everything and people feel happy when they return.
Hulk Hogan was reinstated into the WWE Hall Of Fame on the same day as the Extreme Rules PPV on July 15. While he did address the locker room before the PPV, Hogan is yet to make his on-screen return for the company.
On the other hand, Alexa Bliss is scheduled to defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Ronda Rousey at the SummerSlam PPV from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on August 19th.
The Miz is one of the few stars who proved that you can have a successful WWE career even when you don’t come from a pro wrestling background and you are not a favorite of the authorities.
During his recent interview with Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard section, the 8-time Intercontinental Champion talked about the early days of his WWE career among other things.
The Miz first discussed his new reality show Miz and Mrs. and how it’s a great opportunity to document the birth of his first child Monroe Sky.
Later in the interview, he also talked about his start in the company and claimed that despite the fact that no one liked him; he earned his spot by fighting:
“When I first got to WWE, No one liked me, no one wanted me there, whether it was the fans or the people backstage. I had to fight and fight and fight to earn my spot. Through hard work and dedication, I proved everyone wrong.”
Continuing on the topic, the former WWE Champion also recalled his early days as a part of MTV’s reality show The Real World and more. You can check out his full interview at this link.
We noted before how this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw did its best numbers in almost a month and a half and the SmackDown episode only continued this momentum.
The audience for SmackDown this week was up for the fourth straight week and it was the best number for the show since its May 1st episode about 3 months ago.
The episode featuring Charlotte vs. Carmella in the main event drew a total of 2.401 million viewers which was up 2.6% from last week’s 2.340 million viewers.
It was also #1 in the 18-49 demographic this week. Though unlike Raw which ranked #1 in the cable viewership, the Blue Branded Show ranked #5.
New Day On Commentary
The New Day is without a doubt one of the funniest acts in all of WWE and there aren’t a lot of people who can match the sense of humor and comical timing of the trio.
The three showed another example of their comic sense during this week’s episode of SmackDown where they were doing commentary for the Usos vs. The Bar match.
The result of it is the following hilarious video which WWE posted on their YouTube account, featuring some of their best reactions throughout the bout:
Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight) battled TM61 (Shane Thorne & Nick Miller) tonight on NXT. Otis started off the match with a couple of Body Slams but Thorne turned it around with a Dropkick to Dozovic’s face.
Miller and Thorne took turns beating down Dozovic in the corner as Knight pleaded for a tag. Otis finally was able to battle back with a Belly to Back Suplex. Knight tagged in and greeted Miller with a few punches to the face.
Knight took Thorne and Knight out with a Clothesline and then Dropkicked Thorne out of the ring. Tucker delivered a Suplex to Miller and then leaped onto TM61 with a Cannonball off the ring apron.
Back in the ring, Miller blasted Knight with a chop block and then shoved Otis off the ring apron. Street Profits interrupted and made their way through the crowd. Otis tagged in and Heavy Machinery hit Miller with the Compactor for the pinfall victory.
Mustache Mountain Invoked Their Rematch Clause For NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
Mustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) faced a couple of local competitors (Matt Knots? & Brandon Taylor) tonight on NXT. Bate and Seven controlled the entire match and put on a show in the quick victory. The match ended after Bate connected with a knee to the face off the top rope.
After the match, Bate and Seven announced that they were back. Trent said that he spoke with Mr. Regal and that Mustache Mountain have a plan. Tyler Bate stated that threw in the towel because Trent’s health and wellbeing mean the world to him. Bate added that Mustache Mountain is on a mission to get back the titles and want their rematch at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
Later on the show, War Raiders confronted Mustache Mountain backstage. War Raiders said it doesn’t matter who leaves NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn with the titles because they are coming after them.
Velveteen Dream Interrupted EC3’s Match
EC3 faced Kona Reeves on this week’s episode of NXT. The crowd chanted “NX3” as the two Superstars circled each other in the ring. Kona taunted EC3 and shouted that he was NXT’s finest before the two locked up in the center of the ring.
EC3 trapped Kona in a Headlock to start off the match. Reeves battled back to his feet but was sent to the canvas by a shoulder tackle from EC3. EC3 followed it up with a Body Slam and an Elbow Drop across Kona’s chest.
