– RAW Superstar Dean Ambrose has been out of action since December after undergoing surgery to repair a torn triceps. Ambrose was spotted in Birmingham, Alabama over the weekend, according to PWInsider, most likely to get an update on his recovery.
At the time of his procedure, WWE.com noted that he would be out of action for nine months. The company typically overestimates recovery times, but he is not expected back in time for WrestleMania on April 8th.
– Tonight’s edition of WWE RAW will feature a “Second Chance Fatal 4 Way” match, with the winner qualifying for next weekend’s Elimination Chamber match.
Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Matt Hardy and Apollo Crews will battle for the final Chamber pod, but it appears WWE.com spoiled the result of that match over the weekend.
Several fans sent in word that Finn Balor was featured as one of the Elimination Chamber participants, so expect him to emerge victorious on RAW.
College spring break kicks off with MLW: Spring Break ’18 featuring a night of pro wrestling and partying! Highlighted by the semi-finals of the World Heavyweight Championship and some exciting new MLW additions to the roster! MLW will return to Gilt Nightclub in Orlando, FL on Thursday night March 8th.
Don’t forget to set a reminder to ensure you get your tickets today for MLW: Spring Break ‘18.
Ticket prices range from $15-$45 with a limited number of “VIP Packages” also available.
Matches and wrestlers will be announced in the coming days and weeks at MLW.com.
Dress code: There is no dress code for this event. If you stay for the after party at GILT there is a dress code of no hats, shorts or tank tops.
Parking: The venue has a parking lot. Space is available on a first come, first serve basis. There is a small fee for parking at the venue’s lot. Valet parking is also available at GILT.
MORE ABOUT MLW:
Major League Wrestling (MLW®) is a sports media holding company with a focus on professional wrestling sporting events/programming, digital content and ancillary entertainment.
Rumours and speculation have spread over the last few months about what matches will make up the WrestleMania card in April. And now that things are starting to fall into place, with Shinsuke Nakamura winning the Royal Rumble, betting odds for which match will mainevent WWE’s biggest PPV of the year have been revealed.
The odds have been provided by Grosvenor Casino’s who also have betting options on Daniel Bryan’s next match, the end of Asuka’s winning run in WWE, as well as when Carmella will cash-in her Money In The Bank contract.
The conditions, stipulations, and odds can be found below:
Exact combination of participants in the last match on the show
Bet refers to the exact combination of participants advertised to compete in the match that starts last on the show. Settlement will be based on the card as advertised 24 hours before the start of the specified event and will disregard any previous or subsequent announcements as much as the match actually takes place. Impromptu/unannounced matches will not be taken into consideration for settlement purposes. Bets will remain valid in case of multi-person matches and regardless of any changes to previously advertised match stipulations as much as these do not involve a change from the advertised participants. Stakes will be refunded if the event is cancelled, moved for more than 7 days than the originally scheduled date and/or moved to a different location. Bets placed after any announcement on any WWE/official social media platform will be declared void. No refunds on non starters. Others on request.
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns -150
Any Women’s Match +100
Any Match Featuring The Undertaker +100
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura +200
Any Match Featuring The Rock +300
Braun Strowman & Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon +300
Any Match Featuring Daniel Bryan +500
Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar +800
Brock Lesnar vs. Shinsuke Nakamura +1500
Opinion:
It seems most likely that Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns will headline, unless The Undertaker returns; but WWE wouldn’t repeat an Undertaker WrestleMania mainevent retirement two times in a row, would they?
Personally, I’d like to see Asuka headline WrestleMania but I think that’ll be in the books for 2019, and it’d be an opportunity for her to end her winning streak.
I also love that Brock Lesnar vs Shinsuke Nakamura has been thrown in, just in case!
Former Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion EC3 has addressed his decision to leave the promotion.
Newsweek.com has an article up looking at Impact Wrestling’s new management, several talents departing and how they will overcome these obstacles this year.
