Impact Wresting will be introducing new championship belts once again.
During a media conference call on Thursday morning involving Impact executives Don Callis and Scott D’Amore, the company revealed that the new championships will be introduced in April, when they hold the next round of television tapings.
Current championship belts being are holdovers from when the company (briefly) rebranded as Global Force Wrestling last year. When the GFW partnership was terminated, the company covered up the Global Force name with ‘Impact Wrestling’ plates.
Austin Aries returned to Impact Wrestling at Wednesday night’s Impact tapings from Orlando, FL and captured the company’s Global Championship from Eli Drake.
WrestleMania 34 is less than three months away and plans are well underway to lock in the top matches planned for the show. In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that WWE has settled on the top two matches for the show.
The main event will surprise nobody, as Roman Reigns will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. This match has been years in the making and was effectively set in stone going back over a year, when Meltzer reported it prior to last year’s Mania.
The other top match for WrestleMania 34 will see “free agent” John Cena finally squaring off against The Undertaker.
With Taker being backstage at SmackDown this week and the sports entertainment company promoting him for the RAW 25 Anniversary show, the feeling is that the angle for Cena vs. Undertaker will be shot in two weeks at the special edition of RAW.
WrestleMania 34 is set to be held on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network and is the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history.
As for the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018, Meltzer confirmed the names that were on a list first reported by Brad Shepard of Bleacher Report. The headliner for this year’s HOF class will be former WWE & WCW World Champion Bill Goldberg, who had a successful return to WWE after over a decade out of the ring.
Candice LeRae has signed a developmental deal with the WWE, according to a recent report by Squared Circle Sirens. She is set to start training at the Performance Center in the next few weeks as she has passed her medical testing.
WWE announced the signings of names like former Ring of Honor World Champion Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Donovan Dijak, Lio Rush and Shayna Baszler last year. She has worked for various promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Combat Zone Wrestling. She is a former one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion with Joey Ryan as The World’s Cutest Tag Team.
LeRae made her debut in WWE’s developmental brand by competing in a battle royal to determine the new #1 contender for Asuka’s NXT Women’s Championship last April. She also participated in a battle royal which was won by Nikki Cross to determine one of the contenders for the vacant NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: WarGames last October. Last July, it was announced LeRae would participate in the Mae Young Classic tournament. Although she won her first and second round matches, she ended up being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Shayna Baszler.
As seen on this week’s episode of NXT on the WWE Network, which was taped on January 4th from Atlanta, GA at Center Stage, a stipulation has been added to a key match at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
NXT General Manager William Regal announced that Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black will now be an Extreme Rules match.
Impact Wrestling held its latest round of TV tapings on Wednesday night from Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. The following are results from the show, courtesy of Jacob Cohen:
– Caleb Konley defeated Rohit Raju
– Impact Grand Champion Matt Sydal (c) defeated Fallah Bahh to retain
– Lashley defeated KM
– Kiera Hogan defeated Laurel Van Ness
– LAX comes out for an in-ring promo and Konnan calls out oVe. The group comes out and Sami Callihan says he hates LAX and the Impact Zone, but it’s because oVe hates everything. Sami says he does respect LAX, and they have bigger problems to deal with now, but they will be tag team champions again in 2018. Konnan says there aren’t any bigger fish to fry than them, because LAX is the whole tuna. Caleb Konley and Trevor Lee attacks LAX from behind and oVe leaves.
– Moose & Johnny Impact defeated Alberto El Patron & EC3
– Eli Drake and Chris Adonis come out to the ring for ‘The Facts Of Life’, and Eli talks about being the greatest of all time. He declares he is the greatest Champion, dresser, and friend of all time… but Austin Aries returns and says Drake isn’t the Greatest Man That Ever Lived. Aries lists his own accolades in the company and says if Drake wants to be great, he has to beat him anywhere and anytime. Chris Adonis attacks him from behind, and Eli calls for a ref to defend the title on the spot.
– Austin Aries returned and defeated Eli Drake to capture the Impact Global Championship.