Reeves rolled to the ring apron and then connected with a cheap shot to EC3’s throat. Kona followed it up with a big boot and went for the cover but EC3 kicked out at the last second. Kona quickly applied the Cobra Clutch in the middle of the ring.
EC3 escaped and decked Reeves with a Clothesline. EC3 followed it up with a Neckbreaker and took a break to pose for the crowd. Velveteen Dream’s music hit and Dream came down to the entrance ramp.
Velveteen Dream told EC3 that they could talk about what happened at Royal Albert Hall but EC3 has to come to Dream’s world. Kona Reeves capitalized on the distraction and planted EC3 with the Hawaiian Drop for a two count.
Reeves started trash talking EC3 and it completely backfired. EC3 got up and planted Reeves with the One Percenter for the pinfall victory. After the match, EC3 said that he wants to fight Velveteen Dream.
NXT GM William Regal announced that Velveteen Dream will face EC3 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. Regal added that Ricochet will face Adam Cole for the NXT North American Championship at TakeOver as well.
Shayna Baszler Defeated Candice LeRae
Photo Credit: WWE.com
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler faced Candice LeRae on this week’s episode of NXT. Baszler gave LeRae an opportunity to walk out of the ring before the match started. LeRae connected with a Dropkick instead that sent Shayna flying out of the ring.
Back in the ring, Candice connected with a Jawbreaker and then a couple of Arm Drags for a two count. Baszler battled back and launched LeRae out of the ring. Shayna followed her out there and drove Candice’s shoulder into the steel steps next to the ring.
Shayna brought LeRae back into the ring and focused her attack on Candice’s injured arm. Baszler stomped on LeRae’s arm several times and Candice responded with a slap to the face.
LeRae then threw Shayna into the turnbuckle and connected with an Enziguri to Baszler’s face. Candice beatdown Shayna in the corner with one arm and then made her way up to the top turnbuckle.
Candice leaped onto Shayna and then went for the cover but Baszler kicked out at one. Shayna rolled out of the ring and LeRae hit her with a Suicide Dive through the ropes. Candice rolled Shayna back into the ring and hit her with a Tornado DDT for a two count.
LeRae once again climbed up to the top turnbuckle but Shayna caught her with a punch to the face. LeRae went for a Neckbreaker off the top rope but Baszler countered into the Kirofuda Clutch as they landed on the canvas. LeRae grabbed the ropes to break the hold.
Candice escaped the hold again and planted Baszler with the Unprettier. LeRae went for a springboard Moonsault but Baszler got out of the way at the last second. Shayna then booted Candice in the face and locked in the Kirifuda Clutch in the middle of the ring for the submission victory.
After the match, Shayna locked in the Kirifuda Clutch once again in the center of the ring. Kairi Sane rushed the ring and Baszler quickly retreated as WWE officials held Sane back. Baszler booted Kairi and got out of the ring before Sane could respond. Shayna Baszler will defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Kairi Sane at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa came down to the ring to a chorus of boos at the end of this week’s show. Ciampa had a giant smile on his face and taunted the crowd as made his way to the ring. The crowd responded by chanting “you suck!” as Ciampa continued to pose with the title.
Tommaso then looked at the title and shouted that they make such a beautiful couple. He claimed that this was his NXT now and the crowd responded by chanting “shut the hell up!”. Ciampa stated that nobody has ever deserved the NXT Championship as much as he does.
Ciampa then confronted the old lady that is always in the front row and taunted her by saying he was her NXT Champion. Ciampa paraded around the ring with the title and then boasted about Gargano failing once again.
Tommaso claimed that he was untouchable and bragged about being the main event. Ciampa added that the title is proof that NXT is now the “A” show and that he is the greatest sports entertainer of all time.
Aleister Black had heard enough and started making his way down to the ring. Johnny Gargano sprinted by Black and attacked Ciampa. Tommaso retreated and escaped through the crowd. Gargano grabbed the microphone and shouted that the only reason that Ciampa was NXT Champion was because of him.
Aleister then booted Gargano in the face and the crowd chanted “you deserve it!” at Gargano. Black took a seat and told Gargano he was right about being the only reason Ciampa was champion.
WWE has announced two matches that will go down at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV. Those matches are Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly defending the NXT Tag Team Titles against Tyler Bate and Trent Seven as well as EC3 vs. The Velveteen Dream in a singles match.