Alongside Bobby Lashley, EC3 was able to get out of his contract early, which in turn allowed him to sign with WWE. The sports entertainment company placed him in NXT, where he made his first appearance on the WWE Network at NXT Takeover: Philly last month.
“My decision to leave Impact had nothing to with their business or finances and everything with me wanting to challenge myself to something new. Leaving Impact was a very difficult decision as I had six months left on a very lucrative and talent-friendly contract. Anthem lived up to that contract and always treated me with the utmost respect as a businessman and a person.”
Billy Corgan was on Busted Open Radio recently. In addition to speaking about the latest events in his National Wrestling Alliance, Corgan spoke about his time in TNA/Impact Wrestling.
One of the more notable topics which came up on the show was TNA management’s opinion of Aldis while he was in TNA.
Dreamer (who was co-hosting) mentioned he has always felt Aldis has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, though it wasn’t clear if he was speaking that way of Aldis to build for his eventual title match. Dreamer will challenge the NWA champion at House of Hardcore 39 on March 24th from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
The full interview can be watched below:
Billy Corgan on Nick Aldis
Corgan, who took ownership of the NWA on October 1st, 2017, also stated that TNA management would openly bury Aldis for his perceived ego. Corgan mentioned he has never had a problem with Aldis but perhaps his friendship with Aldis’ wife, Mickie James, changed the dynamic of Corgan’s relationship with him.
“I sat in many TNA meetings where Nick [Aldis’] name came up and people in the company openly buried him,” Corgan said. “And you would say this guy is in his prime – both as a performer and as a talent – and it was always about his attitude. People didn’t want to work with him.” – Billy Corgan on TNA’s attitude to Nick Aldis.
The next big athlete from another sport to transition to sports entertainment might be Rob Gronkowski. The 28-year-old New England Patriot is a 5x Pro Bowl selection, 2x Super Bowl champion, and 5x 1st Team All-Pro in the NFL. He’s also a huge wrestling fan and helped his friend, Mojo Rawley, win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at last year’s WrestleMania.
According to an interview he gave to TMZ Sports, Mojo Rawley believes the NFL Superstar will end up in WWE at some point.
Rob Gronkowski to WWE
“It’s not a matter of if it’s a matter of when baby!” – Mojo Rawley on Rob Gronkowski going to WWE.
Not hurting Gronkowski’s chances of being granted a WWE career in his post-NFL life, is that Stephanie McMahon and Triple H are both big Patriots fans.
NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Nick Aldis, recently announced plans to defend his championship across the globe. Aldis and his manager, Auston Idol, are attempting to defend the NWA title 20x in 60 days. Consequently, they’ve booked title matches for the next 2 months.
The NWA has clarified that should Aldis lose his NWA championship at any point along the tour, the new champion would pick up where he left off.
Yesterday on Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, the NWA revealed Aldis’ first challenger. Episodes of the show are available through the FITE App.
While the challenger was considered a heavy underdog against Aldis, he did have two fists and a chance.
https://youtu.be/bes65fJ-_K0
Nick Aldis vs. James Ellsworth
33-year-old James Ellsworth recently began competing on the independent scene again. His last match in WWE was a November 11th loss on Smackdown to Becky Lynch from Manchester. That same night AJ Styles won the WWE Championship.
Ellsworth’s first post-WWE appearances came at Santino Marella’s wrestling school in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. In addition to wrestling earlier in the evening, Ellsworth would win the first ever “Santino Cobra Battle Royal” that night.
Unfortunately, Ellsworth was unable to defeat Aldis for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. As a result, Aldis now has 19 title defenses left on his tour.
Despite winning the US Title, Dolph Ziggler has not had the best of times in WWE recently. There have been multiple rumours about him leaving WWE, which were only supported by his attitude on social media and at live shows.
In his celebration of winning the US Title, he left it in the ring, sparking off new rumours in the WWE Universe that he’s leaving. We’re still left with the question, why would anyone do this?