– Taiji Ishimori & Matt Sydal defeated Rohit Raju & El Hijo Del Fantasma
– Cult of Lee (Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley) defeats T.E.C.H. LAX appears on the screen after the match, and Konnan warns Cult Of Lee that they are coming for them, and there is nothing they can do about it
– Laurel Van Ness defeated Kiera Hogan. Van Ness attacks Hogan after the match, but Allie runs out for the save.
– Hania defeated Amber Nova. Rosemary attacks Hania after the match and chases her away
– Johnny Impact defeated EC3 & Moose & Alberto El Patron in a #1 Contender’s Fatal 4 Way match.
Major League Wrestling returns to Orlando, FL tonight (1/11) for MLW: Zero Hour at GILT Nightclub. A limited number of tickets for the event are still available at Eventbrite.com.
MLW: Zero Hour will be available for on-demand streaming this weekend at MLW.TV.
Here’s the card for MLW: Zero Hour:
DEATH MATCH: Jimmy Havoc vs. Shane “Swerve” Strickland
SUPER FIGHT: MVP vs. Low Ki (with Stokely Hathaway)
Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor & Seth Petruzelli
LUCHA LIBRE: Penta el Zero M vs. Rey Fenix
Darby Allin vs. Sammy Gueveara managed by Salina de la Renta
Brody King vs. MJF
Santana Garrett vs. MJ Jenkins
Jason Cade & Jason Cade vs. The Dirty Blondes
Mike Parrow vs. Vandal Ortagun
Rhett Giddins vs. Kotto Brazil
Plus Barrington Hughes
Here are some of the latest videos hyping MLW: Zero Hour:
NXT kicked off with a backstage segment with Undisputed Era. Fish, O’Reilly and Cole stated that they will prove that they are the baddest team on the planet in 2018. Fish and O’Reilly said that they will put an end to SAnitY tonight when they defend their tag titles against them. Cole vowed to end anyone that gets in his way of becoming the next NXT Champion.
The NXT crowd chanted “Shayna’s gonna kill you!” as Baszler backed Kai into the corner. Baszler applied a Wrist Lock in the middle of the ring and then drove her foot into Dakota’s shoulder. Baszler booted Dakota in the face and then stomped on her elbow.
Kai screamed in pain and the referee called a stop to the match. Baszler was declared the winner as Dakota Kai was deemed unable to continue in the match. After the match, Baszler choked out Kai in the ring.
NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon rushed to the ring and Baszler laughed in the corner of the ring. Moon started shouting at Baszler as Shayna posed in the ring before leaving.
Christy St. Cloud tried top interview Baszler backstage. NXT GM William Regal immediately interrupted and stated that he saw right through Baszler’s games. Regal noted that Baszler will not earn an NXT Women’s Championship match if she continues to attack people from behind. Baszler simply said “are we done here?” and walked away.
Ohno and Mendoza shook hands before the match started. Mendoza applied a Headlock but Ohno reversed it into a roll-up for a one count. Ohno launched Mendoza towards the corner but Mendoza took down Ohno with a Headscissors for a one count. Raul hit a couple of kicks to Ohno’s chest and went for a third but Ohno caught him and booted him in the face.
Kassius delivered a chop that echoed throughout the arena and followed it up with a elbow to the face for a two count. Mendoza rolled up Kassius for a one count. Ohno connected with a Senton and went for the cover but Raul kicked out at the last moment. Menoza hit an Arm Drag but Ohno got right back up and launched Mendoza towards the corner. Raul leaped off the rope and hit a corkscrew Arm Drag. Mendoza followed it up with a springboard kick for another two count.
The crowd chanted for Ohno as Mendoza leaped onto Kassius’ shoulders. Ohno launched Mendoza into the ropes and hit the High Tension Elbow Strike for the pinfall victory.
Zelina Vega was interviewed backstage and she claimed that Gargano got lucky in earning a shot at the NXT Championship. Vega stated that Johnny Wrestling is a lie and that Andrade “Cien” Almas is reality. Vega added that Almas is ready and that they are taking their title defense against Gargano very seriously. Almas will defend his NXT Championship against Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on January 27th.
