WWE kicked off WrestleMania weekend last night with a show from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
The event featured the 1st round matches in the Axxess title tournaments. WWE is holding tournaments over WrestleMania weekend to crown new contenders in the NXT tag-team, North American, United Kingdom, and NXT Women’s divisions.
Additionally, NXT Superstar, Kassius Ohno, challenged Keith Lee for the WWN title.
Results from WrestleMania Axxess Night 1
WWN Title Match
Keith Lee (c) defeats Kassius Ohno
WWE NXT Tag Team Title Invitation First Round Match
Trent Seven & Tyler Bate defeat Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli
WWE NXT North American Title Invitation First Round Match
Fabian Aichner defeats Jason Kincaid
WWE NXT Women’s Title Invitation First Round Match
Nikki Cross defeats Aliyah
WWE United Kingdom Title Invitation First Round Match
Lio Rush defeats Buddy Murphy
WWE NXT Tag Team Title Invitation First Round Match
Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) defeat Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi
WWE United Kingdom Title Invitation First Round Match
Drew Gulak defeats Dan Matha
WWE NXT North American Title Invitation First Round Match
Akira Tozawa defeats Kona Reeves
WWE NXT Women’s Title Invitation First Round Match
Kairi Sane defeats Bianca Belair
Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler will be calling matches at WrestleMania 34. They won’t be the only additional commentators WWE brings in for the event as well.
WWE announced the guest commentary schedule for Sunday at the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff show yesterday
Guest Commentators at WrestleMania
Beth Phoenix, who participated in the 1st ever women’s Royal Rumble, will do commentary for the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
Ross and Lawler will call the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal which is scheduled to take place on the Kickoff show along with the Women’s Battle Royal and Cruiserweight Championship match.
Additionally, Shawn Michaels was announced as joining Renee Young on the pre-show panel. WWE also hinted yesterday there would be some surprise guest commentators as well.
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans will air this Saturday night at 8 PM ET on the WWE Network. There will also be a one hour Kickoff Show before the event. Join us on SEScoops for live coverage of NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on this Saturday.
Johnny Gargano will look to get his revenge on Tommaso Ciampa in an Unsanctioned match. Andrade “Cien” Almas will defend the NXT Championship against Aleister Black. EC3, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole and Ricochet will battle in a Ladder match to crown the first NXT North American Champion.
In front of a SOLD OUT crowd @SmoothieKingCtr, we take over New Orleans:
Black v. Almas Ember v. Shayna Gargano v. Ciampa AOP v. Undisputed ERA v. Dunne & Strong EC3 v. Dain v. Velveteen v. Lars v. Cole v. Ricochet
Undisputed Era will defend their NXT Tag Team Championships in a Triple Threat match against The Authors of Pain and Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong. Ember Moon will once again defend the NXT Women’s Championship against Shayna Baszler.
Here are 5 predictions for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans:
Undisputed Era Will Retain The NXT Tag Titles
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Bobby Fish has not been medically cleared to compete at NXT TakeOver: Orleans. Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly tried to weasel their way out of defending the titles on Saturday night by interfering in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. Cole and O’Reilly attacked Dunne, Strong and The Authors of Pain and the match ended in a double disqualification. NXT GM William Regal came down to the entrance ramp and announced that Undisputed Era will now defend their titles against both teams in a Triple Threat match.
The Authors of Pain have been ready to join the main roster for some time now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them show up on SmackDown or RAW during WWE’s Superstar Shake-Up following WrestleMania 34. Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong are a new team that have been impressive so far. Dunne is currently the United Kingdom Champion and I don’t see him staying in a team with Roderick Strong much longer. It just makes sense for Undisputed Era to retain and for them to enter a new feud after NXT TakeOver: New Orleans.
Shayna Baszler Will Become The New NXT Women’s Champion
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Ember Moon successfully defended the NXT Women’s Championship against Shayna Baszler at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on January 27th. Baszler controlled the majority of the match and focused her attack on Moon’s injured left arm. Moon was able to counter an Arm Bar with a roll-up to escape with the victory.
Baszler was granted her rematch on the February 14th episode of NXT. Shayna picked up the win via DQ after Kairi Sane interfered. Shayna had Moon in an Arm Bar in the metal barricade outside the ring and wouldn’t let go. Sane had seen enough and came down for the save.
