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Date & Location Announced For ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV

Andrew Ravens
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0

Ring of Honor has officially announced the location for the Death Before Dishonor event.

On Friday afternoon (June 22, 2018), the Baltimore-based promotion revealed that they would this upcoming pay-per-view event at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, September 28, 2018. Also, they will hold a TV taping at the same venue the following night.

Tickets for the two events go on sale Wednesday, Aug. 1 at 10 a.m. local time for HonorClub members and Friday, Aug. 3 at 12 p.m. local time for the general public.

It was noted in the announcement that was released that it will mark the third year in a row that Las Vegas has hosted this event.

Although no names were advertised for this show, it was noted that it would feature “all of the top ROH stars.”

The next ROH PPV, Best in the World, is slated to go down on Friday, June 29, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland at the UMBC Event Center and will be headlined by Dalton Castle defending the ROH World Title against Cody and Marty Scurll in a Triple Threat Match.

Two Top UK Independent Stars Announced for PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles 2018

Jake Skudder
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0

PWG has been announcing several names for their upcoming Battle of Los Angeles tournament over the past few days. Two of the most intriguing competitors confirmed for the prestigious tournament are UK independent stars Chris Brookes and Jody Fleisch.

Chris Brookes is one of the most in demand stars on the UK circuit right now, his hugely successful run alongside Kid Lykos in #CCK has seen him catapulted into the ranks of PROGRESS wrestling’s main event scene and he was tipped as one of the favourites to win the Super Strong Style 16 tournament, unfortunately losing in an incredible bout against NXT Superstar Kassius Ohno. Since Lyko’s most recent injury Brookes has once again been establishing himself as a legitimate singles star and this inclusion in the BOLA is a testament to his abilities as an in-ring competitor.

Jody Fleisch is a severely underrated veteran from the UK independent scene, the ‘Phoenix’ has been wowing UK and European crowds since his debut in 1997 and he has gone on to appear for companies across the globe including Ring of Honor, TNA/IMPACT, IPW:UK, XWA, ICW, 5* and Rev Pro. Fleisch’s athletic abilities are going to finally be showcased at one of the biggest tournaments in independent wrestling.

Other names already confirmed for the tournament include PCO, Brody King, Ilja Dragunov, Robbie Eagles, Joey Janela, Puma King, David Starr and Rey Horus.

DEFIANT Confirm ‘Ringmaster’ Tournament Competitors

Jake Skudder
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0

UK based promotion DEFIANT Wrestling has announced the competitors for their upcoming ‘Ringmaster’ tournament taking place on July 16th/17th from the O2 Academy in Newcastle, England.

The company has described the ‘Ringmaster’ as follows: “featuring 16 competitors, the tournament will feature stars we have never seen before in Defiant, stars we haven’t seen for a while, and stars we see often!”

The full lineup for the tournament is as follows:

  • Adam Brooks
  • Bad Bones
  • BT Gunn
  • David Starr
  • Kay Lee Ray
  • Curtis Chapman
  • Kyle Fletcher (of Aussie Open)
  • Mark Davis (of Aussie Open)
  • Martin Kirby
  • Matt Riddle
  • Millie McKenzie
  • Nathan Cruz
  • Omari
  • Simon Miller
  • Stevie Boy
  • TK Cooper

With the recent announcement of the NXT UK brand and the news that WWE contacted talent cannot be featured on streaming services across the UK it is testament to the depth of talent that the United Kingdom scene has when looking at this stacked tournament.

The event will be available to purchase either on the FITE app or on DEFIANT’s Access On Demand service which available for $8.99 per month.

Triple H On How Aware Vince McMahon Is Of WWE’S NXT & UK Brands

Jon Fuentes
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0

WWE’s Triple H recently did an interview with Inside The Ropes at the WWE’s UK Championship Tournament tapings. The Game was asked how aware Vince McMahon is of the WWE’s NXT and UK brands with them being under his control:

“He’s well aware of all of it. It’s a funny thing, some people think he’s not aware of things in his own company. [Laughs] He’s well aware of all of it. He’s all for all of it. There’s a lot of things going on. We grow as a brand every single day and that growing and that expanding, and all of it is an important part of WWE.

“It doesn’t take away from any of the things we were in the past, but our intent is not to stay what we were, our intent is to be what we can become. Our vision of WWE is massive compared to what it is right now.

“His vision of what WWE will become is massive and you have to remember this is a guy who envisioned it going from little smoke-filled bars to 100,000 people in a stadium and being seen all around the world with one global brand. That vision is amazing, so he has a vision for all of it, but he’s well aware of all of it, trust me.”

HHH was then asked about those who say that NXT and the UK brands are putting out a better product than what’s happening on the main roster with shows such as Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live:

“Everybody has opinions. I’m sure you’ve heard that quote before. Yeah, everybody has opinions. Look, you just try to put out the best product you can put out. For me, it’s a different reach and a different vibe. If you’re a fan of a certain genre of music, you just like that music better.

“If you go to that concert, you like that concert better. It’s a big world, lot of fans. WWE has almost a billion followers on social media, number one channel for sports, number two channel overall on YouTube. We got a lot of people watching. Some of them like different things. It’s just funny people believe what they believe is the answer. It certainly doesn’t seem to be hurting business, there’s enough product to go around for everybody.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Kenny Omega Says He Might Work Better In A WWE Enviornment

Jon Fuentes
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16

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega recently participated in a media call to help promote the G1 Special in San Francisco from the Cow Palace on July 7th. The Cleaner will defend his title against Cody Rhodes at the event. Omega was first asked how he would prepare for a match in an environment where his match length is limited:

“It’s funny there’s this idea where Kenny is only good because he can do what he wants and he gets time. Well, everyone else through those doors had had time and opportunity. Why didn’t they do anything special?”

He was then asked how he feels he’d work in a restrictive environment such as WWE. Omega feels he would thrive in such an environment as it would force him to think creatively to work around such restrictions:

“I actually work better within restrictions,” the IWGP Heavyweight Champion continued. “When you leave everything wide open things tend to get a little convoluted. So when you give me those restrictions and I start to use my brain creatively to work around those that’s when things get interesting.

“I mean no, you’re not going to get a seven-star match or six or five in a seven-minute segment but I always do the best I can to make that segment memorable and entertaining and I think that’s always the name of the game.

“The thing is too it’s like, ‘hey if you ever go to WWE what are you gonna do if you only get five minutes?’ I mean sure you’d have nights like that but would I take a contract with WWE if I were not gonna be able to show the best of Kenny Omega? That would be a disservice to fans to professional wrestling, it would be a disservice to my own career all the hard work I put in.

“I would for sure make sure that I was able to show the best of what I do and that requires a little bit of time. So yeah, things like that don’t really worry me I think I would be fine.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

WWE UK Champion Facing NXT-Linked Independent Star

Jake Skudder
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0

Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be taking on one of the hottest Independent talents on the planet when he faces WALTER at the first night of the Shotgun Live Tour.

Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld in Cologne will play host to this veritable independent dream match between two of both PROGRESS/wXw’s biggest stars.

This will not be the first wXw opponent that Dunne will face this year, the WWE UK Champion has been booked for a bout against wXw Unified World Champion Ilja Dragunov at the Wembley Arena show on September 30th in a match that will determine who the best wrestler in Europe truly is.

If you’ve never heard of WALTER then he is certainly a performer that should be on your radar. The Austrian powerhouse has been dominating the Tag and Heavyweight divisions in wXw, PROGRESS and PWG over the past couple of years and he is now being slated as a future WWE/NXT signee (even if he denies any sort of negotiations). The de-facto leader of the Ringkampf stable (alongside Timothy Thatcher and previously NXT roster member Axel Dieter Jr) has a ton of potential on the world stage and has already garnered critical praise from the likes of Dave Meltzer, who gave his PWG All-Star Weekend bout against Zack Sabre Jr from October 2017 a 5 star rating.

https://twitter.com/wXwGermany/status/1010092634969378817

Final Match Announced for PROGRESS Chapter 72 feat. NJPW vs NXT UK Match

Jake Skudder
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0

PROGRESS has announced the 7th and potentially final bout for their upcoming 72nd Chapter event ‘Got Got Need’ which takes place this Sunday 24th from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.

Former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and the 1st ever British Born winner of the BOSJ tournament Will Ospreay will be facing NXT UK Superstar Jordan Devlin.

This announcement follows the news that PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks will be defending his title against the ‘World Cup’ winner Chuck Mambo. Banks recently took part in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament and is scheduled to be part of the NXT UK roster going forward.

Devlin has also been announced for a bout against Naoki Tanizaki at the upcoming Fight Club: Pro ‘International Tekkers’ show. The Dragon Gate veteran (Tanizaki) will be taking part in a run across the UK shore sagainst the likes of Mark Haskins (Frontline Puro) and Chris Brookes (RIPTIDE) and this bout against Devlin should be dynamite.

Ember Moon On If She’s Open To Doing Total Divas

Jon Fuentes
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0

Former WWE NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon recently did an interview with The New York Post to talk about several professional wrestling topics. You can read some of the highlights below:

Where did the genesis of the Ember Moon character come from?

“To be honest, the qualities about myself that I always … I’ll say used to feel ashamed of. I used to be very secluded. I used to just kind of chill out on my own, but then when the opportunity presents itself, I just like fire up and just do it.

“I always felt that there was a lot of rejection thrown at me outside of wrestling and I always overcame that every single time and I just won’t be told “No” and I won’t stay down and that’s just amplified through Ember Moon. Man, it’s crazy. It is me times one thousand.”

What was it like eventually being trained by Booker T ?

“He’s kind of the person that started telling me to branch out and to start going to different states and just make a name for myself on the independent scene. It’s crazy because his knowledge extends well past what you guys have seen of him on WWE TV and I will forever be thankful for that. He’s the reason why the Eclipse is off the top rope.”

Were you trying to do it from the middle rope before?

“So, when I first started doing the Eclipse, I’m terrified of heights, I was doing it on the middle rope. And, Booker was the one who talked me into doing it on the top rope and it just worked so much better because I had more time to adjust and spin.”

You talked about yourself being kind of a shy person. When you’ve seen the success of Total Divas, is that something that would be hard for you or would you look forward to the opportunity if presented with it?

“You see everything. Me being the reclusive person that I am, I don’t know if that’s something I would do. I’ve been on Total Divas a couple of times in a guest role and I just don’t know. I really don’t. I’m not saying I would say “No.” I just don’t know.”

You can read Moon’s full interview with The New York Post by clicking this link here.

Adam Cole Talks His WrestleMania Dream Match, Pressure Of NXT Debut

Andrew Ravens
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0

Adam Cole has revealed who would be his dream opponent at WrestleMania.

During a recent interview with WFF while in the UK this past week for the NXT UK Championship Tournament, the NXT North American Champion spoke about various topics.

Cole did discuss the pressure of making his debut with the sports entertainment company. If you recall, he made his debut at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III last August in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center.

“Very nervous. So, it’s exciting when you think, ‘Okay, I’m going to make my WWE debut in NXT,’ but in my brain, I was a successful independent wrestler for ten years and I had gotten to wrestle all over the world. But WWE is a whole different animal and in my mind I’m thinking, ‘I really, really hope these people care and they know who I am. I hope they react and make noise when I come out.’

Finally, when it did happen and they reacted the way they did, I had such a sense of relief and was just so happy they responded the way they did. It was a big combination of emotions: excitement, nerves, fear, pressure, and all that stuff, but it ended up being one of the best nights of my life.”

It’s just a matter of time before the WWE calls Cole up from NXT to the main roster. Cole also talked about when he is on the main roster, who would he want to wrestle at WrestleMania, which is the biggest event of the year for the sports entertainment company.

“AJ Styles would be my number one pick. The reason being I wrestled him twice before and I didn’t beat him, either time. On top of that, I think AJ is the best pro wrestler that I’ve ever been in the ring with. I think he’s absolutely number one. His ability is just second to none, so to get the chance to wrestle him on that stage would be really cool and on top of that I can beat him. [Laughs]”

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcript

What are your thoughts on Cole’s comments?

AJ Styles Mocks Rusev On Social Media, WWE Releases Mae Young Classic Promo

Andrew Ravens
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6

AJ Styles Tweets

WWE Champion AJ Styles is slated to make his next title defense against Rusev at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view event on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena that will air on the WWE Network.

As noted, Rusev earned this title shot after beating Big E, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, and Samoa Joe in a Gauntlet Match to become the #1 contender on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Toledo, OH at the Huntington Center on the USA Network. Styles sent out the following tweet to mock Rusev:

“Excited to face @RusevBUL for the #WWEChampionship and I know many are as well. And just for you and the little songbird next to you, I’m gonna make #RusevDay #Phenomenal. #AndStill.”

WWE Hypes Tournament

WWE has sent out this promo on their official YouTube channel hype Mae Young Classic tickets being on sale now. As noted, the sports entertainment company will be taping 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.

What are your thoughts on this match between Styles and Rusev?

Jay White Explains How He’s Preparing For The G1 Climax

Jon Fuentes
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0

New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Jay White has a lot on his plate at the moment. White is set to participate against some of Japan’s best in the G1 Climax tournament, but also is scheduled to defend his IWGP United States Title against Juice Robinson at the G1 Special on July 7th in San Francisco.

White recently participated in a media call to promote the G1 Climax and was asked about his preparation for the tournament. Unfortunately, due to how hectic his schedule is at the moment, White isn’t able to specifically train for the tournament:

“In terms of preparation we’re on tour at the moment,” White said. “If anything I don’t have the chance to prepare because I go home for two and a half days and I fly over for two Strong Style Evolved events in the UK. I’ll get home for another two and a half days and I fly straight to San Fransisco [for the G1 Special at the Cow Palace].

“Then I get home for another two and a half, three days and I go to the G1. A lot of those breaks is just going to be recovering,” the IWGP United States Champion continued. “I just need to get some food in me and some good training do what I can. But it’s not like I’ve got a month off. I’m not doing any kind of crazy cardio leading up to it I’m just trying to keep my body in healthy shape until then.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

News On Randy Orton’s Recovery From Surgery, William Regal Misses NXT TV Taping

Andrew Ravens
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13

Randy Orton Latest

It’s been well documented that Randy Orton underwent minor knee surgery last month. Orton was last seen on WWE programming at the Backlash pay-per-view event when he was defeated by Jeff Hardy in a United States Title match that aired on the WWE Network.

In regards to when he could return to in-ring action, the timeline is three months and that he would be back inside of the squared circle under the WWE banner before SummerSlam.

Orton is currently recovering from knee surgery and has been seen in Birmingham, Alabama where he’s likely doing rehab.

William Regal Absent

The expectation was that WWE NXT General Manager William Regal was set to work Thursday’s NXT TV tapings in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. However, he did not appear.

According to a report by PWinsider, the decision was made on Wednesday not to bring him in. It’s been noted that the reason he has not been used on TV since April is due to a personal situation.

AJ Styles Missing WWE Events This Weekend, Six Times Kane Unmasked (Video)

Andrew Ravens
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1

AJ Styles Missing In Action

WWE Champion AJ Styles, who is slated to make his next title defense against Rusev at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view event next month, will be missing in action this weekend for SmackDown Live events.

The sports entertainment company is slated to hold blue branded events on Saturday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sunday in Fresno, CA at the Save Mart Center, and Monday in Bakersfield, CA at the Rabobank Arena.

However, Styles will not be wrestling at those shows due to him heading to Australia for promotion work for the October Super Show-Don stadium show’s ticket on sale. It should be noted that Styles will be working Tuesday’s SmackDown Live TV event.

WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Miz and WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Bar vs. The New Day vs. Rusev & Aiden English are the top matches being advertised.

Kane Unmasked

Although Kane might not be a regular character on WWE television these days, it didn’t stop WWE’s YouTube channel from releasing this video looking at the six times that Kane has been unmasked. Check it out here:

What are your thoughts on Styles missing events this weekend?

Nick Aldis On Not Getting Anywhere With WWE

Jon Fuentes
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1

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis has quite the match coming up.

He and Cody Rhodes’ bout for the title is the only one scheduled for September 1st’s All In event in Chicago. The man formerly known as Magnus in TNA, where he was also a World Heavyweight Champion, never seemed to make things work in regards to working for WWE.

Most might imagine Aldis could have quite an easy road to WWE if he wanted to, seeing as he’s married to current WWE Superstar Mickie James. In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Aldis revealed that the lack of communication on WWE’s part led him to the current position he’s in – NWA World Heavyweight Champion:

“I basically said that I hadn’t gotten anywhere with WWE, and, you know, there’s a myriad of reasons why that could potentially be the case, no-one really gives you a straight answer there anyway,” Aldis said.

“I’ve heard a few different versions of it, but I wedged to see if it was something that I wanted to see where it could have went.”

You can read Aldis’ full interview with Digital Spy by clicking this link here.

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

Ronda Rousey Might Not Miss Monday’s RAW

Jon Fuentes
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3

It looks like Ronda Rousey’s WWE suspension won’t prevent her from appearing on Monday Night RAW next week in San Diego after all. The 30-day suspension was issued out to The Rowdy One for attacking both RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle earlier this week.

A report from The Wrestling Observer suggests that Rousey is still scheduled to appear at Monday’s RAW. That could simply mean, however, that she’s scheduled for a dark segment that won’t make it to TV. Perhaps WWE could even eliminate Rousey’s suspension altogether.

Regardless, W.O.N reports that the former UFC women’s bantamweight champ will be in San Diego on Monday. Here is her confirmed WWE schedule below:

  • 6/24 – RAW live event in Anaheim, CA
  • 7/6 – RAW live event in Philadelphia, PA
  • 7/7 – RAW live event at MSG
  • 7/8 – RAW live event in Bridgeport, CT
  • 7/9 – Monday Night RAW in Boston, MA
  • 7/16 – Monday Night RAW in Buffalo, NY

Discussion: Do you think that Rousey will be at Monday’s RAW in San Diego?

Cody Launches YouTube Channel: Inside Look At The Origin Of All In

Chris Stephens
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0

Cody has launched his own YouTube channel. The self-proclaimed leader of Bullet Club released his first video yesterday. The video features Cody and the Bucks talking about the process of organizing All-In.

“On May 13th, 2018, ALL IN sold out in 29 minutes. The ALL IN event was created by Cody Rhodes, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson to prove a point. This series, ALL US, was created to document their process as they produce this landmark event on September 1st.

Is the success of ALL IN a blessing or a curse? Who called the three after the sell-out? What is their biggest fear the night before the event? And what makes ALL IN work?”

What Went Into Organizing All-In?

The Jacksons and Cody discussed how fans’ perception is All-In will be a money-making project. The three were quick to point out that even with 10,000 seats being sold, they will be lucky to break even.

“Some people think we’re getting rich, that’s completely the opposite,” Nick Jackson said. “We’re probably going to break-even at the end of the day because we don’t realize how much goes into an actual show. Every day it’s like ‘oh, we have to pay for this guy’s flight, I forgot'”

The trio also mentioned that Hulk Hogan had expressed interest in participating but his asking price is too high for them.

Potential Matches for All-In

The only match officially announced for the show thus far is Cody challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Current NWA Champion, Nick Aldis, will have to remain champion through the summer but if he does, he will face Cody in the main event.

Other possible matches for the show include Joey Ryan taking on Hangman Page. The two wrestlers have been building a rather bizarre angle which has played out on Being the Elite.

Another possible angle which could lead to something at All-In involves Jay Lethal. Recently on Being the Elite, Lethal has been slipping in and out of his old Black Machismo character. This started when Lanny Poffo gave Lethal a pair of Randy Savage’s old sunglasses at an ROH show earlier this year.

Flip Gordon still has not been booked.

All-In takes place September 1st, 2018 from the Sears Centre in Chicago.

ROH Announces Austin Aries’ Opponent At Best In The World

Andrew Ravens
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1

Austin Aries’ opponent for ROH’s upcoming Best in the World PPV has been revealed. The promotion has announced that Aries will take on Kenny King in singles competition. This event takes place on Friday, June 29, 2018 from Baltimore, Maryland at the UMBC Event Center.

Aries is the reining Impact Wrestling World Champion and will defend against Moose in the main event of next month’s Slammiversary pay-per-view.

Updated Card for ROH Best In The World (6/29)

– ROH World Title Match: Dalton Castle © vs. Cody vs. Marty Scurll

– ROH Tag Team Title Match: The Briscoes © vs. The Young Bucks

– ROH Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: The Kingdom © vs. Los Ingobernables De Japon

– ROH World Title Street Fight: Punishment Martinez © vs. Adam Page

– Bully Ray vs. Flip Gordon

– Austin Aries vs. Kenny King

– Eight-Woman Tag Team Match: Sumie Sakai, Jenny Rose, Tenille Dashwood & Mayu Iwatani vs. Kelly Klein, Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & Hazuki

Will you be watching ROH: Best in the World 2018?

Konnan Coming Out Of Retirement To Compete In MLW’s Battle Riot Match

Andrew Ravens
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1

Konnan is coming out of retirement to wrestle in a match under the MLW banner.

The promotion officially announced during a recent episode of their MLW Radio podcast that former WCW United States Champion will be coming out of retirement to compete in a match at the Battle Riot/Fusion TV taping that goes down in New York City on July 19th.

The Battle Riot match is a mash-up of a battle royal, royal rumble and anything goes street fight that will feature 40 wrestlers with new participants entering the ring every 60 seconds.

The way that this match will work is when an elimination can come by pinfall, submission or by throwing an individual over the top rope. The winner of this match is slated to get a World Heavyweight Title Shot in the future.

Several wrestlers have already been announced for the match including John Morrison, Kevin Sullivan, ACH, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Teddy Hart, Rich Swann, Pentagon Jr., Jimmy Yuta, Jake Hager, Swoggle, Lance Anoa’i, and “PCO” Pierre Carl Ouellet.

Konnan appeared to work his final match back in 2013 when he took part in a six-man tag match that saw him team up with El Mariachi and Kafu to beat Derek Sanders, Oliver John and Vaquero Fantasma.

The promotion will be announcing more participants for the match in coming weeks. Tickets for this event start at just $20 and you can buy them at this link.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1009995681212313601

What are your thoughts on Konnan coming out of retirement to work the match?

Spoilers: NXT TV Tapings Results, Top Matches For Takeover

Staff
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9

On Thursday night, NXT returned to Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The following are results from the tapings, which will air over the next several weeks and take us through mid-July.

– Fabian Aichner def. Raul Mendoza in a dark match.

Week 1 (Airing June 27th):

– NXT Champion Aleister Black came out for a promo. He spoke about battling Lars Sullivan at Takeover, but was interrupted by Tomasso Ciampa, who referred to himself as the devil. Now that Johnny Gargano is out of the picture, he’s focused on the title and will make Black’s reign fade to Black.

– Kona Reeves def. Max Humberto.

– Candice LeRae def. Lacey Evans.

– Moustache Mountain vs. Dave Dixon and Carl Axelrod never began, as the Undisputed Era came out and attacked Dixon and Axelrod before the match. They called Moustache Mountain’s title win in the UK a fluke. Undisputed Era surrounded the ring, but Ricochet ran out to even the odds, setting up a 6-man tag match.

– Undisputed Era def. Ricochet and Moustache Mountain

Week 2 (Airing July 4th):

– Dakota Kai def. Santana Garret

– NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler kicks off the show, saying she proved herself at Takeover and is the most dominant champion in NXT.

– The Mighty def. Otis Dozovic of Heavy Machinery in a handicap match. It was explained that Tucker Knight was out due to an “accident” which was actually the birth of his daughter.

– Kairi Sane def. Vanessa Borne. After the match, Kairi says she beat Shayna Baszler before and will do it again to become the next NXT Women’s Championship.

– Velveteen Dream def. Chris Dijak. EC3 came out for his entrance while Dream was still in the ring after his match.

– Johnny Gargano def. EC3 in what was described as one of the best matches of the night.

Week 3 (Airing July 11th)

– NXT North American Champion Adam Cole def. Danny Burch

– Lacey Evans def. Dakota Kai

– Kassius Ohno squashed an enhancement talent.

– Kairi Sane def. Candice LeRae and Nikki Cross in a triple threat match to become the #1 contender to NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler.

– Undisputed Era def. Moustache Mountain to win back the NXT Tag Team Championships. The finish came when Bate threw in the towel when Seven wouldn’t tap to O’Reilly.

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

Based on the matches that will air on NXT television through mid-July, the following appear to be the top two matches for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn during SummerSlam weekend:

  • NXT Champion Aleister Black vs. Tomasso Ciampa
  • NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Bazsler vs. Kairi Sane

Kenny Omega Praises Matt Riddle, The King Of Bros Responds Accordingly

Chris Stephens
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2

Yesterday, Kenny Omega took part in an AXS TV media conference call to promote the G1 Special in San Francisco. During the press conference, Omega mentioned Matt Riddle as someone who he feels should do well in NJPW.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle do in Japan,” Omega said. “Matt Riddle should have a very successful career in Japan. It’d be cool if he became the foreign Shibata.”

Word reached Riddle about comments made by Omega and he responded in a way consistent with his moniker as “the King of Bros”.

The former UFC fighter is no stranger to receiving praise. After winning “Rookie of the Year” and “Most Improved” in the 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, Riddle turned in a solid 2017 which saw him ranked at 116th in the PWI 500.

Riddle is the current Evolve champion, former WWN Live champion, and also held the PWG tag titles along with Jeff Cobb. In May, Riddle made it down to the final 2 competitors in Smash Wrestling’s Northern Tournament. The Northern runs a similar format to BOLA and was eventually won by Tyson Dux. Other competitors in the tournament included Joey Janela, Joey Mercury, Mia Yim, Kimber Lee, and Andrew Everett.

Kenny Omega Interview Notes

During the press conference, Omega also noted that he is proud of the Golden Lovers storyline.

“I’m proud of it. I’m not going to lie, that story was created for us,” Omega said. For myself and Ibushi…we built to it for years and years and years. For it to finally culminate and to hear the positive feedback, it was overwhelming.”

Omega also took some shots at Los InGobernables and most notably, their leader Tetsuya Naito.

“Naito is a pseudo-Steve Austin. I really don’t appreciate his message,” Omega said. “It only works in Japan. They live rough lives, it’s easier to fit in than rock the boat. Naito’s message is to calm down and not care. I think that message only has life in Japan.”

Charlotte Flair Undergoes Surgery-Expected Back By SummerSlam

Lesly Sincere
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14

Charlotte Flair has just undergone surgery to fix a ruptured implant. She is expected to be out until SummerSlam.

Working Injured Since Mania

Flair has been working with the ruptured implant for months and kept putting off surgery as she didn’t want to miss WrestleMania 34. The surgery was delayed again due to Money In the Bank PPV and Flair competed in the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match which was won by Alexa Bliss.

As of now, it is unknown what WWE has plans for Flair and the Smackdown Women’s Title at SummerSlam, but as we noted on Thursday, the Raw side of the women’s division is rumored to be featuring Ronda Rousey challenging Alexa Bliss for the Title at the August PPV.

Charlotte has recently finished a photo shoot for ESPN before going under the knife. More on that here.

 

Triple H Comments on John Cena Competing In NXT

Lesly Sincere
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Alex McCarthy of Give Me Sport caught up with Triple H and Shawn Michaels ahead of the WWE UK Tournament. They discussed the possibility of John Cena competing in NXT. Triple H joked that he wouldn’t be able to afford Cena’s pay on his NXT budget but if Cena came to him and said he wanted to do something at a TakeOver, he would be open to it.

Cena has been opened in working a match with Velveteen Dream in the past, we could very well see them wrestle in the nearby future. More on that story here.

John Cena’s Part-Time Status

Cena has been part-time with WWE, his last appearance was at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. His next appearance is until October at the big Australia tour. Cena has been busy with Hollywood making appearances for many of his films and starring in upcoming roles as well. More on that here.

Time will tell on what’s next for the Leader of the Cenation and SEScoops will be here to report the news.

NXT Star Missed TV Taping

Lesly Sincere
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NXT star Tucker Knight of the Heavy Machinery tag team missed Thursday’s TV tapings from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL – but he had a good reason.

Knight (real name Levi Cooper) posted a photo on Twitter of his newborn baby girl, Kenzi Lovie Cooper.

Congratulations to the Cooper family and their newest addition.

Sami Zayn Out For The Rest Of 2018

Anutosh Bajpai
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Word started making rounds a couple of days ago that Sami Zayn was hurt and his injury was the reason why he was booked to lose to Bobby Lashley without putting much effort during his match at the recent Money In The Bank PPV.

However, now it has been revealed that the Raw Star’s injury is more serious than anybody may have thought and he is expected to be out of action for the remainder of 2018.

In an interview with WWE.com Zayn revealed that he had been working with a hurt shoulder for a while but he didn’t realize the seriousness of the injury immediately and waited for the things to get better.

Though when it didn’t heal up as Sami was expecting, he underwent some tests. The medical examination not only revealed a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder but his left, surgically repaired shoulder turned out to be even worse.

According to the former NXT Champion, the evaluation showed that he had torn the rotator cuff in his left shoulder as well and his right shoulder, in comparison, was the ‘good shoulder’.

Later in the interview, Sami Zayn also revealed that he underwent a surgery recently for his right shoulder and he is scheduled to go under the knife again to repair the damage in his left shoulder in 6 to 8 weeks.

While no time frame has been given for his comeback, in the beast case, Sami will be eying a return in time for WrestleMania 35 from New Jersey next year.

We’ll keep you updated on his condition.

Rumor On Shawn Michael’s Role At WWE Super Show-Down

Jon Fuentes
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WWE is set to hold a major pay-per-view (PPV) event in Australia later this year. It’s being called the WWE Super Show-Down and all goes down from the Melbourne Cricket Grounds.

WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels is being advertised for the event, leading many fans to speculate that the former WWE Champion could be making his in-ring return at the show.

The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter has some new details on what Shawn Michaels’ role could be at the big event. According to the Observer, there have been preliminary discussions about Michaels working as a Special Guest Referee for one of the matches on the card.

HBK: Veteran Special Guest Referee

Shawn Michaels is no stranger the black and white striped referee’s shirt. Longtime fans might remember his role as gust referee in the main event of SummerSlam 1997. Just months before the Montreal Screwjob, Michaels attempted to hit Bret Hart with a chair and wound up leveling The Undertaker, paving the way for Bret’s final WWF Championship reign.

As of this writing, the only match advertised for Super Show-Down is the final battle between WWE legends Triple H and The Undertaker. Michaels refereed this exact match back at WrestleMania 28, so we could see history repeat itself in Australia.

Most recently, Michaels served as the guest referee for Drew McIntyre vs. Adam Cole at an NXT live event last year. The Heartbreak Kid got physical at the show as well, hitting Kyle O’Reilly with Sweet Chin Music.

Discussion: What do you think will be Michaels’ involvement at WWE Super Show-Down?

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