Christy St. Cloud interviewed Johnny Gargano backstage. Gargano was interrupted by Velveteen Dream and demanded that Gargano thank him. Velveteen Dream stated that Gargano got lucky and poked fun at it taking Gargano twenty minutes to defeat Kassius Ohno. Dream added that Gargano didn’t earn his spot and that that he deserves his spot. Dream also claimed that Gargano has no shot against Andrade “Cien” Almas at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
Street Profits were shown walking around backstage for an episode of “Street Talk”. They joined NXT GM Willliam Regal in his office and brought up the fact that they were undefeated. Ford and Dawkins asked Regal when they would get a shot at the gold. Regal announced that next week the Street Profits will face the Authors of Pain to determinte the #1 contenders for the NXT Tag Championships.
Sullivan missed with his attacks early as Lio Rush kept escaping. Rush connected with a rolling heel kick and went for another but Sullivan grabbed him by the throat and slammed Rush into the top rope. Sullivan launched Lio into the turnbuckle and then charged at him but Rush escaped once again.
Lars charged at Rush again in the corner but Rush leaped out of the way and Sullivan crashed into the ring post. It didn’t matter though as Sullivan recovered quickly and decked Rush with a ridiculous Clothesline. Lars then hit the Freak Accident for the quick pinfall victory.
After the match, Sullivan grabbed a microphone and stated that all of his opponents have fallen by his hands. Lars said that he dealt with a force two weeks ago that he has never felt before. Sullivan added that it brought him joy because it is a force that he wants to destroy. Sullivan then challenged Killian Dain and delivered another Freak Accident to Lio Rush off the second rope.
The cameras quickly cut backstage as the Undisputed Era was shown beating down SAnitY backstage. Officials broke it up and Cole, Fish and O’Reilly walked away.Undisputed Era then made their way down to the ring with gigantic smiles on their faces and grabbed a few microphones.
Cole, Fish and O’Reilly joking asked “where is SAnitY?” and Bobby Fish wondered if maybe forgot about the match. Cole said that they kicked the chaos out of SAnitY and Nikki Cross sprinted to the entrance ramp as officials held her back. Cross essentially had to be tackled and dragged backstage by the officials as the NXT crowd chanted her name.
Cole tried to continue the promo but NXT GM William Regal interrupted and came down to the entrance. Regal said that this was ridiculous and that Fish and O’Reilly will be defending their NXT Tag Team Championships tonight. Roderick Strong interrupted and said that he will fight Undisputed Era and will head backstage to find a partner. Aleister Black’s music hit and Black joined Strong on the entrance ramp. The crowd chanted “Aleister!” as Black stared at Undisputed Era. Black stated “as will I” and the two rushed the ring.
NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) (c) vs Aleister Black & Roderick Strong
Strong and Black rushed the ring and knocked Fish and O’Reilly out of the ring as NXT went to a break. When NXT returned, the match started with Black and O’Reilly in the ring. Black controlled the match early and Strong connected with a Dropkick to Bobby Fish outside the ring. Black locked in an Arm Bar on O’Reilly in the center of the ring.
Strong tagged in and dropped O’Reilly with a kick to the face for a two count. Strong delivered a chop to O’Reilly’s chest and followed it up with a Backbreaker for a two count. Strong remained on the attack and applied a Chin Lock. Strong quickly tagged Black back in and Bobby Fish took out Black on the ring apron as NXT went to a another break.
When NXT returned, Fish and O’Reilly were in control of the match. Fish tagged in and beatdown Black in the corner. Fish hit a Senton on Black and went for the cover but Aleister kicked out at two. Fish and O’Reilly trapped Black in the corner and took turns beating him down. O’Reilly tagged in and blasted Black in the face with a few jabs while he was on the mat. O’Reilly tagged in Fish and then knocked Strong off the ring apron.
Bobby Fish planted Black with an Exploder Suplex and went for the cover but Strong leaped into the ring to break up the cover. Fish applied a rear Chin Lock in the middle of the ring but Black quickly battled up to his feet. Black broke free and kneed Fish in the face and both Superstars fell to the canvas.