There is a lot of history between these two teams as if you recall, Moustache Mountain beat Strong & O’Reilly to win the NXT Tag Team Titles at day 2 of the WWE NXT UK Title Tournament at Royal Albert Hall in London, England that aired on WWE’s streaming service back on June 26th, which marked a big change of the guard at the time as The Undisputed Era held the titles up to this point for over 200 days as they won the straps from Sanity (Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young) back in November of 2017 during an episode of NXT on the WWE Network. However, Undisputed Era defeated Mustache Mountain to win the NXT Tag Team Titles on the July 11th episode of NXT.
The NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV event takes place on Saturday, August 18, 2018 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network.
The Card
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane
NXT Tag Team Champions Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly vs. Tyler Bate and Trent Seven
EC3 vs. The Velveteen Dream
What are your thoughts on this match at this upcoming event? Sound off in the comment section.
EVOLVE Champion Matt Riddle has discussed the rumors about his next landing spot in the world of professional wrestling.
Riddle spoke with Sports Illustrated following his tag team match with “Filthy” Tom Lawlor against Nick Gage and Matt Tremont at Beyond Wrestling’s “Americanrana ’18” this past Sunday night where he talked about the rumors that he is headed to WWE or New Japan Pro Wrestling after finishing up his commitments with other wrestling promotions.
Riddle did note in this interview that his next landing spot will likely be with WWE or NJPW. “I’ve been in situations like this before,” said Riddle. “There is nothing official. I’ve talked to WWE, I’ve talked to the president of New Japan, and I am confident in where I stand in the world of professional wrestling.”
If you recall, this isn’t the first time that rumors about his future have surfaced online as there were reports that he signed with the WWE three years ago but ultimately didn’t work out and never put pen to paper for a contract.
“Being real in pro wrestling has paid off,” said Riddle. “Just being myself, that really translated to the fans. It’s not that I don’t love the indies, it’s just time to move on. Places like EVOLVE, Beyond, those were the companies that gave me an opportunity, gave me a platform, and gave me the chance to run with the ball and showcase my skills. I got to mix it up with a world array of talent.
Riddle continued by stating, “I need more substance, I need to grow. I’m a shark and I swam in a lot of different ponds, but I’m ready for the ocean. It just depends if I’m going to the Atlantic or the Pacific.”
Riddle is slated to defend his EVOLVE Title against Shane Strickland in a Hardcore Rules match at this Saturday’s EVOLVE 108 event in Philadelphia, PA at the 2300 Arena that will air on the WWNLive streaming service.
What are your thoughts on Riddle’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
If there was ever any doubt regarding Ronda Rousey’s wrestling-fandom, it was squashed during her recent appearance on the Stephen Colbert show.
While she was on the show to promote her appearance on Shark Week, her use of wrestling lingo made it clear what she spends most of her time doing these days.
Stephen Colbert – “Nice to see you again. We met briefly backstage at the Apollo theatre when Conan was in town.”
Ronda Rousey – “Yeah, I marked out pretty hard, I’m sorry.”
Stephen Colbert – “You what?”
Ronda Rousey – “I marked out, I..”
Stephen Colbert – “What’s ‘mark out’?”
Apparently, only Stephen Colbert and Harrison Ford have had this effect on her.
Ronda Rousey vs Alexa Bliss
Raw Women’s Championship
SummerSlam
While Ronda Rousey may be busy preparing for SummerSlam, she has her first single’s match on Raw next week. Rousey is scheduled to face Alicia Fox.
As for Fox, she’s just returned from a broken tailbone. The injury caused her to miss the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble earlier this year. She defeated Natalya this week on Raw in her first single’s victory since January.
Meanwhile, Alexa Bliss has had nothing but positive things to say regarding her upcoming title challenger.
“I was very impressed with her match against Nia Jax, and also her match at WrestleMania with Stephanie McMahon and Triple H,” Bliss said to the Cheap Seats podcast. “It was just awesome. I am very proud of her and it’ll be fun to see where things go with that.”
When Rousey was confronted with the positive comments from Bliss, she wasn’t fazed, however.
