Since 2014, WWE has attempted to establish Roman Reigns as their next “face of the company.”
Reigns had headlined multiple major WWE pay-per-view events, including the last four WrestleManias (31 lost to Seth Rollins, 32 beat Triple H, 33 when he defeated The Undertaker, and 34 where he lost to Brock Lesnar. There has never been a babyface that has been pushed like Reigns that is disliked more by fans in the history of professional wrestling. Historically, when a babyface is not getting over with the crowd, the promoter or booker would turn them heel. Reigns is truly a different case in that sense.
Bruce Prichard spoke with Sporting News on his thoughts about various topics. During the interview, he was asked about Reigns and his future in the sports entertainment company.
“Roman Reigns has ‘it.’ Roman Reigns is going to be the guy. He’s got all the tools. Love him or hate him, they care about him. I have no problem with Roman Reigns being the next guy to take it to the next level because he’s a stud.”
What are your thoughts on Reigns being the top guy for the WWE? Sound off in the comment section below.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T has challenged fellow Hall of Famer Goldberg to a match.
On Twitter, while working out at the gym, Booker T, who is slated to return to WWE television this coming Monday for RAW to fill in for Jonathan Coachman on commentary, decided to challenge the former Universal Champion to a match at either the Greatest Royal Rumble event or WrestleMania 35 next year.
As for the reason? It’s due to Goldberg telling him backstage at WrestleMania 34 that he needs to get back in the gym after the former WCW World Champion was seen riding a hoverboard.
Booker T told him that he was just using the hoverboard for fun and wanted to let Goldberg know he was indeed in good shape.
Obviously, this was just a joke as you can tell with Goldberg’s response to the challenge below:
WWE Hall of Famer and Commentating Legend Jim Ross has confirmed his status for the upcoming World of Sport tapings taking place on May 10th/11th/12th from Norwich’s EPIC Studios in the UK.
As we reported previously; World of Sport Wrestling has scheduled a series of TV Tapings for mid-May. The promotion previously announced television taping dates for May of 2017 as well but abruptly canceled them a few weeks ahead of time. At the time, talent and fans were told the decision had been made to postpone the project.
JR was a major part of the original ‘reboot’ special that aired as part of ITV’s New Year’s Eve offering in 2016 working as the play by play commentator…but it looks as though his involvement in the project has now come to an end. Ross tweeted earlier today (available at the bottom of this page) to confirm that he will not be taking part in the tapings which are slated for the following dates:
Thursday, May 10th, 630PM
Friday, May 11th, 2pm & 630pm
Saturday, May 12th, 2pm & 630pm
World of Sport have not confirmed which on air talents will be taking part in the new tapings, several performers from the original ‘reboot’ episode are now heavily linked with moves to WWE, including PROGRESS Wresting Tag Team Champion Zack Gibson.
Attendance for these events is free and you can apply for tickets here.
Unfortunately, no, but I’m pulling for my friends at @ITV for @WOSWrestlingITV project. https://t.co/XG6ByxjmG8
UK based promotion RIPTIDE Wrestling has confirmed that 205 Live Superstar and former PROGRESS World Champion Mark Andrews will be making his way to their Spring Break event on Friday May 4th from The Brighthelm Centre and Auditorium in Brighton, England.
Andrews will be taking on one of the most beloved stars in both RIPTIDE and the UK scene; Jack Sexsmith. The ‘Pansexual Phenomenon’ has been building his profile over the past few years and is now in line for a huge PROGRESS Wrestling World Title bout (at their 69th Chapter event) as well as high profile matches for up and coming independent companies such as RIPTIDE.
The currently confirmed card for Spring Break is now as follows:
WALTER vs Wild Boar
Jimmy Havoc vs Jinny
Mark Andrews vs Jack Sexsmith
Maverick Mayhew vs Spike Trivet
Sierra Loxton vs Chakara vs Sammi Jayne
TK Cooper vs Drew Parker vs Elijah vs Danny Jones
Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) vs Kip Sabian & ??? vs Team White Wolf vs Anti-Fun Police
The Young Bucks have made public tributes and said their farewells to one of the most beloved venues in independent wrestling and PWG’s longtime home; American Legion Hall/Post #308 in Reseda, CA.
Due to a ticketing error PWG’s last event Time Is A Flat Circle was moved to the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California. That error appeared to be a signal that the independent company was planning on moving home at some point in the near future.
The Young Bucks’ time as part of PWG and their performances in the Legion Hall have become the stuff of legend, as such they made it a personal goal to at least perform on one of the final dates in the venue:
Pro Wrestling Guerilla will be holding their final ever events in the Legion Hall this weekend for ‘All Star Extravaganza’ with the following matches set over the two nights:
All Star Weekend Night 1 Friday April 20th
PWG Tag Team Champions Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb vs. The Young Bucks vs. Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz
PWG Champion Keith Lee vs. Adam Page.
WALTER & Timothy Thatcher vs. Tyler Bateman & Brody King
Taiji Ishimori vs. Bandido
Jonah Rock vs. Joey Janela.
Robbie Eagles vs. Flash Morgan Webster vs. Sammy Guevara.
Ring of Honor has announced that several New Japan Pro Wrestling stars will be joining the company as part of their Honor United UK tour in May. ROH and NJPW have a long standing working relationship and frequently see performers appear on major events in both the United States and Japan, the most notable recent bout being the Supercard of Honor XII main event: Cody Rhodes vs Kenny Omega.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano and IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions EVIL and SANADA of Los Ingobernables de Japon will be making their way to the United Kingdom with shows in:
Scotland’s Edinburgh Corn Exchange May 24
London’s Crystal Palace Sports Centre May 26
Doncaster’s Doncaster Dome May 27
These events mark the first time ROH has been in the UK since last August’s sold-out War of the Worlds UK Tour and will feature some of the company’s biggest stars. No matches have yet been confirmed for the tour.
Tickets for the three shows are available to purchase via the official ROH Website.
UK based promotion Fight Club: Pro has made two major announcements for their upcoming ‘Return of The Sendai’ event which takes place Friday May 4th from Wolverhampton, England.
WWE United Kingdom and NXT Superstars Tyler Bate and Trent Seven will be making their return to FCP after becoming the company’s first ever Tag Team champions. ‘Moustache Mountain’ became the inaugural Tag Team title holders after competing in a 70 minute plus bout during the Dream Tag Team Invitational, their opponents for ‘Return of the Sendai’ have yet to be confirmed.
Reigning Fight Club: Pro singles Champion Meiko Satomura will be making her way to Wolverhampton to defend her belt against the man she defeated for the crown. CCK leader Chris Brookes will be looking to reclaim the title after losing to the Japanese legend in one of the featured bouts from FCP’s Dream Tag Invitational. Satomura also successfully defended the belt during WrestleMania weekend at the ‘Pancakes and Piledrivers’ show co-hosted by AAW/Revolver Wrestling and Fight Club; Satomura defeated both Jessicka Havok and Kimber Lee to keep hold of the Championship.
Satomura is the co-founder of the famed Sendai Girls promotion, she has performed across the globe for the likes of Gaea Japan, WCW and Chikara.
DTTI 2018 was a truly huge occasion as we crowned our first ever Tag Team Champions.
On Fri 4th May, Moustache Mountain will be there to defend their titles at Return Of The Sendai but who will they face???
PROGRESS has announced a major Champion vs Champion bout for their upcoming Super Strong Style 16 weekender which takes place May 5th/6th/7th from Alexandra Palace in London, England.
The company’s World Champion Travis Banks will be defending his crown against the current reigning ATLAS Division Champion WALTER. Banks’ long anticipated title reign recently took an unexpected turn, fans of PROGRESS (specifically in the Electric Ballroom) began to turn their backs on the previously beloved ‘Kiwi Buzzsaw’ and the company appears to have reacted to this negativity by giving the fans this bout against strong favourite WALTER.
Ringkampf stable member WALTER is fast becoming one of the most sought after ‘free agents’ in the world scene, WWE are reportedly interested in the Austrian powerhouse and star of German promotion wXw…these reports have since been refuted by WALTER however he was on hand during the Wrestlemania Axxess shows so a deal between the two parties may well be struck in the coming months.
Intriguingly this will be the second time that the two decorated UK scene stars will face in the coming weeks; DEFIANT Wrestling has already announced that an Internet Title bout will take place at their No Regrets PPV on April 28th.
The Rock recently confirmed he was asked to be a part of the inter-gender tag-team match at WrestleMania 34. According to the megastar, he was asked to be Ronda Rousey’s partner against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
The Rock recently gave an interview to UK radio station, Kiss FM. During the interview, Rock spoke on a conversation he had with Vince McMahon regarding a potential WrestleMania 34 match:
“Matter of fact, Vince McMahon and I were talking about two months ago trying to figure out what I was going to do if I went back to WrestleMania. He pitched me this really great idea that I’d get involved in a tag match with Ronda Rousey who is, of course, incredible and I’m very proud of her,” said The Rock. “We couldn’t make it work this time because I was in Shanghai. But, Who knows down the line?”
The Rock & Ronda Rousey vs Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
Had the Rock been Ronda Rousey’s partner at WrestleMania, it would have better played off the WrestleMania 31 segment featuring Rock, Rousey, Triple H, & Stephanie. Considering the response Rousey & Angle vs Triple H & Stephanie got, however, nobody is complaining too much the Rock wasn’t able to make it.
Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is currently promoting his latest movie “Rampage”. In the movie, Johnson plays a gorilla expert who befriends a large and mutated gorilla named George. It currently holds a 50% approval rating amongst critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an 81% approval rating amongst users of the site.
During the above interview, Rock spoke on several other topics. He discussed what would happen if he and Conor McGregor were to meet in a fight amongst other topics.
Rock also took the time recently to respond to a young woman who asked him to promo:
World of Sport Wrestling has scheduled a series of TV Tapings for mid-May. The promotion previously announced television taping dates for May of 2017 as well but abruptly canceled them a few weeks ahead of time. At the time, talent and fans were told the decision had been made to postpone the project.
Now it appears, World of Sport Wrestling is ready to give the project another go.
WOS Wrestling recently announced the following TV Taping dates:
All shows will take place at Epic Studios in Norwich:
Thursday, May 10th, 630PM
Friday, May 11th, 2pm & 630pm
Saturday, May 12th, 2pm & 630pm
All shows are free to attend.
World of Sport Wrestling
In 2016, WOS Wrestling filmed a pilot episode which featured Grado winning the World Championship. This was to be followed up with a 10-part series in 2017 with Jeff Jarrett serving as executive producer. The TV tapings were scheduled for late-May in 2017 but were abruptly canceled. The promotion blamed prolonged contract negotiations for the postponement.
It’s not clear at this moment exactly who is still involved with the project. Most of the social media accounts previously associated with 2017’s revival attempt are still not active. Nick Aldis, Grado, El Ligero and Sha Samuels were expected to be key parts of the 2017 version of the show but it is not clear if that is still the case or not. None of the wrestlers involved in previous revival attempts have mentioned the tapings in their social media feeds either.
Here are the results from the one-night 2016 revival show for World of Sport Wrestling:
WOS World Championship (vacant)
Dave Mastiff defeated Grado
4-Way Ladder Match
Kenny Williams defeated CJ Bans, Danny Hope, and Sam Bailey
Viper defeated Alexis Rose
The Coffey Brothers (Joe and Mark) defeated Ashton Smith and Rampage
El Ligero defeated Zack Gibson
#1 Contender Battle Royal
Grado defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr, El Liger, the Coffey Brothers, Johnny Moss, Kenny Williams, and Sha Samuels
Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Vader recently underwent open heart surgery in Dallas, Texas and left the hospital last weekend to begin his rehab. Vader recently took to Twitter to offer an update to fans, and revealed that he’s back in the hospital with a case of pneumonia:
I Am officially out of the HOSPITAL and in rehab Its a long ROAD BK from here to the RING WISH ME LUCK!!!!
Damn I have bad news Iam bk in the https://t.co/1oYCjG1pNF pain is thru the roof and they say I have pneumonia.Cant breath.But Iam still fighting VADER TIME
Back in 2015 a series of bizarre incidents began to occur at the WWE Performance Center, involving WWE fan Armando Alejandro Montalvo. Montalvo would appear at the center in wrestling costumes while threatening staff.
He was also filmed begging to be trained by personnel and uttered inappropriate remarks. Back in August of 2015 Montalvo was taken into custody by Orlando police after being called to remove him from their premises – as he had developed an infatuation for one of the female competitors.
Instead of staying away from the facility, Montalvo returned on August 31st of 2015 and caused quite the commotion. He was encountered by armed deputies and was shot after trying to charge an officer.
TMZ reports that WWE is now filing a restraining order against Montalvo due to recent threats from him on social media. Per the documents obtained, Montalvo smeared some of his own feces on the walls of the Performance Center in July of 2015 – a month before his incident with the police.
Montalvo re-appeared at the Performance Center this past March and began harassing employees. While there, Montalvo made the comment “My new wrestling nickname is Generation Flex because my d**k and my balls is bigger than Generation Ex.”
It was also learned that Montalvo threatened to launch a biological attack using his own semen. On April 4th he posted a video on Instagram in which he said “Lord forgive me for what I’m about to do, [because] I know I’m a hundred percent real with it. And every single wrestler is gonna be saying their prayers by the time it’s all said and done. Because if you wanna know why, cuz I’m a wild man.”
He also recently addressed the restraining order by WWE in a recent Instagram post:
WWE is set to release a new DVD on Matt and Jeff Hardy, “Twist of Fate: The Best of the Hardy Boyz,” that will feature footage from their days in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling.
The three-disc special is set to be released on May 1st, and will include 27 matches and new segments filmed at The Hardy Compound in North Carolina. WrestlingDVDNews released the following sneak peak of the set:
This DVD will be the first WWE DVD to feature footage from TNA or IMPACT Wrestling, and this same footage could be used on the WWE Network.
WrestlingDVDNews also reviewed an advanced copy of the DVD and reports it features interviews with Matt and Jeff Hardy discussing the highlights of their time in IMPACT – including their “Broken” gimmicks and the Final Deletion.
The DVD also featured a plug for IMPACT’s streaming service, as any TNA or IMPACT footage on the DVD contains a logo on the corner for the Global Wrestling Network. The DVD also features the following notice from WWE:
“To watch all the Hardys’ Impact Wrestling matches in their entirety, download the Global Wrestling Network app. Available on all your favorite streaming devices!”
Rusev On Chris Jericho Being Removed From Undertaker Casket Match
There has been a ton of changes made to The Undertaker’s Casket match at the upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia. Originally, Rusev was scheduled to face The Dead Man.
After some controversial comments were made by Rusev to TMZ regarding Undertaker, WWE made the change to have Chris Jericho step in for Rusev instead. It was later cleared up Rusev didn’t offend The Undertaker and he was inserted back into the match.
The Bulgarian Brute took to Twitter to tease Jericho’s previous involvement in the match, posting a promotional image for Undertaker vs. Jericho and captioning it “TBT”:
A Six-Man Tag Team dark match has been announced for next week’s episode of Monday Night RAW. The team of Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins will take on Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Jinder Mahal.
WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre recently did an interview with Planeta Wrestling to talk about several professional wrestling topics. McIntyre first discussed his recovery from the recent bicep injury that kept him sidelined for several months:
“I got injured on November 18th [NXT TakeOver:War Games], I was wrapping my arm around my injury [torn bicep], and I started to Google the fastest amount of time someone has healed with this type of injury, it said four months, so I set out to get healed in four months by WrestleMania weekend, and I have been working very hard to come back.”
The match McIntyre injured himself in was against Andrade “Cien” Almas, who defeated the Scotsman to become the new NXT Champion. McIntyre offered his impressions of the now-former NXT Champion, who was recently called-up to SmackDown Live:
“I think he is very, very good. I think the pairing with Zelina Vega was perfect. It was just something that was missing. He is very good in the ring; great high-flyer, but he never really got to show it until he wrestled against myself. He can do everything.
“There was just something that was missing until the pairing with Zelina Vega, and I think he is going to shine in every area of his game. There is no shame in losing against him. He hits very hard. I hit very hard. He has some cool moves up his sleeve.
“In the end he dropped me on my head, tore my bicep and won the title and put me out on four months. On that night, he was the better man.”
McIntyre was then asked who he would like to sign with WWE from the Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) promotion:
“There are a few of the guys that are already part of the NXT brand. Wolfgang is already over here. Guys like Killian Dain, Nikki Cross, Noam Dar, who is part of the Cruiserweight division. There are a few guys from ICW that I would like for them to come over here to show what they can do.
“Jack Jester and Sha Samuels perhaps. BT Gunn is another guy that I would like to see. He is amazing in the ring. We have so many. The entire Insane Championship Wrestling roster is very talented.”
Finally, McIntyre offered his thoughts on ex-UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey now becoming a WWE Superstar:
“It is a huge deal. She is such a gigantic name on the mainstream. She is box office in sports and in the Octagon. I didn’t watch UFC much, but whenever she had a fight I would want to watch. She is such an attraction. She is such a big fan of our business, and isn’t just here for a payday. She genuinely loves this. I remember seeing her at a Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show in Los Angeles, when she was in the crowd.
“Her rival was on next for a UFC pay per view while our show was going on, and myself along with Trevor Lee were having a match in the crowd. A photographer took a picture of us fighting in the crowd with her in the background watching our match instead of watching the UFC fight. That is how much she loves this business, and we saw her in the crowd all the time. She is not taking this lightly, and is doing a great job.
“This is not an easy job to get. It took me 17 years to get to the point where I am at. It took her two months to get to the point where she is at and I see her looking more and more comfortable in the ring as well.”
The 2018 Superstar Shake-Up is in the books and some of WWE’s biggest stars are now on a different brand than they were the previous year.
Now having completed a Superstar Shake-Up for the second year in a row, as opposed to a full-out WWE Draft, it should be interesting to see which WWE Superstars prefer the most – a Shake-Up or the Draft?
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful is reporting that, after speaking to several WWE Superstars, he has determined that the majority prefer the Shake-Up. Sapp also reported that the WWE stars who were switching brands were told beforehand, which is something that hasn’t always been done in the past.
There have been some stories in previous cases of wrestlers finding out which brand they’d been drafted to at the same time as the audience. It was also reported that some Superstars were given the day off.
Discussion: Do you prefer the Superstar Shake-Up or the WWE Draft? Which brand got the better of this year’s Shake-Up? And what moves were you not a fan of?
The WWE is currently touring in South Africa at the moment, and it looks like they’re making fans happy even outside the ring.
Despite being in Africa; Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Titus O’Neil are still using Uber as a means for transportation. Their driver just so happened to be a WWE fan and absolutely freaked out when he realized who he’d be driving for.
The driver admitted that he watched them on TV every weekend, and also revealed a funny little tidbit about himself. It turns out that he shares the same name as former NXT Champion Sami Zayn.
Titus O’Neil caught most of their interaction with the fan on video and uploaded it to his Twitter. It’s a truly amazing and hilarious thing to watch. Check it out here below:
Dean Ambrose has been out of action since undergoing surgery to repair a torn triceps tendon back on December 19th. Dr. Jeffrey Dugas performed the procedure in Birmingham, Alabama and gave the following update to WWE.com on 12/20:
“[Dean Ambrose] tore some of the distal triceps tendon where it attaches to the forearm bone, called the olecranon. He basically tore about 50 percent of the triceps tendon away from the bone. So yesterday we repaired that back down to the bone where it tore off of. The surgery was very straightforward; we removed all of the extra bursal tissue — all of that extra swollen stuff around his elbow.”
The recovery period for this type of procedure is approximately 4-6 months, although Michael Cole mentioned on WWE television that Ambrose could be out for up to 9 months.
During a media appearance to promote this week’s WWE live events in South Africa, Seth Rollins provided an update on his former tag team partner and Shield brother. During an appearance on the KFM 94.5 radio station out of Cape Town, South Africa, Rollins sad:
“He had some pretty extensive triceps surgery earlier this year so he’s definitely still on the mend and rehabbing. But he’ll be back and better than ever, you wait. Summertime, maybe late Spring. Somewhere in there, I think, whenever that wily guy gets back to normal”
Rollins was also asked if we’d see The Shield back together when Ambrose returns. He said all 3 members of the Shield remain on good terms, but they will probably do their own thing. Rollins, Ambrose and Roman Reigns remain on the RAW brand following the Superstar Shake-Up, so the stage is set for them to appear together again by this summer.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T says he’s returning to the commentary booth this coming Monday when RAW emanates from St. Louis, Missouri.
Following the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up, there will be a lot of new faces – including Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode and more.
WWE has yet to announce a shake-up to the broadcast team, so it remains to be seen how the addition of Booker T will relate to Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman and Corey Graves.
Update: WWE RAW broadcaster Jonathan Coachman has since commented on Booker T doing commentary at Monday’s RAW. At first he was caught off guard when asked about the situation by a fan on Twitter, but clarified that he’ll be back on RAW the following week.
Thank you. I will be back in Montreal. No worries. I tell people on my show all the time you have to evolve with the times. This is a small way to do it. More/different eyeballs on both shows. That why I am honored to work for @WWE and @GolfChannel. #forwardthinking. https://t.co/gEYiZGnKfp
During his prime, there was no better high-flyer in wrestling than Rob Van Dam. As today is April 20th, a celebrated day amongst marijuana enthusiasts, it has become a popular day for Rob Van Dam to make media appearances. RVD has shared through his social media channels that you can hear him on a popular podcast later today and check out a collection of his matches on the FITE App.
Conrad Thompson and Bruce Pritchard of the “Something to Wrestle With Podcast” decided April 20th was the perfect day to bring RVD on as a guest. The 4-hour session with Rob Van Dam will be released at noon today.
— Conrad the Mortgage Guy (@HeyHeyItsConrad) April 20, 2018
Rob Van Dam in 2018
RVD is still wrestling these days, though he doesn’t keep a full schedule. He’s a regular for Pacific Coast Wrestling which operates out of California. His last match for the promotion was on March 18th when he unsuccessfully challenged Pentagon for the promotion’s heavyweight championship.
PCW is releasing a collection of Rob Van Dam’s matches in the promotion through the Fite App today to celebrate 4/20:
On 4/20: watch "RVD’s Greatest Hits” on @FiteTV See the highest flyer in the game, @TherealRVD, in some of his greatest @PCWULTRA matches!
RVD is a former PCW champion, having held the title for 202 days between November 2016 and June 2017. Pentagon was the promotion’s inaugural champion, having defeated Brian Cage in the finals of a tournament. He lost the title 3 months later to RVD.
RVD would successfully defend the title against Willie Mack and MVP before dropping it to John Hennigan. As for Hennigan, he would defend the title 3x before losing it. Hennigan defeated Pentagon, Jeff Cobb, and Brian Cage. He’d lose the title to Pentagon at the Refuse to Lose event, however. His only title defense came recently against RVD.
The 47-year-old Rob Van Dam also wrestled frequently for the now-defunct 5-Star Wrestling promotion based out of Liverpool. The short-lived promotion brought in several big names for their events, including Rey Mysterio Jr and Jake Hager (FKA Jack Swagger).
Ahead of tonight’s MLW FUSION premiere on beIN SPORTS, beIN has uploaded the finals of the recent MLW World Heavyweight Championship tournament.
Below, watch “King of Bros” Matt Riddle and Shane “Swerve” Strickland battle it out to crown a new MLW World Heavyweight Champion.
It was the culmination of a months-long tournament, which saw Strickland defeat Brody King & Jimmy Havoc and Riddle best Jeff Cobb and ACH en route to the finals.
MLW FUSION is a new weekly 1-hour broadcast featuring Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini on commentary. As the name suggests, FUSION will feature a hybrid of pro wrestling styles bringing together some of the top talent from across the world.
In addition to Strickland and Riddle, MLW’s growing roster includes Jake Hager, MVP, Low Ki, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Jimmy Havoc, Barrington Hughes, Maxwell Jacob Friedman and many more.
FUSION will air each Friday night at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on beIN SPORTS.
Scott Steiner was on Impact Wrestling’s recent media call to promote Sunday’s Redemption PPV. Steiner is scheduled to team with Eli Drake to challenge LAX for the tag-team championships on the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duQdjlbZWXs
Scott Steiner Promotes Redemption
As is usually the case with Scott Steiner interviews, he had plenty to say on several topics.
Transcriptions courtesy of Cageside Seats:
“Konnan’s gonna be doing what he always did in WCW after we finish this match. He’s gonna be carrying my bags and shining my belt. Maybe my shoes, too. Actually, he might come and cut my grass. I might have all three of them do it, really. I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet,” Steiner said in reference to Konnan, who will manage LAX on Sunday.
“They will be with Konnan, cutting my grass. I actually have a tee spot on my lawn where I need to be putting, so they better be just right. I hate golf. But they better cut my grass right. That’s what I don’t understand. Why does Trump want to keep out all the Mexicans, but who’s going to cut the grass? Seriously. I mean, that’s a legitimate question.”
Scott Steiner Goes Off on Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan
Scott Steiner does not like Hulk Hogan. This has been clear for some time but Steiner re-iterated it again during the media call:
“The beginning was the most profitable time at TNA, as far as viewership, making money, merchandise and all that stuff combined. Unfortunately, that led to the next incarnation, which was working for dumba** Dixie Carter, that brought in the racist Hulk Hogan and all those other guys. That’s what killed it. Of course, I’ve let my feelings be known, and she put a lawsuit on me, because of the stuff I was saying on Twitter about Hogan.”
Impact Wrestling’s Redemption takes place Sunday, April 22nd, 2018 from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.
There was an incident over WrestleMania weekend where Harry Smith (Davey Boy Smith Jr) is alleged to have thrown a cup of coffee in the face of Jake “the Snake” Roberts. The incident is said to have happened during WrestleCon.
New Orleans Police are now looking for Smith according to Pro Wrestling Sheet. A representative for the New Orleans Police Department issued the following statement:
“The NOPD is investigating a simple battery incident that occurred on April 7, 2018 in the 500 block of Canal Street. The victim told police that at about 11 a.m., he was signing autographs at the location when he was approached by a known subject, later identified as Harry Smith (DOB: 08-02-1985). The victim told police he attempted to shake hands with Smith, at which time a verbal argument ensued. Smith then allegedly threw a cup of coffee at the victim’s face and fled the scene. No major injuries were reported by the victim.”
This is technically the remnants of a feud which began with Jake and Harry’s father in the 1980s. Roberts has made public disparaging comments about Smith’s father. Davey Boy Smith Sr. and his partner, the Dynamite Kid, had a reputation for being bullies. Several wrestlers from the era have spoken out against their actions during this period.
Roberts has told a story of how the Bulldogs used to throw lit cigarettes at his snake to upset him. In retaliation to this, Jake fed Matilda (the Bulldogs pet bulldog) food laced with laxatives. When prompted, Jake is not shy about sharing his hatred for the now-deceased Davey Boy Smith Sr.
Shortly after the incident, Davey Boy Smith Jr. admitted to WrestleZone that he confronted Jake at WrestleCon. Smith says he asked Jake to apologize for the negative comments he made about his father. According to Smith, Jake offered to shake his hand but refused to apologize for his comments or step outside to fight the much younger Smith. After Jake told the member of the Killer Elite Squad to “F Off”, Smith says he threw the coffee in his face.
The New Orleans Police Department is asking anyone with knowledge of the incident to contact them.
Ricochet began wrestling house show and dark matches for NXT back in February. He then participated in the amazing ladder match at Takeover: New Orleans as his first-ever televised match with the promotion. It hasn’t taken long for Ricochet’s talents to be noticed by one of the all-time greats.
Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, whose movie “Rampage” is currently in theatres, had this to say regarding NXT’s newest superstar recently:
He’s the man! Love the stuff King is doing and will no doubt be the leader in ushering in a new era of our wrestling business. Future champ.
It’s not the first time the box office megastar has heaped praise on Ricochet. Back in the summer of 2016, The Rock posted a message on Instagram calling Ricochet “incredibly gifted” and warning him to stay away from backstage politics.
Ricochet’s Career Up To Now
The 29-year-old Ricochet has long been on WWE’s radar. A lengthy contract term with Lucha Underground, however, prevented him from signing with the company until recently.
Trevor Mann began his pro-wrestling career by moving up the independent rankings quickly. He made his debut as a teenager for Chikara and a couple of years later moved on to compete with Evolve and Dragon Gate as well. In 2010, Ricochet began competed for Pro Wrestling Guerilla too.
He made his first appearance in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2013. In his time with the promotion, he won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament (2014), the Super Junior Tag Tournament (w/ Matt Sydal in 2015), and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag-Team titles on 3 occasions (2x with Sydal and once with Ryusuke Taguchi). Surprisingly, he never won the company’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
In 2014, Ricochet signed with Lucha Underground. At the time, the company was signing performers to 7-season long contracts, though they have since gone back on these types of commitments. His Lucha Underground contract prevented him from appearing on television for other promotions. He was even prevented from appearing on the first NJPW show in Long Beach last summer.
Ricochet was officially declared a free agent after Lucha Underground’s 3rd season finished airing. During his time with Lucha Underground, he became the promotion’s first-ever World Champion. As the character, Prince Puma, he was to be the promotion’s first top babyface performer.
Kacy Catanzaro made her debut at an NXT house show in Sanford, Florida last night. She lost to another female prospect, Reina Gonzalez.
From 2014-2016, Catanzaro competed on the 6th, 7th, and 9th seasons of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”. She eventually earned a reputation as the greatest female competitor in the show’s history.
Before the American Ninja Warrior, Catanzaro was a Division I gymnist with the University of Towson, Maryland. She received a tryout with WWE at the Performance Center in January of 2017. WWE announced she had signed with the company during the Mae Young Classic last summer.
Here are the full results from last night’s NXT house show in Sanford, Florida:
Reina Gonzales defeated Kacy Catanzaro
Lio Rush w/Babatunde Aiyegbusi defeated Kona Reeves
Dakota Kai & Steffanie Newell defeated Aliyah & Kavita Devi
Adrian Jaoude, Cezar Bononi, & Taynara Conti defeated Big Boa, Rocky, & Xia Li
Ember Moon defeated Vanessa Borne
the Authors of Pain defeated TM-61
** Babatunde Aiyegbusi is a 6ft10 355lbs former football player who signed with WWE in 2016. He appears to be managing the much smaller Lio Rush.
Kacy Catanzaro in NXT Women’s Division
With the recent call-ups of the Iiconics and Ember Moon, it has left a hole in NXT women’s roster. It was also only back in November when 5 other NXT women (Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, & Sonya Deville) were called up as well. This leaves the door open for Performance Center trainees, like Catanzaro, to get an opportunity.
Currently the female performers who are used on NXT television are:
NXT Women’s Champion: Shayna Baszler
Kairi Sane
Nikki Cross
Candice LeRae
Dakota Kai
Bianca Belair
Aliyah
Lacey Evans
Vanessa Borne
There are also several female performers who work on the NXT house show circuit but do not appear on NXT televsion.
Tonight (4/20), Major League Wrestling’s new weekly television series Fusion premieres on beIN SPORTS. MLW Fusion will feature top ranked wrestlers from around the world competing for championship gold, creating a unique fusion of styles.
The 1-hour broadcasts will premiere at 8pm (Eastern) each Friday night and will replay at 11pm. The action will be called by Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini. This marks Tony Schiavone’s return to national television for the first time since the demise of WCW in 2001.
MLW has been creating a lot of noise since the promotion re-launched last fall. Following the success of their live events from Orlando, Florida at Gilt Nightclub, the company recently announced this national TV deal and crowned a new World Heavyweight Champion. We’re covering MLW here on the site because we love the product and believe it has the potential to be a viable alternative to WWE, ROH and Impact Wrestling.
BeIN SPORTS is available in over 50 million households across the United States via traditional cable providers Verizon Fios, Dish Network, DirecTV, and AT&T Uverse. The channel can also be accessed via “over the top” streaming via SlingTV, FuboTV and Yip. Check out the guide below to find out how you can watch MLW Fusion each week (click to enlarge).