O’Reilly and Strong were tagged back in and Strong beat the hell out of the champions for a minute. Strong connected with a Dropkick to O’Reilly and then slammed O’Reilly into Fish in the corner. Strong hit O’Reilly with a Backbreaker and then delivered a Belly to Belly Suplex to Fish and Bobby landed on top of O’Reilly. Fish recovered and knocked Black off the ring apron. Strong launched Fish out of the ring and then connected with a massive knee strike to Kyle O’Reilly’s jaw. Black leveled Fish with a boot to the face outside the ring and then tossed O’Reilly back into the ring.
Adam Cole punched Black in the face outside the ring but Aleister shrugged it off. Cole escaped through the crowd but Aleister Black followed him. Back in the ring, Fish and O’Reilly connected with the Total Elimination for the pinfall victory. Adam Cole chuckled on the stairs in the crowd as Black ran back to the ring. Black connected with a couple of kicks to Fish and O’Reilly but Cole joined the party in the ring. Cole launched Black into the ring post and instructed Fish and O’Reilly to hold Black back. Cole taunted Black and then booted him in the face.
Fish and O’Reilly then leveled Black and Cole stood over Aleister in the ring. Cole told O’Reilly to bring a chair into the ring and then continued to taunt Black. Cole lifted Black up in a Fireman’s Carry and then dropped Black spine-first into the steel chair. Cole put his boot on Black’s chest as Undisputed Era posed with their NXT Tag Team Championships.
Winners & Still NXT Tag Team Champions: Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly)
After the match, NXT GM William Regal came down to the entrance ramp and announced that Cole’s match against Aleister Black is now an Extreme Rules match. Cole got right in Regal’s face but Regal didn’t back down. Undisputed Era eventually backed away and made their way backstage as NXT went off the air.
WWE Champion AJ Styles recently spoke with Matt Fowler over at IGN.com to hype WWE’s upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view and Boom! Studios new Royal Rumble Special 2018 comic book, which features a story co-written by Styles spotlighting his WWE debut at the 2016 Rumble.
In recent weeks, we’ve the formation of the Balor Club on RAW, with Finn Balor finally pairing up with former Bullet Club partners Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Styles is no stranger to the Bullet Club and had some interesting comments about the new alliance on RAW.
“It is what it is, I guess, as far as the way things are supposed to happen,” Styles said. “Even though I had my own reunion with them shortly after I arrived, and its in the story, I’m not even with those guys right now. They’re on RAW and I’m on SmackDown and I’m kind of doing my own thing by myself. But those three guys being together is something special because, truth be told, those were the three guys who were originally together.”
He continued, “If I could look into the future or try to predict things. I’d like to think that maybe we can all be together doing something. At some point. But you never know where things are going to lead, but right now I’m very interested in what I’m seeing.”
The Phenomenal One also commented on WWE announcers dubbing him the “Redneck Rookie” – an absurd moniker for a veteran of his stature. Styles was no fan of the nickname and used his influence backstage to get it dropped.
“I was like ‘Uh, I’ve been doing this for 16 years.’ I’m not a rookie and I’m not even the age a rookie would be coming into anything. So yeah, I kind of tried to squash that as quickly as I could.”
Other topics discussed include the success he’s achieved in WWE, his love of video games and more. Visit IGN.com to read the full interview.
This year’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view is scheduled for March 11, 2018 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
The SmackDown-branded event will feature a special appearance by “free agent” John Cena.
Earlier this week, the Facebook Page of the Nationwide Arena posted a video revealing that the main event of Fastlane will feature a Fatal Five Way match for the WWE Championship.
Of course, the card is subject to change, but the participants for the match include WWE Champion AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn.
One of the biggest stories to watch in 2018 will be whether or not WWE clears Daniel Bryan to wrestle again. Bryan was forced into retirement back in February 2016 due to the numerous concussions he sustained throughout his career. Since then, several neurologists have given him the green light to step back in the ring.
WWE COO Triple H maintains that WWE has still not cleared Bryan to compete and is adamant that there will be no exceptions if WWE’s medical staff feels the risks to the performer are too high.
While speaking at the Television Critics Association winter press tour panel to promote the upcoming RAW 25 special, Triple H shed new light on the situation.