“She had nice things to say about me?” Rousey asked TMZ reporters. “Aw, that’s like the opposite of two-faced – she’s being mean in my face and nice behind my back. What do you call that? It’s still two-faced in a way, I don’t know.”
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 Nights 11 and 12:
Night 11
Bad Luck Fale b. Togi Makabe – Fale took the pinfall win following a ref bump and a chain-wrapped lariat
“Switchblade” Jay White b. Hangman Page – White took the pinfall win after hitting a Low Blow and a Blade Runner
Minoru Suzuki b. EVIL – Suzuki took the pinfall win with the Gotch Piledriver
Hiroshi Tanahashi b. YOSHI-HASHI – Tanahashi took the pinfall win with a legscissor folding press
Kazuchika Okada b. Michael Elgin – Okada took the pinfall win with the Rainmaker
Night 12
Tama Tonga b. Tomohiro Ishii – Tonga took the pinfall win after hitting the Gun Stun. There was again interference in the match
Juice Robinson b.SANADA – Juice took the pinfall win after hitting the Pulp Friction
Tetsuya Naito b.Toru Yano – Naito took the pinfall win after hitting the Destino
Kenny Omega b. Zack Sabre Jr – Omega took the pinfall win with a Crucifix pin following a V-Trigger
Kota Ibushi b. Hirooki Goto – Ibushi took the pinfall win after hitting a Last Ride Powerbomb and a second Kamigoye, an epic match that you should definitely go out of your way to see
Legendary Japanese wrestler Jushin ”Thunder” Liger is headed back to Ring of Honor.
On Wednesday (August 1, 2018), the Baltimore-based promotion announced on their official website and social media that Liger is slated to make his promotional return at the upcoming Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view event. As of this writing, the company did not disclose who he would be wrestling at this show or what type of match he would be competing in. However, the expectation is that the information will be known shortly.
Liger’s last appearance for ROH came back in August of 2017 when teamed with Delirious and Místico to unsuccessfully challenge Dalton Castle and The Boys for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship during their UK tour stop in London.
Bullet Club (Cody, Adam Page, The Young Bucks, and Marty Scurll) vs. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, Chuckie T, Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii, and Rocky Romero) in a 10-man tag team match has already been confirmed for this show.
Ring of Honor is slated to hold their Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view event at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, September 28, 2018. The event will air on traditional PPV outlets and the FITE TV app. The promotion will be announcing more matches in the coming weeks.
Who do you want to see Liger face at this show? Sound off in the comments section.
Former WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy has fans talking online after his latest cryptic message that was posted on his official Twitter account as there is speculation that this tweet was talking about potential retirement as a pro wrestler.
Keep in mind that he’s still under contract with the WWE and just wrestled on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Miami, FL at the AmericanAirlines Arena on the USA Network where he and Bray Wyatt lost to The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) in a tag team match. He wrote the following:
“To all that supported me in the independents & OMEGA.. To the fans of Team Xtreme.. To the Mattitude Followers.. To the OUTSPOKEN fans who brought me back in 2005.. To the people who backed me when I was REINCARNATED in pro wrestling.. To the #WOKEN Warriors.. THANK YOU.”
To all that supported me in the independents & OMEGA..
To the fans of Team Xtreme..
To the Mattitude Followers..
To the OUTSPOKEN fans who brought me back in 2005..
To the people who backed me when I was REINCARNATED in pro wrestling..
Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax decided to throw some shade at Monday Night RAW color commentator Jonathan Coachman on Twitter. What’s interesting is the fact that the tweet was liked by WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross.
It ultimately led to Coachman responding as it appears the two were just having some fun but you can see the exchange here:
What do you think the WWE should do next with Matt Hardy? Should they keep him as a tag team star or make him a singles wrestler again? Sound off in the comments section.
Mark Henry, the Rock, and D-Lo Brown once found themselves in a potentially dangerous situation outside Madison Square Garden. Henry recalled the story recently on the latest edition of Chris Jericho’s podcast.
According to Henry, a mob of fans once smashed in their rental car’s window, hit D-Lo Brown in the face with pizza, and damaged their car so badly they almost couldn’t get away.
Jericho and Henry were talking about how at MSG, talent often has to park in the same lot as fans. This they said, can lead to some unpleasant interactions.
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) August 1, 2018
Mark Henry Recalls Being Attacked By Fans Outside MSG
“There are 3 other people who can verify this story,” Henry said. “Because you’re going to think this is B***S***.”
The story happened while Henry, Brown, and the Rock were all still in the Nation of Domination and were leaving a show from MSG one night.
Henry said that the Rock asked them to pull up the car right next to the exit so he wouldn’t get mobbed by fans when they were leaving. They weren’t so lucky, however. D-Lo and Henry went to get the car from the public lot they had to park in. That’s when D-Lo got hit in the face with a slice of pizza and things started to go downhill.
“D-Lo gets hit in the face with a piece of pizza,” Henry said. “And that was light of the s*** they were throwing at us.”
Then Henry explains what happened when they picked up the Rock from outside the arena.
“Dwayne throws his bag in, gets in the car, the window goes out,” Henry said before making a sound to resemble a window being shattered. “Somebody bust the window out. They start beating the car, they totaled the car with their hands.”
“They totaled a Lincoln Towncar beating on it with their hands,” he continued. “We got back and they said ‘this car is totaled.'”
“They mashed the hood in so much that it broke the carburetor. I don’t know how we made it to the airport. By the grace of God, we made it to the airport and the car wouldn’t start after that.”
Alexa Bliss has given some insight into her brief run with Braun Strowman as tag team partners.
The WWE RAW Women’s Champion recently spoke with The Miami Herald to promote this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Miami, FL at the AmericanAirlines Arena on the USA Network. In this interview, she explained the cancellation of certain additional segments that were pitched for her and Strowman while they were teaming up for the Mixed Match Challenge.
She noted that it was so much fun to do as they could show their own personalities and there wasn’t a lot of people telling them what to do. She did note that there was some stuff that they wanted to film and she even gave an example, which was the fact that they had a comedy segment where Bliss was attempting to climb into Strowman’s big truck. However, at the end of the day, they didn’t have time to film it as they were eliminated before the segment was filmed. Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey has her next big match under the WWE banner set as she is slated to challenge Bliss for the title at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event. Bliss also commented on working with the UFC star and how Cris Cyborg tweeted her about training.
“It’s been great. [Rousey] is amazing to work with,” Bliss said. “She has made a name for herself in UFC, a Hall of Famer, which is awesome, and for me, that gives me a lot of ammo to use in my promos, which is fun. I’m really excited for the match at SummerSlam, and I’m really excited to see how she does, because she does really well in the ring, and it will be fun.” She continued by stating, “I actually got a lot of tweets from [UFC fighter] Cyborg. She’s actually been offering to help me against Ronda.”
What are your thoughts on Bliss’ comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Daniel Bryan Calls Out The Miz For Match At SummerSlam
On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Daniel Bryan challenged The Miz to a match at SummerSlam. Bryan called out Miz for his attack on him last week on Tuesday night. He also mentioned how Miz tortured him for two years when he thought Bryan couldn’t ever wrestle again.
Bryan said once Miz heard that he had been cleared he knew he couldn’t beat him in a fight. Miz appeared on the big screen and claimed to be on location for his Miz & Mrs. show. He also said that he’s done with Bryan. Miz said that if Bryan really wants a match with him to call his agent.
Bryan then belittled Miz’s acting career and said he’ll never be a real star like The Rock and John Cena. Check out the segment here:
Curt Hawkins On How He Relates To The New York Mets
Last night Curt Hawkins’ beloved New York Mets were destroyed 25-4 by the Washington Nationals. It’s rather poetic considering the losing spell Hawkins currently finds himself in as well.
Hawkins recently addressed this when a fan confronted him on Twitter about last night’s game. He said he and The Mets were made for each other:
So how does it feel to be a Mets fan right now? @TheCurtHawkins
Three new names have been announced for the upcoming WWE Mae Young Classic tournament. The company revealed on Wednesday morning (August 1, 2018) that Hiroyo Matsumoto, Aerial Monroe and Vanessa Kraven have been confirmed as participants.
This latest announcement brings the total number of competitors revealed for the Mae Young Classic to 26 with the company noting that more competitors would be announced in the coming days. Here is the updated list of names confirmed for the tournament:
Deonna Purrazzo
Io Shirai
Isla Dawn
Jessie Elaban
Jinny
Kacy Catanzaro
Kaitlyn
Karen Q
Kavita Devi
Killer Kelly
Lacey Lane
Meiko Satomura
Mercedes Martinez
Mia Yim
Nicole Matthews
Reina González
Rhea Ripley
Taynara Conti
Tegan Nox
Toni Storm
Zeuxis
Ashley Rayne
Priscilla Kelly
Xia Brookside
Hiroyo Matsumoto
Aerial Monroe
Vanessa Kraven
WWE is set to tape the tournament on August 8th and August 9th from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida and will air later this summer on the WWE Network. Although WWE has yet to reveal when the first-round matches will air but we do know that the finals will take place as part of the WWE Evolution pay-per-view on October 28, 2018, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
What are your thoughts on the latest names being announced for the second year of this tournament? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE had some interesting plans for Jinder Mahal when he returned to WWE.
“The Modern Day Maharaja” returned to WWE in 2016. After a year of being back in the WWE fold he entered the WWE Title picture. Mahal defeated Randy Orton in May of last year to capture his first WWE World Title of his career.
The victory shocked most of the WWE Universe, who would’ve never expected the former Three Man Band (3MB) member to ever win a World Title in WWE. It looks like Mahal very nearly went in the opposite direction.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reports on Twitter that WWE at one point had different plans for Mahal. Apparently there was a pitch for a “Mahal Monitor” character who would serve as a self-appointed authority figure of the backstage hallways:
Mahal first signed with WWE back in 2010. He made his main roster debut in April of 2011 and had run-ins with The Great Khali. Mahal eventually landed himself in the comedic 3MB faction alongside Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater.
Both Mahal and McIntyre were subsequently released from WWE two years later in June of 2014. After two years of working the indies, Mahal returned to WWE in 2016. Only one year later did Mahal reach the top of the WWE mountain by capturing the promotion’s World Title.
Velvet Sky recently spoke to Press Slamto talk about her professional wrestling career. Sky announced her retirement from professional wrestling last summer. She noted she wanted to focus more on her academic career and return to college.
Sky earned her claim to fame in the professional wrestling world as one-half of The Beautiful People with Angelina Love in TNA. She is a former TNA Knockouts Champion and two-time Women’s Knockout Champion.
As for her run with The Beautiful People, Sky discussed why they never made it to WWE. She explained that WWE wanted to make their own version of the team and go away from Sky and Love’s version of it:
“This is like the million dollar question: How come The Beautiful People were never in the WWE. Well, it’s because [WWE] wanted to create their own version of what is already out there that they see that works.
“And, The Beautiful People, Angelina and I, we would never want The Beautiful People to be tainted or twisted or anything that I feel WWE would try to do to us if we were ever there. We would never be allowed to be The Beautiful People.
“The entrance? Forget it. We’d never be able to let the pigeons loose there. It wouldn’t work there. And like I said, they’ve created their own version of The Beautiful People, so they even knew that we worked.”
Furthermore, Sky explained what she means by WWE already created their own version of the duo. She said WWE’s creation of LayCool (Michelle McCool and Layla) and now The IIconics is essentially a ripoff of The Beautiful People:
“Back when we were still in TNA, it was LayCool, and now it’s the IIconics. It’s the same kind of mean, ‘I’m better than you’, the whispering, the pointing, the laughing, the humiliating.
“I mean, especially in the middle of our Beautiful People peak is when they created LayCool. They were kinda doing the similar antics, the humiliating the girls, the heel role. I mean, it’s very flattering, I must say it’s flattering that what we have is such high demand that they tried to take the ball and gave it to the girls that are there now.”
The opinion on Roman Reigns varies from people to people and there are a lot of theories on why the Big Dog is booed by the fans even after so many years.
Former WWE and current Impact Star Johnny Impact fka John Morrison was recently a guest on Jim Ross’ The Ross Report podcast where he talked about Reigns among things.
Morrison first discussed the difference between the match style in WWE and NJPW and recalled how Kazuchika Okada once said that he wouldn’t be interested in going to WWE because the matches he likes to have require more time.
On the subject of Roman Reigns’ negative crowd reaction, the former WWE Star said that the former World Champion is suffering from ‘John Cena Syndrome’
He explained the term later in the interview and said that Cena was pushed too hard and too fast by the company for too long, and people thought that he didn’t deserve it.
Similarly, Roman has been pushed too hard against people like AJ Styles and Kevin Owens who fans think have fought their way up and deserve the spot.
Apart from this, Johnny Impact also talked about how Roman Reigns has grown into a good worker in the last 5 years and the disrespect is underserved now. You can check out his full interview here.
It looks like Ring Of Honor (ROH) has scooped up a former WWE Superstar and producer.
PWInsider reports that ROH has signed former WWE Tag Team Champion Joey Mercury to a deal. Mercury will be used as a behind-the-scenes producer and trainer for the promotion. Mercury had already been training young stars at ROH’s Baltimore Dojo since May.
Mercury’s Run With WWE
Mercury signed with WWE as an in-ring talent back in 2004. He quickly formed a faction with Johnny Nitro and Melina which they called “MNM.” The trio wrestled for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and were called up to the main roster in 2005.
Nitro and Mercury won the WWE Tag Team Titles three times during their run. He suffered a high-profile injury in December of 2006 when he was struck in the face with a ladder. He broke his nose and orbital bone. Mercury was released soon after in March of 2007.
Mercury worked the independent circuit for a year before deciding to retire. In 2010 Mercury returned to WWE and worked as an in-ring talent, trainer and backstage producer for several years before being released in January of last year.
It looks like some old Tweets from WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander and SmackDown Live star Tye Dillinger are coming back to haunt them.
Some fans dug up some old Tweets from the pair which are pretty insensitive to rape. Both Tweets are several years old, as Alexander’s was allegedly from 2012 while Dillinger’s is from 2011.
— HK of Mark Out Mania (@RealMarkoutHK) July 31, 2018
Both men have since deleted the Tweets. Dillinger actually issued out an apology for them, while Alexander deleted all Tweets that he has ever made from his account:
I have no excuse for my old tweets. I was a different person six years ago, and I’m beyond ashamed at what I considered “humor” . I’m so damn embarrassed and I’m truly sorry to anyone I’ve offended.
Alexander, a former Ring Of Honor (ROH) star, signed with WWE back in 2016 after competing in the Cruiserweight Classic Tournament. After a small run on NXT, Alexander debuted on 205 Live. At WrestleMania 34 Alexander won the Cruiserweight Title when he defeated Mustafa Ali. Alexander defeated four men, including Ali, to capture the then-vacant title.
Dillinger’s initial run with WWE started back in 2006. He was sent to the company’s then-developmental territory of Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). When WWE decided to relaunch ECW, Dillinger was one of the Superstars called up from Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) for the project.
He was released after only a few months. Dillinger returned to the independent circuit for four years before once again getting the call from WWE. He joined NXT, where he remained for four years and was then finally called up to the main roster.
Dillinger made his SmackDown Live debut on April 4th of 2017. He has yet to win a title under the WWE’s banner.
IMPACT Wrestling star and creative team member Abyss spoke to WrestleZone Radio recently. The former TNA X Division Champion was asked about the current momentum within the company.
Abyss said he credits Scott D’Amore, Sonjay Dutt and Don Callis for the current upswing within IMPACT and also noted that the roster is one of the strongest ones in the world:
“I’ll credit Scott D’Amore, Sonjay Dutt and Don Callis. They have really hunkered down and you can see it in the production, you can see it in our commitment to moving the show around and you can see it in the talent.
“Those guys really, really, really hunkered down and I think that our roster right now is as strong as any roster in the world. Guys like Pentagon, Fenix, Sami Callihan, Austin Aries, Moose and Eddie Edwards.
“I think our roster has really started to take shape in 2018 and I think it’s really starting to come together as a top notch roster. The women as well with Tessa, Su Yung and Allie. We’ve got them in good places.”
Abyss has been in the professional wrestling business since the mid-’90s. He signed on with TNA back in 2002. Abyss has remained with the company for over 15 years. He has won several titles over the course of his career with the promotion; such as the NWA World Title, X Division Title, World Tag Team Titles, and more.
He has also feuded with names such as Matt Morgan, Dr. Stevie and also won the NWA World Tag Team Championships with AJ Styles. Now, Abyss finds himself as a member of IMPACT’s creative team as well.