However the latest rumour and speculation to have hit the WWE Universe comes from an independent wrestler known as Bin “The Hacker” Hamin. On The Locker Room Podcast, Hamin claims that Ziggler has signed a very lucrative new contract with WWE. Unfortunately, The Hacker’s source hasn’t been named, leaving this information questionable at best.
“Here’s the inside scoop that I’ve kinda been told. After Ziggler laid down the title and went away for 30 days, silently came back as #30 in the Rumble, and then tossed out kinda useless. He was already kinda two feet out the door, and it was at the 11th hour that they made him another offer he can’t refuse.”
According to The Hacker, Ziggler’s new contract includes a very large sum of money, enough to make Dolph stay and continue his role in putting people over. But there are 2 other clauses to this rumoured new contract that would make this deal even more inviting for Ziggler.
Freedom to leave a show immediately after his commitments are met.
Freedom to engage with outside projects that don’t conflict with his WWE schedule.
If the source turns out to be accurate, Ziggler will see himself as more of a free agent; it seems ideal for him. It’s perfect, almost too perfect!
Opinion:
I just can’t bring myself to trust the source. It seems too good to be true for Ziggler, and it seems as though SmackDown Live has been doing just great in the 30 day period without him. Why keep him on? There are plenty of other superstars who could take his place with less money just to put people over.
I understand that Ziggler is a reliable performer, but he seems as though he’s just the guy that introduces the main roster to stars from NXT by having a forgettable feud which amounts to nothing. So if this rumour is accurate, why keep him on?
Saturday in Osaka, Kazuchika Okada defeated SANADA from Los InGobernables to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It was Okada’s 10th title defense in his record-breaking title reign.
Okada’s CHAOS faction also defeated Los InGobernables 3-2 over 5 singles matches on the show including 3 championship matches.
Following his victory, Okada challenged IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, Will Ospreay to a match at the upcoming Anniversary show on March 6th, 2018.
Kazuchika Okada versus Will Ospreay
Okada challenged Ospreay for the Anniversary Show as on that night the heavyweights will be busy preparing for the upcoming New Japan Cup, so it’s a convenient time for him to take on CHAOS’ junior heavyweight.
At the post-match press conference in Osaka, Ospreay wondered if his faction’s leader was testing him by issuing the challenge but thanked Okada and accepted the match anyway.
Earlier in the evening, Ospreay had defeated Hiromu Takahashi to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair sat down with TMZ Sports recently and spoke about the possibility of Hogan returning to WWE someday and the friendship the two of them have developed through the years.
Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair Interview
In the second video, Flair talks about how Hogan has been there for him during difficult times in his life. He talks about how Hogan lent him money when his son was sick and how Hogan was the second person to the hospital during Flair’s health scare last year.
“For me, I’d love to change that last story that was told of the Hulk Hogan career. I’d love to get back in the fold, get back on the inside and correct a lot of stuff.” Hogan said of his desire to return to WWE.
“It has to be the perfect timing for both sides,” he added. “We’re all on good sides and all working towards the same goal so hopefully, I’ll be able to be back with my wrestling family someday soon.” To which Flair chimed in to say he is looking forward to that day.
The Miz continues to pass milestones on his quest to being known as the greatest Intercontinental champion of all time. Just recently, Miz passed Don “the Rock” Muraco for 2nd all-time in combined days as champion.
Tenille Dashwood (FKA Emma) has signed with Ring of Honor and will be participating in the promotion’s tournament to crown a Women of Honor champion.
Dashwood was a surprise appearance at Ring of Honor’s recently live-streamed show from Concord, North Carolina on Friday night. She also teamed with Mandy Leon and defeated Kelly Klein and Stacy Shadows later in the evening.
Corey Graves recently accepted Booker T’s invitation to appear on his “Heated Conversations” podcast. While Booker had seemingly threatened Corey for causing his removal from the Raw broadcast team, it turns out not everything was as it seemed.
According to comments he made on the podcast with Corey, Booker was thankful to be removed from his commentating position on Monday Night Raw. They even joked about how Corey saw Booker backstage that day and he was grinning from ear to ear.
Booker and Corey are now saying the entire saga was a work and never intended to go anywhere. Listen to their conversation below:
Booker T’s On-Air Threat
Following being removed the Raw announce team, Booker made the following comments towards Graves:
“But if I catch Corey Graves on the street, I’m gonna do something to him. Alright? I ain’t gonna do it at the office or anything like that. But if I catch him… not gonna do it in the airport, nah, I’m not gonna do that. But if I catch Corey Graves on the street? You see that little bouffant hairdo he got? I’m gonna rearrange it for him.”
What led some to believe his comments were not serious, however, was that he worked in the radio station’s call signs while he made them.
“So, me and Corey Graves… WrestleMania coming up, right? There’s room for one more match. Right now, on my show, Heated Conversations, Sports Radio 610, I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight. Not a match. Not a pre-show posedown or anything like that. I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight.”
Ring of Honor held a TV taping on Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia at the Center Stage. At the taping, two top matches for their upcoming Anniversary PPV event was revealed.
Dalton Castle will defend the ROH World Title against Jay Lethal. Also, Marty Scurll will take on Punishment Martinez in a singles match.
Ring of Honor will hold their 16 Anniversary show on Friday, March 9, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall. The event will air on traditional PPV outlets and the FITE TV app.
In her first match in over four years, Celeste Bonin — better known to WWE fans as NXT season three winner and one-time Divas champion Kaitlyn — returned to the ring on Saturday night.
Bonin wrestled for Coastal Championship Wrestling at the Coral Springs Charter School gym in Coral Springs, Florida. Taking on Rachael Ellering, Bonin beat the 25-year-old after nailing her with the spear.
Here are photos and video from the match, which featured a spot where Bonin threw Ellering on top of a table.
In recent months, Bonin has been training at the Main Event Training Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida under the direction of President/Head trainer Pablo Marquez (aka Babu in WWE). During an interview last month with WSVN-TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet, Bonin explained her decision to return to the ring after leaving WWE in January 2014.
“I retired pretty much four years ago and I didn’t really have any intention of going back or making any kind of come back or even wrestling for any other promotion like TNA. I was just super focused on my business and wrestling was kind of just in my past. Then when I got in the ring I was just super rusty which was a little embarrassing but I missed it so much,” Bonin said.
“I had such a tumultuous year in 2017, I went through a divorce and a bunch of changes in my company and moving warehouses and moving where I lived. I kind of fell out of a routine and I wasn’t working out and my life was kind of upside down but when I started wrestling again I kind of felt more purpose and structure and passionate about life in general again.”
Bonin has been chronicling her return to the ring on YouTube and Instagram. Here is what she posted on Saturday ahead of her return, which also shows some of the training she went through.
– It was on this date 15 years ago when WWE Hall of Famer “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig passed away at the age of 44 years old. Curtis Axel sent out this tweet today remembering his father.
On February 10, 2003, Hennig was found dead in a hotel room in Tampa, Florida. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office declared acute cocaine intoxication as his cause of death. His father, former wrestler Larry “The Axe” Hennig, said that steroids and painkillers also contributed to his death.
– WWE posted this video clip from the series finale of the WWE Network show Swerved of The Boogeyman and Papa Shango pranking unsuspecting mall patrons. The Boogeyman is also shown eating worm pizza in front of customers at a pizza restaurant.
– Perhaps the most notable omission from the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble Match was that of two-time WWE Women’s Champion Victoria, who unlike many of the former female stars brought back, remains active on the independent wrestling scene. She was also not at Raw 25, which featured a segment honoring the company’s top female performers over the years. Former WWE Women’s Champion Gail Kim called out WWE on not inviting Victoria and Lita to the show (Lita did, however, work the Women’s Royal Rumble Match).
Heard @AmyDumas and @REALLiSAMARiE weren’t included in the @wwe raw25 …. that’s f’ed up in my opinion. Two great females who made an impact for the company. Let’s hope there’s a legitimate reason!
As today is Victoria’s 47th birthday, WWE is now celebrating her career. The company posted these messages on social media wishing her a happy birthday.
The official WWE website also posted this photo gallery looking back at her career.
– In Maria Kanellis’ latest pregnancy vlog on WWE’s YouTube channel, Maria and Mike get a closer look at their baby girl when they go for a 3D ultrasound.
– This Tuesday on WWE Mixed Match Challenge, Bayley and Elias will face Rusev and Lana. In this video, Bayley and Elias say they’re competing for Americares, a group working to help those affected by poverty or disaster.
WWE Hall Of Famer Edge recently did an interview with Chuck Carroll of CBS Local Sports to talk about several professional wrestling topics. “The Rated-R Superstar” was asked for his thoughts on Paige’s neck injury that forced the end of her in-ring career with WWE:
“You know, I don’t know. It is tough, because if that is the case, and she does have to retire… I haven’t heard anything past the initial speculation… it is such a different case, because when I retired, I was 37. I had accomplished everything and then some I set out to do within that industry, so there wasn’t anything else besides wanting to help some younger talent and teach them. That was what the next mode of my career was going to be. So it is a different scenario.
“I guess all I can say, if that is the case, is she did a lot. She got a lot accomplished. She won the women’s championship, and she stood out. You just try and focus on the positives instead of drawing on the negatives. That’s really all you can do in that kind of situation. But I don’t know if there’s a magic elixir or the perfect sentence you can say to make that easier to swallow.”
Edge was then asked who he thinks is better – John Cena or The Rock:
“I guess it depends on what you’re going for. I’ll politically say it as that. How about Batista?”
The former WWE Champion has accomplished a lot in his professional wrestling career, but has also had the ability to travel the world and do some amazing things. Carroll asked Edge what he has left on his bucket list after his storied career:
“I keep exploring what I’m doing now. The pod is fun, and I get to connect to my childhood best friend every week, no matter where I am. We get to catch up with some friends who we don’t get to see all the time. Basically just bust each other’s chops. I really want to explore different characters and see what the next character is. I mean, who knows what’s next? But I would like [it] to be as challenging as this one has been.
“I don’t want to take a step back. I just want to keep going forward and just see what there is out there and just try to keep honing my craft and my chops. More importantly than all of that is just trying to be the template that you want your little girls to see of what a man is. So between all of those, that should keep me pretty busy.”
You can read Edge’s full interview with Chuck Carroll of CBS Local Sports by clicking this link here.
WWE Superstar Braun Strowman recently did an interview with the Daily Star to talk about several professional wrestling topics. The sequence in which Strowman hit Lesnar with a stiff knee, and “The Beast” returned fire with a stiff punch to the jaw during their Royal Rumble match was brought up:
“Any time Brock and I are in the ring it’s very physical. You’re talking about two larger-than-life human beings who are fighting for dominance. Stuff happens. It’s a contact sport – it’s not tennis. We’re not going out there to slap a ball around, we’re going out there to beat each other up. That’s what we did.”
“The Monster Among Men” then offered his thoughts on being a part of a “dying breed” of big men in professional wrestling:
“I’m a dying breed, considering how fast-paced the sport has become with the cruiserweights and guys like AJ Styles who can go out there and do these crazy, unbelievable things.”
Strowman is currently teaming up with RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss in the Mixed Match Challenge. He said that the MMC gives him the ability to show another side of the Braun Strowman character, and it may just be that he’s “sweet on Alexa Bliss”:
“To be able to wind down a little bit when my body was beat up, I was fighting a little bit of a cold, was a very entertaining and refreshing segment to go out and work with. I got to show another layer of Braun Strowman the character, to show that he has a little bit of a softer side. It might be that he’s sweet on Alexa Bliss.”
You can read Strowman’s full interview with the Daily Star by clicking this link here.
– It looks like Seth Rollins’ luggage was checked by the TSA while he was traveling recently. “The Architect” took to Twitter and accused the TSA of stealing his pre-made Trifecta System meals – claiming there were 13 when he checked his bag and opened it up to find only nine:
– The Undertaker’s wife, Michelle McCool, took to Instagram to post a video of her husband working out in the gym. Current rumors have “The Deadman” returning to in-ring action at WrestleMania 34 to take on John Cena. WWE has yet to confirm The Undertaker will be wrestling at this year’s event:
Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Sean “X-Pac” Waltman has released a new episode of his podcast, X-Pac12360. During the show Waltman reacted to Shelton Benjamin’s recent social media post in which he reveals that he found a loaded gun in his rental car:
“Here’s the thing, in all the years of traveling around and trying to rent cars like we do. There have been a few times when you find things leftover from the last person that rented the car, but come on man, a loaded gun?! Who freaking forgets something like that… Let’s just use our imaginations and think of all the bad scenarios that could come from something like that.”
He also explained why he didn’t want to win the now-defunct WWE light heavyweight title. It turns out winning the title would actually result in a pay cut for the former n.W.o member:
“I was the very last WWF Light Heavyweight champion. I fought a long time to not have to have that belt. One time, I got my payoff and I gave him [Jim Ross] a call. It was a SummerSlam payoff and I asked him if they were paying me by the pound? So that’s how I felt about the pay scale there. That you were paid by the pound sometimes, and it’s not really, but you can get that being in the WWE at times. I didn’t want that. There was no way I wanted that. That was a pay cut for me. So that was the issue.”
You can listen to X-Pac12360 by clicking this link here.
It looks like SmackDown Live’s Women’s Division will be short one talent due to an injury. Tamina Snuka has reportedly suffered a torn rotator cuff and underwent surgery to repair the issue. Her last appearance came in the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match where she wrestled through the injury. Two days later she underwent surgery to fix the issue.
Snuka’s appearance in the Women’s Rumble was up-in-the-air prior to the match as she was removed from promotional material for the bout at one point, before being added back again. She entered the match at the number seven spot but didn’t stay in the match longer than a few minutes as she was eliminated by WWE Hall Of Famer Lita. Snuka’s injury is the same as former RAW Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy’s.
Hardy has been out-of-action since October and was given a six to eight month timetable for return. No timeframe has been given for Snuka’s injury return, but we’ll keep you updated as we learn more….
Last week WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T went off on Corey Graves during his Houston Sports Radio 610 show, Heated Conversations, blaming the former NXT Superstar for being the reason he was replaced by Jonathan Coachman on the Monday Night RAW commentary team. Booker followed that up by challenging Graves to a legitimate fist fight. Its since been reported that the feud between the pair is a work and Booker was replaced simply because Coachman was re-signed by WWE.
The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion then took to Twitter to offer for Graves to call into his show tonight and clear the air:
I’m going to address all of the news from this past week on my show tomorrow. There’s been a lot of things said and I’d like to publicly invite @WWEGraves to call in and clear the air.
– The New Day’s Xavier Woods recently took to Instagram and posted a video of himself, Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Renee Young popping balloons on what looks like the set of a game show. The set featured a WWE Network sign and a podium that says “Who Knows?” Check it out here:
– Ex-NFL quarterback Tim Tebow recently did an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Off The Board and was asked about Vince McMahon’s XFL relaunch. During the press conference last month McMahon mentioned that he’d be open to having Tebow play for the league. When asked if he’d consider the opportunity, Tebow said he isn’t sure at the moment as his primary focus is playing baseball with New York Mets:
“That’s very nice of him, but 2020 is a long way from now,” Tebow said. “I’m focused on today, I’m focused on spring training and a lot of things before that. I’m not even close to thinking about that right now.”
When prodded for a “yes or no” answer, Tebow had this to say:
“What if it’s a ‘I have no idea?’ That’s in 2020 and I’m super excited about baseball.”