”There can be no exception, medically,” he says. “If the belief is that he’s not healthy enough and it is a risk for to perform, then I don’t know why we would ever allow him to step in the ring unless it can be proven otherwise.”
He continued, “We have some of the best medical people in the world working for us. Our wellness policy, our concussion programs, out protocols–I’ll put them up against any on the planet. The medical experts will make the determination of whether Bryan can set foot in that ring or not,” Triple H explains.
“Personally, for him, I know it’s something he loved doing and I hope he has that opportunity. But at the same point in time, he’s married and has a child. We serve the human being first.”
It’s believed that Daniel Bryan’s WWE contract runs through this summer, at which point he could become a free agent and wrestle elsewhere.
WWE continues to call up big names to appear on a special episode of Monday Night RAW.
In addition to the long list of legends already confirmed, PWinsider reports that former RAW General Manager and WCW Executive Vice President Eric Bischoff will appear at the RAW 25th Anniversary show, which would mark his first appearance on WWE television since 2007 when he did a segment with Chris Jericho on the RAW 15th Anniversary special. WWE will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the launch of RAW on January 22nd, 2018 in Brooklyn, NY at the Barclays Center.
Impact Wrestling’s 6-sided ring is no more. Impact returns to Universal Orlando tonight for the next round of TV tapings and already we have some significant changes to kick of 2018.
In addition to Impact Wrestling ditching the GFW neon green color scheme, the company has reverted to a traditional 4-sided ring.
It’s also worth noting that the ring apron features the logo of the Twitch streaming service. As of this writing, Impact has yet to announce a formal partnership with Twitch.
Check back later tonight for Impact Wrestling tapings results for the next few weeks.
Gabe Sapolsky will reportedly be signing a contract with the WWE, according to PWInsider. Sapolsky has been working for the sports entertainment company on a handshake agreement while helping out at NXT TV tapings.
According to the report, Sapolsky will retain his position and responsibilities with WWNLive, which is the parent company of EVOLVE.
Back in August, Sapolsky commented on his role in NXT in an ‘WWN Alerts’ email blast. At the time, he denied that he was joining NXT full-time.
“It has been an invaluable learning experience being at NXT. I am all about talent development. My favorite part of this job is seeing talent learn, improve, grow and then realize their dreams. The lessons I have learned from Triple H, William Regal and everyone at NXT has made me better at my job. Everyone is incredible there.”
“There is no talk of a writer’s job at NXT. I am not there for a tryout as has been rumored. I’m there because we all want to have the best tools and ideas possible to lead pro wrestling into the future. NXT is an opportunity for me to improve my skills, and then spread that knowledge to everyone in WWN, whether it is directly to our locker room, to those who participate in the Seminar/Tryout or anyone who joins our office staff with the New Promoter Initiative.”
This Friday sees DEFIANT Wrestling Champion and former WWE Cruiserweight Superstar Austin Aries defend his belt against PROGRESS World Champion and international standout Travis Banks. This bout is part of the ongoing IPW:UK invasion of the DEFIANT roster, an invasion led by Aries and Mark Haskins.
You can catch the World Title match on DEFIANT’s official YouTube channel this Friday from 8pm GMT, that’s 3pm Eastern and 12pm Pacific. The #WeAreDefiant show is available to view for free EVERY Friday so it is well worth checking out, you can find last week’s episode below:
PROGRESS has announced the final two bouts for their upcoming Chapter 61 event this Sunday from the O2 Academy in Birmingham, England.
World Champion Travis Banks will be taking on his #CCK stablemate Chris Brookes, the ‘Calamari Catch Killer’ Brookes has been on a tear through the PROGRESS singles ranks since the injury to his longtime tag partner Kid Lykos and now company management have decided to grant him an opportunity to steal the show alongside Travis…this could be a barnburner.
As well as having the WWE UK Championship on the line at Chapter 61 when Pete Dunne faces Joseph Conners PROGRESS will be giving WWE UK Superstar Mark Andrews another opportunity to prove his World Championship credentials when he faces the impressive Chris Ridgeway.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual Fantasicamania ‘festival’ will be taking place 1/19, 1/21 and 1/22 from the legendary Korakuen Hall in Japan, all three shows will be streaming live on NJPWWorld.com and feature stars from Mexico’s CMLL promotion.
