It was reported earlier in the day that the former World Champion Rey Mysterio has signed a 2 years deal with WWE while the company was in San Diego recently.
However after the report went viral, WrestlingInc debunked the rumors and after talking to their source, the site reveals that the High Flying Star remains a free agent.
The last we heard about Mysterio’s future was when it was revealed that he was negotiating a 3 years deal with the company which will allow him to work a limited schedule.
After this, the Officials surprised everyone by announcing the former WCW Star as the pre-order bonus for the upcoming WWE 2K19 video game which is set to release in October.
In the past few years, stars who have been announced as the pre-order bonus for the 2K series video games have ended up returning to the company in some capacity and this news made many believe that Mysterio’s return is also imminent.
Since Officials are already trying to sign the stars expected to appear at the upcoming ALL In event, it’s not hard to imagine that they are pushing for Rey’s return as well and want to sign him before the show.
Though as of this writing, Rey Mysterio is still slated to appear at the indie event organized by Cody and the Young Bucks and considering the slow pace of negotiations, the possibility of his WWE return before ALL In does not look very bright at the moment.
The former WWE RAW Tag Team Champion been out of action since early 2018 due to a neck issue and was last seen on TV when Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle sent him home until he was healthy enough to compete.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on what the sports entertainment company has planned for Jordan on television whether that be with his storyline involving Seth Rollins or the “father and son” storyline with Angle.
He was making appearances this week with Goldust, WWE NXT Superstar Dan Matha and others as they have been representing WWE at the 2018 Special Olympic USA Games. He’s expected to be back in the ring this month.
World of Sport (WoS) has been making several announcements over the past few days confirming the on air talent that will be appearing for the new 10 part series starting later this month.
The company has now announced that former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay will be making his way to mainstream British television for ITV.
The following stars have also been contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show and will be announced in the coming weeks: Grado, Moose, Primate, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.
WoS has also announced that former TNA on air talent SoCal Val and British wresting legend Alex Shane will be joining former WWE Superstar Wade Barrett/Stu Bennett in the commentary booth for the rebooted series. Val tweeted earlier today “Joining the #WOSW@ITV team as a commentator is a huge honor, especially as a female in #wrestling! I couldn’t be more excited to watch the action with you!”
Joining the #WOSW@ITV team as a commentator is a huge honor, especially as a female in #wrestling! I couldn’t be more excited to watch the action with you! Thanks to everyone who… https://t.co/k1lpZb6iLt
A new match has been officially announced for the upcoming WWE Extreme Rules PPV event.
On Thursday, the WWE sent out a video through their social media accounts of Cathy Kelley revealing that Baron Corbin would take on Finn Balor in a singles match. The two superstars have been exchanging words all this week on Twitter.
The Extreme Rules pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena and will air on the WWE Network and some traditional pay-per-view outlets. Both Raw and SmackDown brands will be featured.
Goldberg has two names in mind that he would want to wrestle if he came back for another run in the WWE.
The WWE Hall of Famer recently spoke with Digital Spy to talk about various topics. Goldberg noted in this interview that he would like to work with Roman Reigns or The Undertaker if he did return to the sports entertainment company.
He noted that the reason he has those two names on his list is for two different reasons but would be honored to get in the ring with either one of them. He pointed out that he still owes Brock Lesnar a match.
Goldberg was also asked about if The Undertaker should retire, which he responded by stating that it’s not his decision and that at the end of the day, it’s up to the person lacing those boots up.
“And one person’s opinion doesn’t mean that things are right or wrong. I believe that in Mark’s head, Mark knows when to call it quits. He’ll do it when he wants to, and nobody can tell him otherwise, except for Vince, maybe. You know, they can sit down and have a man-to-man, and when it gets to the point where the performance isn’t there, or you’re enduring too much pain [where] you have to prepare too many different ways to get into the match, then it’s time to do it.”
What are your thoughts on Goldberg’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
The Background
His first stint with the WWE was between 2003 and 2004 where he became a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in the latter. After twelve years away from the company, he returned to WWE in 2016 and headlined Survivor Series against Lesnar, and Fastlane against Kevin Owens where he won the WWE Universal Championship. He lost the title to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33 last year in Orlando, Florida. He was last seen on WWE television the night after Mania on Raw.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year during WrestleMania 34 weekend.
The extended losing streak for The Ascension has come to an end.
A user on Reddit brought up the fact that Konnor and Viktor finally ended a two-year losing streak in the WWE as they beat former SmackDown Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno in a tag team match as part of the Main Event taping this past Monday night in Sioux Falls, SD at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
The losing streak for the former NXT Tag Team Champions goes back to February 8, 2016. The Ascension was called up to the main roster back in 2014 after a dominant and successful run in NXT.
What are your thoughts on this team breaking the losing streak? Sound off in the comment section.
3 more names have been confirmed for All-In on September 1st, 2018 from the Sears Center in Chicago. Despite hating the city the event is being held in, the members of ROH”s SoCal Uncensored faction have just declared for All-In.
Christopher Daniels announced the news earlier today on Twitter:
The trio from Ring of Honor consists of Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky.
All-In September 1st, 2018
Cody will challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship that evening but it has yet to be confirmed who the champion will be at the time. Assuming Nick Aldis retains the championship leading up to September 1st, he will then face Cody.
The first official match announcement is expected later today.
Confirmed For All-In
Cody
the Young Bucks
Hangman Page
Marty Scurll
Kota Ibushi
MJF
Madison Rayne
Paul Turner (ref)
Rick Knox (ref)
Todd Sinclair (ref)
Jerry Lynn (ref)
Earl Hebner (ref)
Matt Cross
Kazuchika Okada
Stephen Amell
Specifically not Flip Gordon
Tessa Blanchard
Joey Janela
Jay Lethal
Pentagon
Fenix
Brandi Rhodes
Cody On WWE Signing Talent Away From All-In
Recently, Deonna Purrazzo dropped out of the planned event. It is largely believed she will be competing in the Mae Young Classic on the 8th and 9th of August and likely wants to keep her options open should WWE offer her a contract.
“That’s a possibility,” Cody admitted on Twitter regarding the possibility of WWE signing talent booked for All-In. “Everybody has different goals. If your goal is to take a meet/greet style handshake photo, and pretend to be excited about going back to wrestling school…that’s your prerogative ha”
CM Punk will be discussed on the season finale of Something Else To Wrestle on the WWE Network.
WWE Network News is reporting that Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson will be discussing the early WWE career of CM Punk. The timeline of this podcast will be the period of 2006 through to 2008. During this time, it featured his run in ECW and winning the World Title.
Since he departed from the WWE in 2014 after the Royal Rumble PPV (pay-per-view) event, fans have wanted to see Punk compete in the squared circle again. Instead, he took his talents to the world famous Octagon in the UFC.
The former WWE Champion fought Mike Jackson in a welterweight bout at the UFC 225 pay-per-view event on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. As seen in the fight, Jackson dominated it and Punk showed a ton of heart but was winded after the first round. Jackson was able to pick up the unanimous decision win. He lost in his MMA debut against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 in September of 2016 by first round submission.
Do you plan on watching this episode? Sound off in the comment section.
Awesome Kong has not always liked her ring name and has decided to talk about it.
Kong, also known as Kia Stevens, has made a transition from wrestling to an actress as she is featured on the Netflix series “GLOW.” In a recent interview with The Ringer, Kong reflected on why she didn’t like her ring name at first.
She noted that once she went to Japan, picking her name wasn’t an option as she was training in Santa Monica at the New Japan dojo where Shinsuke Nakamura and other people called her Kong. “I didn’t know if he was just unaware of the connotation that Kong would have for a black person, because he was from Japan, but I got really upset. Then they had to explain to me that they’d recently had a press conference, and that the company that was bringing me over had named me Kong.”
She would go onto say that she went home and considered what she got herself into and if she should go back. She thought about the meaning of N.W.A once she heard a song by the rap group.
This is when she decided that she would make the name her own that way when someone hears it they know what it’s all about. “Anyone who sees Amazing or Awesome Kong respects that name first. I feel that that’s a goal that my people should always work towards, not a meaning of ridicule or put-down, but always respect. I owned it, and I own it today.”
Staying with her time in Japan, she mentioned how working in front of those crowds made her seem extremely serious as they take pro wrestling serious.
She pointed out how they report wrestling in the newspapers as if they were reporting on baseball and really buy into the magic of wrestling. “There were people who, when they found out I was a wrestler, they didn’t know anything about wrestling. So when they heard my name, they were like, ‘Oh my god, girl, why would you let them name you that?’ Then I had to explain it to them—that if you’re a fan of wrestling and you hear the name Amazing or Awesome Kong, you sit up straighter.”
WWE is keeping their options open when it comes to Dr. Shelby.
As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in Sioux Falls, SD at the Denny Sanford Premier Center on the USA Network, Dr. Shelby made his return to WWE TV as he tried to help Sasha Banks and Bayley work out their issues with one another by being their counselor.
He became popular with WWE fans him from his work with Team Hell No several years ago. WWE filed for the trademark for “Dr. Shelby” on June 29th. Here is the description: “Entertainment services in the nature of professional wrestling; providing information on the internet in the nature of professional wrestling”
Thus, this has led to speculation that the sports entertainment company might be keeping him around for a while with this trademark filing. Time will tell when we will see him back on the flagship show of the WWE.
Do you want to see more of Shelby on WWE TV? Sound off in the comment section.
New Japan Pro Wrestling is believed to be organizing their 3rd show in the United States this year. The company could even make an announcement regarding the show this weekend at the G1 Special in San Francisco.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, NJPW plans to be back in Long Beach on September 30th, 2018, 4 weeks after All-In.
“While not official,” the report reads. “It looks like the 9/30 return to the U.S. after the Cow Palace show will be back in Long Beach. That’s awfully quick after All In but it’s clear they want to do regular live specials on AXS to build the brand in the U.S.”
New Japan Pro-Wrestling comes to San Francisco for the first time on July 7!! G1 Special in San Francisco will feature Kenny Omega vs Cody in the IWGP Heavyweight Championship! And many more! Tickets available now. More info here: https://t.co/diVcJWu0gv#g1usapic.twitter.com/phBaeRlsLO
In addition to now running several shows a year, NJPW ran two wrestling camps in Long Beach this spring. The camps were presided over by Katsuyori Shibata.
Earlier this month, newly appointed NJPW President, Harold Meij, spoke about the company’s plans for international expansion.
“I want to expand the fan-base regardless of age, gender or nationality,” Meij explained. “New Japan has fantastic content, so it has the possibility of picking up popularity overseas. At the moment, there are some 100,000 registered members on our video streaming service ‘New Japan Pro-Wrestling World,’ and 40,000 of them live outside Japan. I would like to aim for the international market with things like videos in English or events for foreign tourists.”
Meij is a Dutch national businessman who is familiar and experienced with the Japanese market.
“Even though there are a plethora of markets abroad, many Japanese companies aren’t making any use of them. As someone not bound by language or cultural barriers, I would like to become a pioneer in sports marketing.” Meij continued. “In three years at least, I will achieve profits of 10 billion yen. The figure is close to the 10.2 billion yen made by the Japan Sumo Association in 2016.”
Ruby Riott has been out of action since suffering an injury on WWE’s June 29th house show from Rapid City, South Dakota. She suffered a sprained MCL in a match she lost to Dana Brooke.
Last night on Wrestling Observer radio, Dave Meltzer gave an update on Riott’s timetable for return. “She’s not going to be out a long time,” Meltzer said. “She’s going to be out for sure a couple of weeks.”
The plans are to evaluate the injury in 3-4 weeks and go from there.
“From what I gather it’s not going to be surgery, it’s not going to be a long time off,” Meltzer continued. “So, she dodged a bullet there.”
I only lost last night cause I was missing my bae @RubyRiottWWE .. don’t feel too special @WWEEmberMoon … I’m sure I’ll see you in that ring again ???
Riott was absent from Liv Morgan’s match with Ember Moon this past week. Morgan lost the match, her 3rd straight single’s defeat since moving up to the main roster.
Riott recently explained why her trio likes to cause so much chaos:
“We’ve never been given nice things and because of that we are more aware of the people around us that take those nice things for granted. And the only way to teach those much needed lessons….is to destroy all the things you hold close to you.
Sasha Banks and Bayley, we understand we weren’t what started this fire, but we are proud that we were the gasoline that fueled it!”
Lars Sullivan is going to be out of action for awhile. He’s on the injured list with a broken jaw. He sustained the injury midway through his match with Aleister Black at Takeover: Chicago II.
The timetable to return from a broken jaw is pretty variable. A few months is a good rough estimate, however.
This is the second time in 2018 Sullivan has been out with an injury. He missed a set of TV tapings back in February due to a knee issue as well.
Lars Sullivan in WWE
29-year-old Lars Sullivan is believed to have reported to the WWE Performance Center in October of 2014. He began wrestling matches on NXT house shows in 2016 and started on television in April of 2017. There are no reports of Sullivan having worked anywhere else before being signed to WWE.
Sullivan has been protected on NXT programming. He’s wrestled 12x in single’s matches on NXT TV (not including house shows). Sulivan’s record is 9-1-1 with his only loss coming to Black at the most recent Takeover event.
Shortly after he lost the NXT championship match in Chicago, Triple H said the loss will likely make Sullivan even more dangerous. He continued to say that Sullivan will be an even more dangerous competitor once he learns from his rookie mistakes. You can check out Triple H’s interview below:
The Redneck Triathlon between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff during Bad Blood 2003 was one of the most unique contests we have ever seen in WWE.
During the recent episode of Something Else To Wrestle, host Bruce Prichard talked about the PPV in detail and discussed the reason behind this booking.
Bruce revealed that Austin was going through injuries and couldn’t take any bumps. However since Vince McMahon wanted him on TV all the time, they came up with the idea of doing a contest between him and the heel authority figure Bischoff.
Continuing on the topic, Prichard explained how The Redneck Triathlon was created, saying that they had an idea and then Mr. McMahon came up with the name:
“We had an idea early on of what it could be, They could compete in an Olympics of sorts in Texas, you know? The Texas Olympics. Then Vince came up with the Redneck Triathlon and that’s how we came to it.”
The Redneck Triathlon consisted three separate events which saw Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff compete in a belching contest, a pie eating contest, and a pigpen contest. Bruce Prichard was a part of WWE creative back then.
The Texas Rattlesnake ended up winning the whole thing after he was victories in the first and third events. He forfeited the second event when Mae Young hit Bischoff with a bronco buster and then Steve delivered a stunner to her.
Prior to Jeff Hardy’s return from a shoulder injury earlier this year, there were rumors of him possibly introducing his other character known as ‘Brother Nero’ upon his return to join the ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy.
While this did not turn out to be the case and the returning Hardy was quickly moved to SmackDown Live instead, Matt recently talked about the current US Champion possibly joining him in future.
During a interview with The Philly Voice, One half of the current Raw Tag Team Champions discussed his brother possibly joining him in future, saying that while currently he is on SmackDown Live, they can utilize him as Brother Nero whenever it’s needed:
“I think Jeff can go to SmackDown and be amazing and be the ‘Charismatic Enigma’ and he can do everything he can do in that persona, and if we need to utilize him as Brother Nero, we can do that whenever.”
Jeff Hardy was unfortunate enough to suffer a shoulder injury in September 2017, just a few months after his surprise return to WWE during WrestleMania 33 earlier in the year.
While he was rehabbing and recovering in order to get back into the ring, his brother Matt, who also returned on the same night, become ‘Woken’.
After Matt Hardy started using the bizarre gimmick that first got over in Impact Wrestling in WWE, speculations begun that Jeff could also have a shift in his character and instead of returning as the Charismatic Enigma he could return as Brother Nero.
However, these rumors didn’t turn out to be true and while Jeff originally returned on the same brand as his brother, he was quickly shifted to SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shakeup earlier this year.
Dakota Kai faced Santana Garrett to kick off this week’s episode of NXT. The two Superstars shook hands and then locked up to start off the match. Garrett targeted Dakota’s arm early but Kai countered into a Wrist Lock. Garrett broke free and decked Kai with a shoulder tackle. Kai responded with a Dropkick to the face that sent Santana tumbling to the canvas.
Garrett hopped back up and connected with two Arm Drags in a row and then went back to the arm. Garrett connected with a Russian Leg Sweep for a two count. Garrett applied a Muda Lock in the middle of the ring but Dakota battled through the pain and reached the bottom rope to break the hold.
Kai connected with an elbow to the face and followed it up with an Enziguri to the side of Garrett’s head. Dakota booted Garrett in the face and then sprinted to the corner. Kai connected with two running kicks in the corner and then an awesome Backstabber for the pinfall victory.
NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler came down to the ring for a promo. Baszler boasted about putting Nikki Cross to sleep at NXT TakeOver: Chicago. Shayna raised the title and claimed that she is the most dominant force this division has ever seen. Baszler brought up Bianca Belair, Kairi Sane, Candice LeRae and claimed that she is better than all of them.
Shayna added that she was the reason WWE has to have a second Mae Young Classic this year because they have to search the globe to find her some competition. Baszler concluded that it doesn’t matter who she faces next, everyone will hear “and still your NXT Women’s Champion” after the match.
TM61 (Nick Miller & Shane Thorne) were scheduled to face Heavy Machinery (Tucker Knight & Otis Dozovic) on tonight’s episode of NXT. TM61 attacked Tucker Knight at the WWE Performance Center earlier in the day and Otis demanded a Handicap Match.
Otis beat the hell out of Miller and Thorne to start off the match. Otis knocked them both out of the ring and shouted: “nobody messes with my brother!”. Back in the ring, the numbers game caught up to Dozovic and TM61 took turns beating him down. Miller and Thorne tried to Suplex Otis but he reversed it and planted them both.
Dozovic hit a bunch of shoulder tackles and Clotheslines and then launched Miller onto Thorne in the corner of the ring. Otis connected with a giant Splash and then fired himself up. Otis did the worm across the ring and dropped an elbow on Thorne.
Otis made his way up to the second turnbuckle and went for the Vader Bomb but Miller dragged Thorne out of the ring. Thorne kneed Otis in the face and tagged in Miller. Thorne then blasted Otis in the back of the head and Miller covered him for the pinfall victory.
Chris Dijak faced Velveteen Dream tonight on NXT. Dijak shoved Dream to the corner and said “feast your..” but Dream interrupted with a pose of his own. Velveteen slapped Dijak in the chest and Dijak responded with a chop of his own. Dream hit a knee to the face but Dijak shrugged it off and launched Dream across the ring while shouting “time to fly”.
Dijak booted Dream in the chest and then threw him around the ring like he was nothing as the crowd chanted “feast your eyes”. Dream tripped up Dijak and then beat the hell out of him with strikes to the face and ribs. Velveteen connected with a Neckbreaker and followed it up with a Leg Drop for a one count.
Dream applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring but Dijak quickly battled to his feet. Dijak took Dream’s head off with a massive right hand and followed it up with a spin kick to the midsection for a two count. Dream rolled out of the ring and Dijak made his way to the ring apron. Dream capitalized and tripped Dijak and he went tumbling face-first into the steel steps.
Velveteen rolled back into the ring and Dijak slowly crawled his way back inside. Dijak was still feeling the effects of falling into the steps and Dream sensed an opportunity. Dream grabbed Dijak and planted him with a DDT for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Velveteen Dream took his sweet time posing and twirling around in the ring. EC3 interrupted Dream’s celebration of himself and made his way down to the ring for the main event of tonight’s NXT.
EC3 squared off against Johnny Gargano in the main event of this week’s episode of NXT. Gargano went right after EC3 to start off the match and chased him around the ring. EC3 applied a Headlock and shouted at Gargano to settle down. Gargano broke free but EC3 dropped him with a shoulder tackle.
Johnny battled back with a chop to the chest and a forearm to EC3’s face. Gargano brought EC3 to the corner and hit a few more chops to the chest. EC3 caught Gargano and planted him with a DDT before delivering a few chops of his own in the corner. Dueling “Johnny Wrestling!” and “EC3!” chants broke out as EC3 connected with a Clothesline int he corner of the ring.
EC3 connected with a Neckbreaker and went for the cover but Gargano was able to kick out at the last moment. Johnny battled back with a forearm to the jaw but EC3 knocked Gargano back to the canvas with an elbow to the face. EC3 Body Slammed Johnny to the mat and demanded the crowd to chant his name. EC3 hit Gargano with an Elbow Drop and then brought Gargano back to his feet.
Gargano connected with a boot to the face from the apron and followed it up with a Spear through the ropes. Johnny fired himself up and hit EC3 with a Suicide Dive outside the ring. Back in the ring, EC3 hit Gargano with a massive Clothesline for a two count. Gargano and EC3 traded jabs in the middle of the ring. Gargano got the better of the exchange after connecting with an Enziguri to the back of EC3’s head.
Johnny went for a Crossbody off the top rope but EC3 caught him. Gargano escaped and went for the Gargano Escape but EC3 blocked it. EC3 showed off his strength and planted Johnny with a Powerbomb for another near fall. Johnny got pissed off and hit EC3 with two Superkicks in a row. Gargano took down his knee pad to expose his knee. Johnny charged at EC3 but EC3 was ready and lifted Johnny up in a Fireman’s Carry. Johnny rolled through and locked in the Gargano Escape.
EC3 reached the bottom rope but Johnny didn’t break the hold until the referee counted to four. Johnny locked in the hold once again and EC3 grabbed the ropes. Gargano didn’t let ago again until the last second and then kneed EC3 in the face. Gargano then hit a DDT on EC3 while he was caught up in the ropes (the same move that Ciampa defeated Gargano with at NXT TakeOver: Chicago) for the pinfall victory.
WWE has announced two big matches for next week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network.
Those two matches are single bouts that will see Mae Young Classic Winner Kairi Sane take on Vanessa Borne while NXT North American Champion Adam Cole will battle Danny Burch.
WWE taped this edition of NXT on Thursday, June 21, 2018, from Winter Park, FL at Full Sail University. As of this writing, no other matches for this show have been announced.
What are your thoughts on these matches? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE has officially announced a big match for the NXT brand.
That match will see Aleister Black defend the NXT Title against Tommaso Ciampa in three weeks on an episode of NXT on the WWE Network.
This match will be taped on July 18, 2018 from Winter Park, FL at Full Sail University, which will mark the final set of TV tapings before the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 event that takes place on Saturday, August 18 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center.
What are your thoughts on WWE booking this match on an NXT episode instead of TakeOver: Brooklyn 4? Sound off in the comment section.
Ring of Honor have announced that two of British Independent wrestling’s greatest icons will be taking part in their upcoming Honor ReUnited tour that starts on August 18th from Doncaster, England.
Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch both made their ROH debuts on June 22nd 2002 at the Road to the Title at the Murphy Rec Center and were opponents on that evening. Ring of Honor issued the following as part of a press release on the duo and announced that they will be teaming for the tour:
“Fleisch and Storm have a decade-plus of tag team experience teaming together with accolades that include being the first-ever 1PW Tag Team Champions and have stated they are looking to make an instant splash into the most competitive tag team division in the world in ROH! Fleisch and Storm at young ages early in their careers built their lineages that include bouts against ROH pioneers Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles and more recently against some of the top independent stars in the world and they will be in tag team action in Doncaster and London!”
This follows the news that PROGRESS star Jimmy Havoc will be taking part in the tour as part of the International Cup. You can read more on that story here.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm return to #ROH for the #HonorReUnited Tour!
PROGRESS has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be taking part in the company’s 73rd Chapter event ‘Fourth Shade of Green’ on Sunday 15th July from the O2 Academy in Birmingham, England.
Dunne will be teaming with his British Strong Style stablemate and fellow NXT UK roster member Trent Seven to take on the Kings of The North. This will be the first bout for the KOTN in PROGRESS in 18 months and they have one hell of a test on their return.
The third member of British Strong Style Tyler Bate will also be in action at Fourth Shade of Green. The inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion will be challenging Travis Banks for the PROGRESS Wrestling World Championship in the main event.
All three BSS Superstars will be on hand for the upcoming NXT UK tapings which start in Cambridge later this month on July 28th.
Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) has announced another top bout for their upcoming Summer Sizzler event which takes place Friday August 17th from York Hall in Bethnal Green, London.
Former British Heavyweight Champion and legend of the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion Tomohiro Ishii will be taking on former PROGRESS ATLAS and wXw Unified World Champion WALTER.
Ishii recently lost his British Heavyweight title against Minoru Suzuki at the Strong Style Evolved this past weekend, after the match WALTER appeared and attacked the ‘Stone Pitbull’ to set up this huge bout at the ‘Sizzler.
WALTER has been heavily rumored for a move to WWE over the past year, his work as part of the Ringkampf stable in wXw and his breakout year on the UK scene for the likes of PROGRESS have earned him worldwide acclaim and a chance to appear for PWG and quite possibly New Japan in the near future.
Before he boarded his plane back to Japan, Tomohiro Ishii told RevPro management he wanted to do 2 things. 1. Get his belt back. 2. Get his hands on Walter. On Friday August 17th Ishii gets the chance to tick one of those items off his list. https://t.co/LhHedYxXS8pic.twitter.com/ZvzJsjoltp
World of Sport (WoS) has officially announced the first few names for the upcoming return of the iconic series on British television.
WoS announced via their Twitter and Facebook accounts that former WWE Superstar and General Manager of DEFIANT Wrestling Stu Bennett/Wade Barrett would be a ‘WOS Executive’ and commentator for the 10 part series which begins later this month. Bennett made the following comments on Twitter following the reveal:
“Get ready for something massive this summer on @ITV. I’ve brought together the absolute best of the UK wrestling scene & they are going to blow your minds. 100% BRITISH-MADE WRESTLING is BACK on TV! Do not miss it..”
Also announced for the series are the following stars of the UK scene:
Adam Maxted (5* Wrestling, NGW)
British Bulldog Junior (Former WWE Superstar Davey Boy Smith Jr)
Kay Lee Ray (ICW and Pro Wrestling: EVE)
Joe Hendry (ICW and WCPW)
The show is expected to start on the UK’s ITV channel later this month with a Saturday night slot rumored to run just after the successful Ninja Warrior UK programme.
The following stars have also been contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show: Will Ospreay, Grado, Moose, Primate, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.
This is one of the biggest opportunities that the UK scene has been exposed to this century, ITV is one of the ‘big four’ channels in the United Kingdom alongside BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. Stars such as Ospreay who are already major names across the globe to independent wrestling fans will now be able to ply their trade to a brand new audience and potentially break out into the mainstream.
Get ready for something massive this summer on @ITV. I’ve brought together the absolute best of the UK wrestling scene & they are going to blow your minds. 100% BRITISH-MADE WRESTLING is BACK on TV! Do not miss it.. @WOSWrestlingITV ???? pic.twitter.com/X9xvtJ6bL0
Jay Lethal is on top of the mountain in Ring of Honor once again.
Ring of Honor held TV taping last weekend in Fairfax, Virginia at the EagleBank Arena. At the show, Lethal beat Matt Taven, Cody and champion Dalton Castle in a fatal 4-way match to win the ROH World Title. This is Lethal’s second time winning the title. Castle won it back in December at Final Battle. It was a surprise to most fans as the promotion held its Best in the World PPV just 24 hours before this taping.
Lethal spoke with the official Ring of Honor website about his big win and how he wants it to be longer than his first reign as champion. The newly crowned ROH Champion stated that this title win means that he’s at the top of his game once again as being champion comes with operating at a higher level, a level that most people never reach. “There’s only a select few people that have been at that level twice. I plan on making this title reign way longer than my first title reign.”
Lethal also talked about winning the title for the second time and how it differs from the first time in 2015. He brought up the fact that when he won the title the first time there was a lot of bragging because he could back it up.
“Maybe had a few people in my ear, helping me think that way, being a little bit braggadocious. As to now, it’s not overconfidence, I’m more comfortable and confident in my abilities – not over confident – but confident. That would probably be the biggest comparison between now and then. Just a little more trash talking before – while still backing it up – this time maybe all actions will be in the ring and a little less trash talking.”
What are your thoughts on Lethal’s comments? Sound off in the comment section.
In September of 2017, AJ Styles returned to Japan and wore a mask for his ring entrance. The mask was “Club” themed, an homage to Styles’ time in NJPW as leader of Bullet Club.
Styles broke out the mask again this weekend as WWE traveled back to the country. Styles was supposed to renew his rivalry with Shinsuke Nakamura on the shows but a bomb-sniffing dog bite kept Nakamura out of action.
Now reunited with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows on Smackdown, the Club made a memorable entrance in Tokyo recently. Check out the below video on the faction’s entrance:
AJ Styles’ WWE Championship Reign
Styles’ 240 days with the WWE Championship is now the longest reign since CM Punk’s 434-day run with the belt in 2011-13. Before Punk, you have to go back to John Cena’s 380-day reign from 2006-07 for the next champion who held the title longer than Styles has.
Styles defeated Jinder Mahal for the title on November 7th, 2018. The match was held in Manchester. It was largely believed at the time that Styles was winning the title so it would be him and not Jinder Mahal who would face Brock Lesnar in the Raw vs Smackdown world champion match at Survivor Series last year.
Styles has defended the title 7x on WWE programming during his reign. He defeated Jinder Mahal in a rematch at Clash of Champions 2017. Then he defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a handicap match at the 2018 Royal Rumble. Styles then won a 6-pack challenge at Fastlane 2018. He also held onto the WWE Championships for four straight title defenses against Shinsuke Nakamura as well.
Kenny Omega and Cody will go one-on-one for the second time in their rivalry this Saturday at the Cow Palace. Not only will the match be for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the winner will be declared the leader of Bullet Club.
Omega built the match up with the following Tweet from earlier today:
Both Cody and Omega alluded to the idea that the winner of their last match would be declared leader of Bullet Club as well. The faction leadership was still up for debate after Cody had won, however.
Kenny Omega versus Cody II
Saturday will be Omega’s first defense of the title he won at Dominion. Omega’s victory over Kazuchika Okada ended the longest running IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign of all-time. He is just the second member of the faction to win the title after AJ Styles did so in 2014.
As for Cody, this will be his 3rd title match in a week’s time. He unsuccessfully challenged for the ROH World Championship this weekend. At Best in the World on Friday night, Dalton Castle won a 3-way match against Cody and Marty Scurll. The next night in Fairfax, Jay Lethal would win a fatal 4-way match against Castle, Scurll, and Matt Taven to win the title for the second time in his career.
“NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco
Sho, Yoh, Rocky Romero, Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) vs Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and King Haku (Bullet Club)
Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
KUSHIDA and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Marty Scurll and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
NEVER Openweight Championship
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) (c) vs Jeff Cobb
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) (c) vs SANADA and EVIL (LIJ)
Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI (LIJ)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hiromu Takahashi (LIJ) (c) vs Dragon Lee (CMLL)
IWGP United States Championship
Jay White (CHAOS) (c) vs Juice Robinson