Shayna Baszler is ready for the belt and I also think Ember Moon is ready to join the main roster. Their first NXT TakeOver match was very entertaining and I’m expecting an even better match between these two Superstars on Saturday night.
Velveteen Dream Will Capture The NXT North American Championship
Photo Credit: WWE.com
On the March 28th episode of NXT, GM William Regal announced the North American Championship. EC3 made his debut during the same segment and just assumed that Regal was gifting him the title. Regal stated that everything is earned in NXT and gave EC3 an opportunity to earn the title at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. Cole, Dain, Sullivan, Dream and Ricochet were also added to the Ladder match throughout the night.
A case could be made for any of these 6 Superstars to become the first NXT North American Champion. It would be a hell of start in NXT for either EC3 or Ricochet to win the titles. Undisputed Era would become even more powerful if Adam Cole was able to walk out of New Orleans with the belt. Both Dain and Sullivan have been impressive in NXT and absolutely deserve to have the gold around their waist. However, I think Velveteen Dream would make the most interesting champion right now. His character is incredibly unique and he has become very popular amongst NXT fans. Velveteen Dream is already full of himself, I’d love to see how he acts after he becomes NXT North American Champion.
Tommaso Ciampa Will End Johnny Gargano’s NXT Career
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Tommaso Ciampa betrayed Johnny Gargano following DIY’s loss last May at NXT TakeOver: Chicago. Ciampa then missed a substantial amount of time and Gargano became a star as a singes competitor. Gargano put on an absolute classic with Andrade “Cien” Almas at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. Gargano came up just short and lost his opportunity at the NXT Championship.
After the match, Gargano was comforted by his wife, Candice LaRae on the entrance ramp. The crowd cheered him on as Gargano was clearly heartbroken after the defeat. Ciampa returned and struck Gargano in the back with his crutch. Ciampa would then cost Gargano his spot on the NXT roster and his title rematch on the February 21st episode of NXT.
Ciampa has spent the past few weeks on NXT coming down to the ring and getting frustrated that the crowd was booing him. Gargano blended in with the crowd and attacked Ciampa on the March 21st episode of NXT. Ciampa would then confront NXT GM William Regal about the situation. Regal stated that Ciampa will face Gargano at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in an Unsanctioned match. If Tommaso wins, Johnny Gargano is gone from NXT for good.
I’m expecting this match to be full of emotion and ultimately turn into a war between Ciampa and Gargano. This in an Unsanctioned match, so absolutely anything goes. I want to see tables, chairs, kendo sticks and whatever else these two can grab from under the ring. It should be an incredibly fun match to watch. Ciampa is already hated by NXT fans for what he has done to Gargano. If he ends Gargano’s NXT career, he would instantly become the biggest heel on the show.
Aleister Black Will Become The New NXT Champion
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Andrade “Cien” Almas will defend the NXT Championship against Aleister Black this Saturday night at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. Zelina Vega signed the contract to make the match official on the March 14th episode of NXT. Almas didn’t show up and Black took at is an opportunity to poke fun at him. Almas then attacked Aleister Black in the parking lot on the March 28th episode of NXT.
I have very high expectations for this match. Aleister Black is an absolute rock star in NXT and Almas has raised his game to a whole new level. Zelina Vega has been the perfect manager for Almas and she will most likely attack Aleister Black during this match. I just think it is Aleister Black’s time to become NXT Champion right now. Almas has had a great run with the title since taking it from Drew McIntyre last year at NXT WarGames.
The outcome of this match really doesn’t matter to me. Almas could retain due to outside interference and I’d be fine with it. I cannot envision a scenario where Aleister Black isn’t the NXT Champion in the near future if he loses on Saturday night. The real prediction for this match is that it is going to be absolutely amazing. Every match on the card for NXT TakeOver: New Orleans has the potential to be special.
The Rock is currently on a media tour to promote his new film “Rampage.” It just so happens his old WrestleMania foe, John Cena, is doing to same to promote his own movie “Blockers.” The Great One recently made an appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and was asked about Cena’s Hollywood success.
Rock was asked if he and The Leader Of The Cenation have any real tension with one another, because although they feuded in the WWE, the rivalry wasn’t real. The former WWE Champion actually corrected Kimmel and revealed some real issues he had with Cena:
“In the world of wrestling, as you guys know, it’s fictionalized, it’s a TV show. But we had our rivalry, and now we can look back on it, it was so real. Like, we had real problems with each other,” Johnson said. “We had real issues with each other.
“Now… he’s one of my best friends,” Johnson said. “We talk all the time, I’m rooting for him to win.”
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss recently did an interview with TV Insider to promote her WrestleMania 34 title defense against Nia Jax. Bliss first discussed her appreciation for WWE’s creative team and not knowing how she’ll make her WrestleMania entrance yet:
“Our creative team is awesome. They always take our suggestions for entrances. We always try to work with them because sometimes they have some ideas for us or sometimes there are no ideas at all. So, we just have to mesh together and be open to suggestions on both ends. Our creative teams and writing teams are always great about that.”
Little Miss Bliss then talked about her feud with Nia Jax and their build-up to their bout in New Orleans:
“It has been a very real road with Nia. We both have struggled with image issues in the past. So, it’s a very real subject that we are bringing to light with mine and Nia’s story. I think because it’s an actual issue, people can relate. There are people who are bullied or are bullies.
“I think it’s one of those things that people are going to be invested in our story because it’s real and there is real emotion behind it. People know that me and Nia up to this point were best friends, which they’ve seen through Monday Night Raw and Total Divas. Now our storyline is more personal; I think that is what getting people into what we are doing.”
The RAW Women’s Champ then offered her thoughts on ex-UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey joining the roster:
“I’ve always said that if anyone can legitimize the fan’s perception of what we do, I think it’s Ronda. Everyone knows she has made a name for herself in UFC and had this division built around her. She has done all these amazing things, but to see her train and struggle and do the grind of what we do, I think it gives people more appreciation for what we do. For many, Ronda is it. I think it’s great that we have her, and I think it’s what our ‘Women’s Revolution’ needs.”
You can read Bliss’ full interview with TV Insider by clicking this link here.
Roman Reigns recently did an interview with The New York Post to promote his Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar this weekend in New Orleans at WrestleMania 34. Reigns was first asked about Paul Heyman saying Brock Lesnar will most likely return to UFC after WrestleMania:
“Not only will it help fuel this fire between Brock and I, it will get some truth that needs to be said a little bit. Some people need to hear this stuff because this has kind of been a thing. Brock’s not the only part-time guy. But there are a lot of full-time guys that are never gonna, as a collective, reach our potentials if we are dominated in this portion of the year by part-time guys.”
The Big Dog also explained why business is better within WWE when the company has a full-time World Champion:
“Whenever you have a champion who is on every single live event, every single house show, every single appearance that’s scheduled, it changes numbers. It’s true. I’ve seen it before. The tour we had after I beat Triple H in Dallas [at WrestleMania 32] the numbers didn’t lie and it’s not going to be any different [this time].”
Reigns then described how huge a victory over Lesnar on The Grandest Stage Of Them All would be for his career:
“It wouldn’t only be huge for me. It would be huge for this whole locker room. This is a team thing that we do and I represent this new generation.”
You can read Reigns’ full interview with The New York Post by clicking this link here.
– WWE posted the following WrestleMania Diary video on their YouTube channel of 2018 Hall Of Fame inductee Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett did an interview with The Midday 180 on Nashville’s 104.5 The Zone:
– Below are videos of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon arriving in New Orleans for their Mixed Tag Team match against Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 34 this weekend. Check it out:
– WWE posted a clip from WWE Network’s “Ride Along,” featuring Jinder Mahal and Sunil Singh. Mahal discussed the formation of Three Man Band (3MB) and said he believes the faction will return one day as a dominant one:
WWE Superstar John Cena recently did an interview with Collider to promote his new film, “Blockers.” The Leader Of The Cenation discussed how comfortable he’s getting with comedic acting:
“I think a lot of that is being comfortable with the people around you and being comfortable with the material. Even if it’s not your sense of humor, you have to understand the humor. I also know that a lot of the humor rests on me looking like an idiot, so I’m okay with that. I’m okay with looking like an idiot.
“Some people don’t go there, but I don’t care. You have to get the perspective of funny people and not have any reservations on looking like a dumb-ass. I just trusted Kay and trusted my co-workers, and hoped that she then put it together well.”
If he ever imagined that he’d be butt-chugging, as his character does on the film:
“No, but I couldn’t have imagined any of this. I couldn’t have imagined that I’d have a WWE match and they’d give me money for it. This is not supposed to happen. For me to digest that moment, the moment is essentially that this dude will do anything for his daughter, and then he gets called out on it. He’s a guy who’s a man of his word. He will do anything for his daughter. Not only does that statement mean something, but he genuinely means it.
“It’s funny as hell. You’ll laugh out loud. But if you wanna talk about a vulnerable moment for a dude who’s built like a brick shithouse, to be humbled and humiliated in front of a part full of people because he’s worried about a bad decision his daughter may or may not make, that’s where I get the depth of shoving a beer up my butt.
“Everybody has their own process, but that’s why it’s funny and that’s why I’ll do it. It fits in the movie. It’s not just, “Hey, so we have this gag and we wanna do the gag.” There’s meaning behind it.”
He also commented on the reception that the movie has been receiving thus far:
“My goodness, of course! We saw it at SXSW, which is an amazing place to premiere a movie, and people were laughing so hard that they missed a lot of the punchlines. They were laughing over five jokes. You wanna stand there and be like, “Guys, be quiet!,” but at the same time, you don’t because they’re laughing at moments.
“Moments outlive punchlines. The punchlines will lose their luster, after awhile, but people were laughing at the outrageous moments of the movie, and that sets something up for long-term success. They’ll just have to go back and see it again.”
You can read Cena’s full interview with Collider by clicking this link here.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) star Cody Rhodes recently did an interview with NOLA.com to promote this weekend’s Supercard Of Honor XII event. Rhodes first commented on his feud with Kenny Omega:
“I spend more time with those guys. I put in way more work than Kenny, who has the reputation of having some of the best matches in the world, but that’s a lot easier to do when you barely ever wrestle. The issue has been Kenny not going quietly into the night. We thought it would be easy for me to beat up Kenny Omega with Crossroads and leave him lying, and I would be the leader of the Bullet Club. But Kenny is not giving up the position, the title easily.”
The former WWE Intercontinental Champion then explained why his upcoming match with Omega is important:
“Whether there were tensions or whether this was a cold match, it still holds the same importance because it’s the very first time Kenny and I have ever squared off in singles competition. It was a match people have asked for for a number of years. We weren’t getting close to it because we were both members of the Bullet Club.
“There’s been tension, but this match is very important to the wrestling community. His star has risen from his performances, his stellar matches that he has had in Japan, and here in the States as well. He should be very proud of what he’s been able to accomplish.”
In regards to a possible return to WWE, Rhodes really can’t see that happening for him anytime soon:
“It’s always safe to say never say never. But … no. Only because we’ve taken on such a project with All In. Wrestling is currently going through a revolution. It’s less about the brand and more about the talent and their fans. That’s my focus. I don’t think I really could belong anywhere ever again. I make Ring of Honor my home team these days, but I still play my music how I want to play it. I had a great time in WWE. I had multiple singles matches at WrestleMania.
“Met my wife there. It was a really wonderful place to grow up. It’s the house that built me. But also, it’s where I learned the fundamentals of this industry, which have led me to seek it outside WWE. The wrestling that I love the most doesn’t happen there. It’s not a knock on them. It’s just the wrestling that I love the most, is out there in the world. And that’s where I tend to be these days.”
You can read Rhodes’ full interview with NOLA.com by clicking this link here.
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss has made a big splash ever since she was called up to the main roster two years ago from NXT. While she never held the NXT Women’s Title during her time in the developmental brand, she was mainly used as a manager for Blake and Murphy, who went onto have a run as the NXT Tag Team Champions. With her not having a big push in NXT, some fans had their doubts about “Five Feet of Fury” when she was called up to SmackDown Live. However, she made her doubters wrong when she blasted on the scene while in the women’s division on the blue brand and would go onto hold the SmackDown Women’s Title as well as the RAW Title.
Bliss recently spoke with Newsweek to promote WrestleMania 34. During the interview, she was asked about how NXT helped her and working with Mickie James. “I think my biggest takeaway from NXT was learning the process. What goes into the business, the culture. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. That’s the biggest thing I took from NXT, and how to have the work ethic to not only be on the road but to succeed on the road.” “It’s so different working with Mickie now than when we were on SmackDown. When Mickie came back to WWE, we didn’t know each other. It was a new friendship on-camera. We got to know each other and we’ve been working together for a year now and it’s a lot more fun.”
Bliss is slated to defend her RAW Women’s Title against Nia Jax at WrestleMania 34, which is a match that has been slowly but surely built upon the RAW brand. “I’m excited, it’ll be amazing because it’ll be the first time a Women’s Championship match happens at WrestleMania in like 11 years and we will have two. With Nia, it’ll be different because it’s personal. Former best friends, we have emotions going into it. For me, all the matches leading up to it have been strictly competition, for a title or an opportunity at a title. But this time it’s personal and it’ll be different from any match I’ve had before.”
There will be a special commentary team for one match at WrestleMania 34.
WWE has announced that WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross, Jerry “The King” Lawler and Beth Phoenix will be providing commentary for the Women’s Battle Royal Match at the upcoming event.
Sasha Banks, Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Natalya, Bayley, Lana, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, and Carmella have been announced to compete in the match.
WrestleMania 34 is set to be held on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network.
It’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. Both RAW and SmackDown rosters will be featured.
There has been a ton of speculation on whether or not The Undertaker will return under his American Badass gimmick at WrestleMania 34 this weekend. Taker is expected to confront John Cena, who has been calling him out for the past several weeks on RAW, however it’s unknown if the pair will have a match or not.
In a recent episode of Busted Open Radio, former WWE Champion Chris Jericho explained why he doesn’t think the gimmick will be returning this weekend:
“American Bad Ass is a pretty cool character, and Taker loves it, but guess which character Vince McMahon loves? It’s the Undertaker, Vince’s greatest creation. I’ll be the devil’s advocate to you guys – I would feel a little disappointed if it was the American Bad Ass, because I love the Undertaker, and I love that entrance, and you’ve been out there when you hear that bell and the druids chanting – it’s second to none.
“There’s never been an entrance like that in wrestling, in my opinion, and we’ve been waiting for it, teasing for it, for so much I feel if it was the American Bad Ass it would be a little bit of a downer – for me.”
“Your fanbase is a little bit more of a knowledgeable fan base, a little bit more of a hardcore fan base I would venture to say. Where you have 70,000 people in the Superdome where 60,000 of them don’t even remember what the American Bad Ass is? We haven’t spoken of the American Bad Ass, we haven’t had any video packages or any recollections of that guy, you would have a bunch of people going ‘What is this?’ in my opinion.
“Once again, I think that it’s a really cool debating point if you know wrestling and you’re a giant wrestling fan and you’ve been watching since 2000. There’s a lot of people who just started watching over the last three or four or five years, a lot John Cena fans that don’t know what happened in 2000.
“So, once again, in my opinion, the hardcores would like to see it cause it’s something different, whereas your general, average wrestling fan will go nuts when the Undertaker’s music hits and I think, I’m a 100% certain, that it’s gonna be the Undertaker at WrestleMania, and not the American Bad Ass.”
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has announced that former WWE Tag Team Champion Paul London will no longer be able to appear at their Newcastle show on April 15th due to injury. London was scheduled to challenge for the ICW World Championship against Undisputed Champion BT Gunn.
ICW has now announced the replacement for Newcastle and it has kicked the event up by quite a notch…former PROGRESS World/Tag Team Champion Mark Haskins will now be taking on Gunn for a chance to add the Insane Championship title to his impressive run on top of the UK scene.
Tickets for the event in Newcastle are available to purchase now via Ticketmaster.
The announcement of Daniel Bryan’s return to WWE in a competitive capacity has kicked the excitement of the road to WrestleMania into high gear. In previous years, the road to WrestleMania has been a mixed bag, but the late addition of Daniel Bryan to the card has all but guaranteed this year’s show will be one to remember.
The prospect of a healthy Daniel Bryan presents countless ‘dream match’ scenarios. Aside from “I can’t believe this is really happening” battles against likes of The Miz, Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar – we’re taking a look at 3
Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy was once touted as the next big megastar in WWE, whilst his run as WWE Champion left a lot to be desired and his personal issues caused a massive rift between himself and the company he is now seemingly back (pending any fallout from his recent legal issues). Although Hardy is technically a RAW Superstar there is definitely sense in moving him over to the Blue brand potentially alongside his ‘Broken’ brother Matt.
Hardy’s experience and penchant for the extreme could mesh well with the more technical style of Bryan, assuming that Bryan will venture more into a mat based style to appease any looming doubts from WWE’s top brass. This could be an extremely intriguing bout between two veteran performers who stood near the top of the mountain in their own ‘eras’ and could be a perfect ‘left field’ bout to give Bryan between some of these mega dream matches.
Neville
Neville
We have not seen the ‘King of The Cruiserweights’ for a long time…but there is no reason to expect anything other than a return to a WWE ring for the UK Superstar in the near future. This could be great way to transition Neville into the ‘Heavyweight’ division, giving him the opportunity to over-power the beloved Bryan and continue to establish his villainous persona on the main roster shows of either Smackdown or RAW.
This could be a technical masterclass from two stars who have worked across the UK, Europe and Japan and could essentially elevate Neville to the ranks of upper mid carder…somewhere he could thrive.
Pete Dunne
The WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne has a lot in common with NXT General Manager William Regal, a man who had some exceptional matches with Daniel Bryan in his career. Whilst the comparisons to Regal are well earned it is important to remember that the young UK Superstar has a huge amount of upside potential and has been crafting his ‘Bruiserweight’ persona across the United Kingdom for PROGRESS, ICW and Rev Pro et al for the past several years in his own right.
This has ‘technical masterpiece’ written all over it, a real chance to show that Dunne can ‘go’ on the biggest stages and having him compete against a star the stature of Bryan would do wonders for his career. Out of the three matches listed this would be the least likely but certainly the most important in terms of helping to build upon the creation of a new star.
Who would you like Bryan to face? Let us know in the comments.
EVOLVE, PWG and PROGRESS Star Keith Lee tweeted earlier today to confirm his status following a car accident. The man who asks you to ‘Bask in His Glory’ stated: “Yes. I was in a car accident earlier today. Thank you all for the concern and support. But There is NO WAY I miss ANY matches this weekend!”
Lee is currently scheduled to face NXT Superstar Kassius Ohno at WrestleMania Axxess amid rumors that he will heading to the company in the near future, Lee has denied that he has signed a contract. Another man who will be facing Ohno this weekend will be WALTER, who is also slated to be heading to WWE in the near future but again has denied that a contract has been signed.
Keith Lee will also be appearing at several independent events over the weekend, make sure you’re following him on Twitter for further updates:
Just wanted to chime in. Yes. I was in a car accident earlier today. Thank you for all the concern and support.
But there is NO WAY I miss ANY matches this weekend!
And for further positivity, @DonovanDijak found me a decent place to eat! Thanks bro! Off to Bourbon St.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay has confirmed that he will be performing in New Orleans this weekend as part of the massive independent shows surrounding WrestleMania.
The UK sensation took part in a hellacious bout with longtime rival Marty Scurll last weekend as part of New Japan’s Sakura Genesis event which saw him land awkwardly on his head following a One Man Spanish Fly from the ring apron to the floor. The match garnered a 5 Star review from journalist Dave Meltzer.
You can catch the ‘Aerial Assassin’ at the following events this weekend:
April 5th: Evolve & WrestleCon
April 6th: PROGRESS, RPW & WWN
April 7th: PROGRESS & CZW
Any fans attending any of the shows I’m on a have so much merch including the “Ospreay vs Louisiana” shirt.
Come over say hello and help me pay the fines ?
— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) April 4, 2018
WWE announced earlier this week that Axxess would feature Four Invitational tournaments taking place over three days: Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th and would feature stars from across WWE’s NXT, 205 Live and United Kingdom rosters. The winners of these tournaments would go on to face their respective title’s Champions on WrestleMania Sunday.
One of the more interesting inclusions can be found in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Invitational, which sees UK star Zack Gibson making his way to NOLA and WWE for the first time as an announced Superstar.
Gibson is one of the most well respected performers in the United Kingdom, his run for the now defunct 5 Star Wrestling arguably stole the show on every live televised programme and his performances for PROGRESS, Futureshock, OTT and ICW have made him one of the most in demand wrestlers across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales…in fact Gibson challenged for the United Kingdom Championship earlier this year against Pete Dunne for Futureshock Wrestling.
The other names announced for the UK Invitational are as follows:
Irish and UK based promotion Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has announced the main event for their stacked Scrappermania IV card that takes place on May 12th from the National Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.
The OTT Heavyweight Champion and member of the WWE United Kingdom roster Jordan Devlin will be putting his title on the line against New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Zack Sabre Jr. Whilst ZSJ is predominately known for this appearances across the UK scene his recent run in NJPW and bout for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship has pushed him into another tier of superstar, garnering him worldwide acclaim. Devlin, who was trained in Ireland by mentor and former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor was one of the featured stars in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament. He is expected to return to the roster when the WWE returns to the UK in December this year.
Here’s the announced matches for May 12th:
Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Keith Lee vs. Minoru Suzuki
Matt Riddle vs. Will Ospreay
Charlie Sterling & Zack Gibson (c) vs. The Angel Cruzers (Angel Cruz & B. Cool)
PROGRESS has released a brand new Original feature on UK Wrestling icon Doug Williams.
As well as being featured on shows across the UK and Europe over the past 25 years, Doug has been an X-Division, TNA Television, TNA World Tag Team, IWGP Tag Team and Ring of Honor Pure Champion.
The film entitled ‘Tightrope’ is available to view now on YouTube and it focuses on Doug’s incredible career during an interview with PROGRESS co-owner Glen Joseph. It follows Williams before and during an independent show in the UK leading up to a bout with former PROGRESS World Champion Mark Haskins. If you’re a fan of UK wrestling then this is an absolute MUST SEE. Check it out via the tweet below:
WWE is pulling out all of the stops for their upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble event. The sports entertainment company will be holding the show at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday, April 27. For the first time ever, the Royal Rumble match will feature 50 WWE Superstars.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is trying to get The Undertaker and Chris Jericho for the show.
Triple H vs. John Cena in a singles match, The Hardys vs. RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar and a Ladder Match with Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz have already been confirmed for the event. Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, The New Day, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Shinsuke Nakamura have already been announced for the show.
The Greatest Royal Rumble Kickoff will stream live on WWE Network at a special start time of 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT with the event airing one hour later.
The updated betting odds for the WWE Wrestlemania 34 pay-per-view event have been released. WrestleMania 34 is set to be held on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network. It’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. Both Raw and SmackDown rosters will be featured. Here are the updated odds, according to BetWrestling.com:
Singles Match: The Undertaker -400 vs John Cena +250
Tag Team Match: Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon -155 vs Kevin Owens +110
WWE Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) +600 vs Roman Reigns -1200 WWE Championship: AJ Styles(c) +295 vs Shinsuke Nakamura -415 Raw Women’s Championship: Alexa Bliss (c) +270 vs Nia Jax -390 Smackdown Women’s Championship: Charlotte (c) +550 vs Asuka -1050 Intercontinental Championship – Triple Threat Match: The Miz (c) +280 vs Finn Balor -185 vs Seth Rollins +360 United States Championship: Randy Orton (c) -200 vs Rusev +140 vs Jinder Mahal +250 vs Bobby Roode +500 Mixed Tag Team Match: Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey -530 vs Triple H & Shane McMahon +350 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Elias -140 vs Dolph Ziggler +400 vs Big Cass +400 vs Samoa Joe +400 vs. Kane +600 vs Baron Corbin +800 vs Matt Hardy +1200 vs Tye Dillinger +2500 Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal: Sasha Banks +160 vs Becky Lynch +125 vs Bayley +300 WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: Cesaro & Sheamus (c) +200 vs Braun Strowman & Partner -295 Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Usos (c) +140 vs The New Day +275 vs The Bludgeon Brothers -134 Cruiserweight Championship Tournament Final: Cedric Alexander -295 vs Mustafa Ali +200
UFC President Dana White has officially confirmed that not only will Phil “CM Punk” Brooks get another fight in the largest MMA promotion in the world, he went one step further by confirming who his next opponent will be inside of the Octagon.
Punk made his UFC debut in a welterweight bout against Mickey Gall back at the UFC 203 pay-per-view event in September of 2016.
As seen in the fight, Gall dominated Punk and submitted him in just minutes in the very first round. This fight also marked Punk’s pro-MMA debut.
Punk continues to tease on social media that he will fight at the upcoming UFC 225 pay-per-view event. There has been speculation that Punk could fight part-time fighter and media member Mike Jackson, who fought Gall under the UFC banner.
White confirmed in a recent interview with TMZ Sports that Punk will indeed fight Jackson. It should be noted that White did not confirm when they would fight but it’s likely going to be at UFC 225.
UFC 225 pay-per-view event slated to go down on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass. It should be noted that this event would be ideal for Punk as this is his hometown.
For more on Punk’s next fight in the UFC and the latest MMA news, make sure to check out MMANews.com.
The power couple of the WWE, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, continue to make the media rounds to promote the biggest event of the year for the sports entertainment company, WrestleMania 34.
At this year’s event, Triple H and McMahon will team up to take on former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey and Raw General Manager Kurt Angle in a Mixed Tag Team Match.
Triple H and Stephanie recently spoke with Fox News to promote WrestleMania 34.
During the interview, they were asked by signing Rousey if it open the doors to other athletes outside to pursue a career in the WWE. Here is what they had to say: Triple H: “I do, you know the performance center and our recruiting efforts have sort of changed that perception outside of our world anyway. There’s been a lot of, whether it be NFL players or soccer globally or anything else that have had a desire maybe to try and want to do this but never had that pathway in front of them. The pathway is now there, I say it all the time: What I’m doing internationally with all these other markets is I’m trying to create pathways. I’m bringing a recruiting team there trying to create an environment where if somebody says “Man, I love that, and I’d like to try and do that,” there’s a way for them to do that. Ronda took that path that wasn’t there before. We created that path, she came to us; she approached us probably about the same time we approached her, but the pathway was there and I think now she will open a lot of eyeballs of athletes around the world to say “Well, why can’t I?” Stephanie McMahon: “We recruit from the Olympics; we recruit from rugby, football overseas; we recruit from everywhere. I do think Rhonda has brought heightened awareness. She is arguably one of the world’s greatest athletes. She is also just a tremendous star. She just exudes this energy and charisma that you can really connect to because you have to have the total package. Athleticism alone is not enough. And I think Rhonda speaks to the caliber of athleticism that is in WWE but it also speaks to the women’s evolution, and I can’t wait to see how her presence will give the women’s evolution even more weight.”
Triple H and McMahon also talked about WrestleMania 34, the experience of the event and more. You can read the entire interview here.
WWE created the Legacy Wing of their Hall of Fame back in 2016 and currently features 16 wrestlers.
Those wrestlers include Martin Burns, June Byers, Judy Grable, Dr. Jerry Graham, Haystacks Calhoun, Bearcat Wright, Rikidozan, Toots Mondt, Luther Lindsay, Art Thomas, Mildred Burke, George Hackenschmidt, Frank Gotch, Pat O’Connor, Ed Lewis and Lou Thesz.
There is a new group of wrestlers that will be added to that honorary club this year according to a new report by Pwinsider.com, which you can see here: – Former WWWF champion Stan Stasiak. – Lord Alfred Hayes. – Dara Singh. – Cora Combs – El Santo. – Jim Londos. – Rufus J. Jones. – Sputnik Monroe. – Boris “The Great” Malenko.
WWE holds their 2018 Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 6th in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center and will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network. Bill Goldberg will headline the class.
Cody Rhodes made his name known while under the banner of the WWE. He signed with the sports entertainment company in 2006 and departed ten years later. Since he decided to leave the promotion and explore the wrestling business outside of the WWE bubble, he has become one of the most demanded names on the indie market and has made quite a name for himself as a singles competitor. Rhodes worked for promotions such as Impact Wrestling, New Japan Professional Wrestling (NJPW), and Ring Of Honor (ROH).
He was this week’s guest on X-Pac 1,2,360 to talk about various topics.
During the interview, he talked about reaching out to Kevin Owens before he left the WWE and how NXT inspired his career moves.
“I had a lot of time to prep… I kinda field tested all the resources I had. Kevin Owens for example is somebody I must have asked eight-hundred-thousand questions to. About everything from how travel is different from where to ask for more, where to not worry about the money. An absurd amount of questions, to timing, to the opponents, you name it, presentation, all of that. So, I had a lot of time to prepare. It was definitely this feeling of fear but I have this rule, that if it doesn’t scare you it’s not an adventure.” “NXT was also a huge inspiration for me to leave because NXT is just Hunter’s independent scene, it’s amazing. He hand plucked all these buzz-worthy talents and had them fight against each other and it’s just those were the guys that were getting the attention of the crowd, capturing their imaginations and I was very inspired by NXT. I know that doesn’t sound like it makes sense to then leave WWE but that’s what it did, it was seeing those guys that already had a brand and who already had buzz…something I had to do.”