NJPW’s English Language site NJPW1972.com has started the promotional drive for the upcoming CMLL collaboration shows and has revealed the main bouts of the three nights:
Night 1: CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship Match – Niebia Roja vs Gran Guerrero
“The main event on January 19 will see a battle for the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship as Gran Guerrero challenges the champion Niebla Roja. Roja is a former rudo partner of Guerrero’s, but when he decided to change his ways in September of 2017, a massive feud started. Roja would have his mask torn off by his former stablemates in Los Guerreros Laguneros, but fans would fall in love with Roja’s newly discovered good looks and tecnico attitude. Now this title match showdown becomes a must see main event to kick off the lucha festival on NJPW World.
Night 1: National Welterweight Championship Match – Soberano Junior vs Sanson
“The Light Heavyweight Championship match will be one of three title bouts on the 19th. In the fifth match of the evening, the National Welterweight Championship will be on the line as champion Soberano Junior faces the ‘infinite power’ of Sanson. Soberano made his big Japanese break at last year’s Fantasticamania and won praise for his dynamic style and thrilling aerial offense. Meanwhile, Sanson’s 187cm stature and surprising popularity for a rudo will make this an intriguing contest.
Night 1: CMLL Middleweight Championship Match – Angel Del Oro vs Cuatrero
“The CMLL Middleweight Championship will also be on the line January 19. Champion Angel Del Oro will take the challenge of Cuatrero. This will be Cuatrero’s Japanese debut; much like Sanson, Cuatrero is a tall rudo at 185 cm, and combines power with some impressive high flying. You won’t want to miss this one.”
Further information on Nights 2 and 3 can be found on NJPW1972.com
The annual lucha festival is upon us as CMLL’s top luchadores arrive for Fantastica Mania 2018https://t.co/8kb37w9Fje
Last month former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann was arrested for an incident that occurred between himself and his wife. Swann’s wife, Vannarah Riggs (aka Su Yung), competed at a FEST wrestling event earlier in the night and was being critiqued by Swann while riding together in a car. Things got heated and Riggs got out of the vehicle as it was still in motion. Swann stopped the car and chased Riggs down before forcing her back into the car via headlock.
Swann was subsequently arrested for the incident. In late December Swann’s wife posted a picture indicating that she and Swann had made-up:
“I can not wait to see my husband tomorrow! After such an awesome weekend of wrestling debuting in two different promotions across America nothing would be better than to see his face.”
We noted earlier today that Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, The New Day, Mark Henry, The Miz, Maryse, and WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels were in California for the Television Critics Association Winter Tour event. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H took the stage for a panel and were asked about Rich Swann’s WWE status. Here’s what they had to say:
Triple H:
“We are just waiting on legal,” Triple H said. “We have a zero tolerance policy on that, as you’ve seen, so he’s suspended until it is determined legally one way or the other.”
RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss took to Twitter during last night’s SmackDown Live to mention that Liv Morgan was wearing a similar hairstyle to her’s. Bliss’ best-friend, Nia Jax, responded to Bliss’ Tweet and told Bliss to let Morgan ‘have the scraps.’ Morgan responded to Bliss by pointing out the differences between her hairstyle and “Little Miss Bliss’,” before responding to Jax’s ‘scraps’ comment.
Morgan said that Jax is actually after her scraps. For those of you who don’t know, Enzo Amore and Morgan dated each other during their days in NXT. The couple split last September after Morgan noted that she’s now single and removed all pictures of Amore from her social media. Amore and Jax are now involved in a romantic storyline on Monday Night RAW.
Check out the full exchange here:
Pink pigtails … where have I seen that before ? ? #sdlive
While last year it may have seemed that The Undertaker had wrestled the final match of his professional wrestling career, that my no longer be the case. PWInsider reports that “The Deadman” was backstage at last night’s SmackDown Live taping from Birmingham, Alabama. It’s not known why Taker was backstage for the show, but it’s being speculated it was to go over plans for his big return to WWE TV.
Undertaker is set to return to WWE on the 25th Anniversary Monday Night RAW special in just two weeks’ time on January 22nd. The program will be the go-home show to the Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) and it’s possible The Undertaker could begin the buildup to a possible WrestleMania 34 match with whoever his opponent may be.
It has been speculated that The Undertaker could possibly be working with John Cena at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. Cena is said to be scheduled for a match that will be bigger than any of the title bouts on the WrestleMania card. With a very short list of names being able to make that possible, The Undertaker is the frontrunner when it comes to rumors regarding “The Leader Of The Cenation’s” WrestleMania opponent.
Discussion: Why do you think The Undertaker was backstage at last night’s SmackDown Live? And will he compete at WrestleMania 34? If so, against who?
Following his historic New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) match with Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12 last week, Chris Jericho spoke to Inside The Ropes to discuss a several professional wrestling topics. During the interview, “Y2J” revealed who his original opponents were going to be for WrestleMania 33 and SummerSlam 2016.
Originally Jericho was supposed to take on Shinsuke Nakamura at “The Show Of Shows,” and it would serve as the Japanese star’s main roster call-up.
Those plans were of course changed later after Jericho and Kevin Owen’s storyline continued to develop. Jericho would lose his United States Title to “KO” at WrestleMania instead, while Nakamura made his main roster debut two days later on SmackDown Live by interrupting a Miz segment:
“After we went to Japan in June or July I remember coming back and talking to Vince, and I said you’ve got to bring this Nakamura guy up to the main roster. I wanna work with him. Let’s debut him at WrestleMania.
“I said I’ll stay until WrestleMania if I can work with Nakamura. Vince said okay. Then about a month later, I said that I actually think me and Kevin Owens could work at WrestleMania.”
Jericho also revealed that he was originally supposed to face Finn Balor at SummerSlam in 2016. “Y2J” pitched the idea after working with Balor at live events in Japan, but Vince McMahon later changed his mind. Jericho would instead team up with Kevin Owens to defeat the team of Enzo Amore and Big Cass, while Balor wound up becoming the first-ever Universal Champion in WWE history by defeating Seth Rollins.
The “All In” live event being co-promoted by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks is starting to take shape. While the location of the event has yet to be revealed, former ROH World Champion Cody Rhodes revealed on Wednesday that the show is scheduled for Saturday, September 1st. An official Twitter account has also been launched at @ALL_IN_2018.
Since then, several (Bullet Club affiliated) big names have signed on and declared they are “all in,” including:
IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks
“The Villain” Marty Scurll
“Hangman” Adam Page
Stephen Amell of the hit series Arrow
Stay tuned as more talent and the host city are announced for All In.
– If you were watching SmackDown Live last night you probably noticed that three of the company’s biggest stars were missing – The New Day! Stephanie McMahon Tweeted out the following pictures; revealing that she, Triple H, The New Day, Mark Henry, The Miz, Maryse, and WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels were in California for the Television Critics Association Winter Tour event:
– WWE posted a video of former NXT Champion Drew McIntyre campaigning for why he deserves to win the NXT Male Competitor Of The Year award. The 2017 NXT Year-End Awards are set to be announced the same day of NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on Royal Rumble weekend. The former Intercontinental Champion is currently sidelined with a bicep injury:
– Following Bayley and Sasha Banks’ tag team win over Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville on this past Monday’s episode of RAW, Bayley and Rose got into the following exchange on Twitter:
One win doesn’t make you something special and one loss won’t stop me. I’m not going anywhere, so consider yourself really, really lucky ?@SashaBanksWWE & @itsBayleyWWE#RAW#Absolution
– As we’ve noted, The Miz will rematch Roman Reigns for the Intercontinental Championship at RAW’s 25th Anniversary Show on January 22nd. The Miz closed out this past Monday’s episode of RAW by attacking Roman Reigns with The Miztourage. The assault didn’t stop there, however, as The Miz took to Twitter today to taunt “The Big Dog” even further:
– On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live Ruby Riott suffered a loss to Becky Lynch in singles competition. WWE posted the following video in which Riott challenges Lynch, Naomi, and SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair to a Six-Woman Tag match against The Riott Squad:
