Chris Jericho’s heavy-metal band Fozzy has released its latest album, Boombox.
This marks Fozzy’s eighth studio album and its first in five years after Judas in 2017. Boombox consists of 12-tracks including Sane, I Still Burn and Ugly on the Inside.
Fozzy: Boombox Track Listing
Sane
I Still Burn
Purifier
Army of One
Ugly on the Inside
Relax
Nowhere to Run
My Great Wall
What Hell Is Like
Omen
The Worst Is Yet to Come
The Vulture Club
Listen to Fozzy: Boombox
You can listen to Boombox by Fozzy now on on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music and other major streaming platforms.
You can also listen to the full album here, courtesy of Fozzy on Youtube (12-song playlist):
Fozzy
(via Freeman Promotions)
Jericho began Fozzy in 1999 with himself as lead singer, Rich Ward on lead guitar, and Frank Fontsere on drums.
The band currently consists of Jericho, Ward, Billy Grey, P.J. Farley, and Grant Brooks.
Jericho’s work with Fozzy has kept him from AEW programming in the past, as he missed last month’s Battle of the Belts 2 event, due to a show in Stroudsburg, PA.
In March 2022, Judas was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America after surpassing 500,000 units sold.
In a tweet celebrating the achievement, Jericho said it was a “huge honor” and a “dream come true for me.”
Former WWE Raw and NXT Tag Team Champions Authors of Pain aren’t done dishing out punishment in the ring.
It appears Akam and Rezar are poised for a return to the squared circle. This according to a report from Fightful Select. There is currently no word on which promotion the two are eyeing.
Authors of Pain
Authors Of Pain: A History Lesson
Authors Of Pain made their NXT TV debut back in June 2016. The powerhouse tag team, led by manager Paul Ellering, attacked American Alpha. The duo ended up winning their first match on NXT the following week.
AOP defeated DIY back in Jan. 2017 to capture the NXT Tag Team Championship. They held onto the gold for 203 days. Eventually, AOP made it to the main roster and won the Raw Tag Team Championship.
The team aligned with Seth Rollins and Murphy before Rezar suffered a biceps injury. AOP was released from WWE in Sept. 2020.
While the team has been away for a while, they confirmed that they aren’t done with the industry last year.
WWE will be tackling the RPG genre with its video game division.
WWE has long seen the value in using gaming to market its brand. WWF WrestleMania was the company’s first officially licensed game and it was released for the NES back in early 1989. Just a few months later, WWF Superstars hit Arcades.
Today, WWE still releases multiple video games. The promotion takes full advantage of the mobile market and is partnered with 2K Games for console releases.
WWE Enters RPG Space
During the Q1 2022 earnings call, WWE CBO Stephanie McMahon announced that the promotion is taking a dive into the world of RPG video games (h/t Wrestling Inc).
“We continue to see strength in the performance of our mobile games, with 2K and Scopely’s Supercard and Champions, and recently signed a new deal in the role-playing game space that will be announced soon.”
Stephanie further discussed WWE’s commitment to gaming for over 30 years.
“Gaming is a priority for WWE to reach our next-gen audience with over 80% of WWE’s audience self-identifying as gamers, and nearly 60% of the gaming audience in general being 34 years or younger.”
There are plenty of RPGs in the mobile, console, and PC markets. Time will tell if WWE can draw in a solid player base for its soon-to-be-announced role-playing title.
WWE’s latest major video game is WWE 2K22. SEScoops reviewed the game, which you can see here.
Charlotte Flair has a long list of accolades to her name, but this one could put things over the top.
There’s no denying that Charlotte is a future WWE Hall of Famer. She is one of the top performers in WWE and is recognized as a 13-time world champion in the company. Could undisputed gold be in her sights down the road?
Charlotte Unifying Titles?
During an appearance on El Brunch de WWE, Charlotte was asked about potentially unifying the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Titles. After all, Roman Reigns is the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
“The Queen” answered by saying she’d be all for it (h/t POST Wrestling).
“Absolutely [I’d be up for unifying the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Titles]. Yeah, but I don’t feel like I need the Raw or SmackDown Title to be the queen of both divisions [Flair laughed].”
Surpassing Father’s Achievement
Charlotte went on to say that her next big goal is to break Ric Flair’s record of holding 16 world titles in WWE.
“I think it’s just continuing the legacy, beating my dad’s record. I’m a 13-time champion, so I’m getting close to 16-time. I think that’s probably next.”
The SmackDown Women’s Champion is currently in a feud with Ronda Rousey. She’ll put her gold on the line against “Rowdy” at the WrestleMania Backlash event in an I Quit Match on May 8.
Do you think WWE should consider unifying the women’s titles?
The brackets for the men’s side of the first-ever AEW Owen Hart Memorial tournament is complete, with the promotion revealing that there will be one mystery competitor, codenamed “The Joker,” facing Samoa Joe in the opening round.
As accustom for AEW, Joe’s opponent will not be revealed until they square-off in a couple weeks, leaving plenty of room for exciting speculation as to who the mystery man will be. While there is a strong possibility it is a non-AEW talent, there are still a good number of options from the promotion’s already stacked roster. Below, in no particular order, are what I think are the four best possible scenarios.
Johnny Gargano
The former triple-crown NXT champion has been very missed since his departure from the brand last year, and has remained relatively quiet from the wrestling scene as he enjoys life at home as a new dad. However, an appearance for AEW, whether it’s a run just for this tournament or a full-time contract, could ignite this next chapter of his career. Also if there is one person who knows how to wrestle the AEW-style, Gargano is your guy.
Miro
Prior to his minor injury Miro had become one of the company’s hottest acts, whose Amadeus inspired Redeemer gimmick separated him from any memory of his WWE character. While Miro was mainly depicted as a heel the dedicated AEW faithful would certainly welcome him back with open arms, which could help catapult his gimmick into the main event scene. Furthermore, a Joe vs. Miro hoss fight seems like the most fitting war to kickstar this first-ever tournament.
Claudio Castagnoli
AEW on paper is the perfect home for Claudio. His body of work in WWE, especially inside the ring, has stood out for years, and kept him very popular with fans even when his push didn’t match what he could offer. We saw a glimmer of the babyface Swiss-Superman when he was going after the Tribal Chief, but what could that look like without any of the restrictions? Also he befittingly has been doing the sharpshooter for years.
Kenny Omega
If anyone really needed some time off in this industry, it was Omega. His run as the belt collector is even more impressive when you consider the number of lingering injuries, including vertigo, he had to work through during his 11-month reign. A return here not only gives AEW fans one of their all-time favorites back in active competition, but can serve as a layer to the eventual civil war in the undisputed elite. What happens if Omega beats Joe and has to potentially face-off with Kyle O’Reilly, or better yet, Adam Cole?
The Owen Hart Memorial tournament officially begins next week in Long Island, which will see Darby Allin battle Jeff Hardy and Dax Harwood face Adam Cole in the opening round. The other two first round matchups are Kyle O’Reilly against former tag champion Rey Fenix, and of course, Samoa Joe against our mystery man.
Nikki Bella will be back on USA Network but it won’t be for WWE.
Deadline reports that musician Blake Shelton and Carson Daly will be teaming up to start a new game show titled, “Barmageddon.” The show will be airing on USA Network. On the show, celebrities will compete in a series of bar games.
Nikki Bella Hosting Barmageddon
Nikki Bella will serve as the host of the upcoming game show. Shelton will be on stage with his house band, while Daly will be behind the bar.
Here’s an official description of Barmageddon:
“In each episode, two celebrities will play a unique set of five games in the bar to win a much-needed prize for a viral Internet sensation each has chosen to support. Plucked from obscurity following their epic misadventures on the Internet, these now-infamous stars find themselves at Ole Red hoping to be redeemed.
The competition heats up when the losing rival of each round has a chance to even the score by spinning the Wheel of Redemption, a risky move with hilarious consequences. Shelton and Daly will offer words of encouragement – and heckling, of course – to their celebrity friends.
On occasion, they might even step in to show off their skills and play a game or two. Ultimately, the winning team takes home a prize while the losing celebrity must accept the shame of defeat. But this is Barmageddon – even if they did not win, at least they had a ton of fun trying.”
The show will be filmed in Blake Shelton’s own bar, Ole Red, in Nashville.
Bella made waves back in April when she said she’d be open to a WWE return during a Q&A session for America’s Got Talent: Extreme. She said that if the doctors give her clearance, then she won’t rule out the possibility.
Darius Martin, one-half of the tag team Top Flight, is injured and is sidelined from in-ring action.
He previously missed a year of action when he tore his ACL. Darius returned on AEW Dynamite as part of the AEW World Tag Team Title Number One Contendership Casino Tag Team Royale. The Young Bucks won the match to head into AEW Revolution as Martin was eliminated last.
Martin performed short of a dozen matches since his return, only to suffer another injury. There were reports of him suffering from a leg injury and missing significant ring time. Martin cleared up the air and said that his injury has nothing to do with wrestling by writing on Twitter, “What I’m currently dealing with had NOTHING to do with wrestling but I’m glad everyone else out there seems to know more about my health than I do.”
There was still no other information available about his injury until Malakai Black finally gave us an update about him.
Appearing on The Universal Wrestling Podcast, Black said (as transcribed by SEScoops): “I’ve wrestled Dante Martin, but his brother, unfortunately–I wish him a speedy recovery–he had a really nasty car accident. He’s out for another, like, six to nine months.”
Malakai Black was speaking about working with young talent and when speaking of working with Dante Martin, he gave an update on Darius’ health.
Chyna passed away on April 17, 2016, at the age of 46 due to an accidental drug overdose. Her body was found on April 20 at her home in Redondo Beach, California when her manager got concerned over Chyna’s inactivity on social media and decided to give her a visit.
Now Chyna’s mother, Jan LaQue, has come out and said that she believes there is more to the story regarding her daughter’s final moments.
Posting on Facebook, LaQue revealed that a woman named Dee J Ben (Dee Joy Bendoy) called her after Chyna died and told her that she spent the last Sunday with her. This was the last day that Chyna was in contact with anyone.
LaQue further continued that the woman told her that she and her boyfriend spent the Sunday afternoon drinking with Chyna in her condo. LaQue has been trying to get more details on what happened to her daughter right before she died but the woman refuses to speak to her.
LaQue thinks that the woman is hiding something about Chyna’s death. Right after Chyna’s death, she personally spoke to the LA coroner investigator, Christy McCracken, and the Redondo police detective investigator.
Chyna’s mother says both of them told her there was no evidence of alcohol in her condo. The examiner informed her that two types of alcohol contributed to her death and her blood level was “way over the top.”
Since there was no alcohol found in Chyna’s apartment, LaQue suggests that evidence at the scene was tampered with and someone must have “cleaned up” things. Since the woman was last in contact with her, she must have known about her condition. Her refusal to give more details to Chyna’s mother does not help her case either.
Chyna
Facebook Post
In the post, LaQue urged people to let her know if anyone knows the woman or what happened during that time. You can read the post in its entirety below:
“So many of you have contacted me recently and told me that you hoped that some day I would find the answers to what really happened to Joanie right before her death and how she really died. This woman in these pictures, now going as Dee J Ben on Facebook, (she has been called Dee Joy Bendoy) called me after Joanie died telling me that she spent that last Sunday with Joanie. That was the last day that anyone saw her.
She told me that she and her boyfriend and Joanie spent that afternoon drinking in Joanie’s condo. Since then I’ve tried to contact her several times to learn more, but she keeps ignoring my requests to speak with her. Is she hiding something? It would seem so. I spoke to the LA coroner investigator, Christy McCracken, and the Redondo police detective investigator personally, right after Joanie’s death. Both of them told me that there was no evidence of alcohol in Joanie’s condo. Then the LA medical examiner told me that contributing to her death were two types of alcohol and her blood level was WAY over the top.
So how does that make sense? She was obviously under the influence of massive amounts of alcohol, yet nothing was found in the apartment. What happened? Did this Dee remove all the evidence? And if so, why? She had to have known that Joanie was in terrible shape. Why did she go away and leave her in that condition? And if she didn’t remove any bottles or evidence, then who did? Someone had to have “cleaned up” things.
As more and more time goes by, I’m more and more convinced that this Dee Bendoy knows the truth about what happened. But getting her to come clean with what she knows about that last day is another story. If you know this woman and/or what happened, please please let me know so I can put this mystery to bed. Not knowing what happened is honestly heartbreaking. I promise that I will keep anything you share in confidence.”
John Cena says WWE fans have taught him many lessons that they are not even aware of. He says these lessons have helped him shape into a better person.
John Cena said this when he appeared on an episode of Backstage’s In the Envelope where he talked about his acting career. During the interview, he also thanked WWE fans for teaching him a lot of values and said that he can’t wait to let them know.
“There will come a time where I’ll be able to thank the WWE audience for all that they have taught me. That’s not just from a professional standpoint. They made me into the man I am, straight up, especially in lessons like humility and failure, persistence, countless things that they will never understand,” Cena said (as transcribed by Fightful).
“When I hear something from you like, ‘I watched WrestleMania 21’ or Austin Theory, for example, ‘I watched John Cena as a kid and Never Give Up got me through a lot of stuff and that’s why I’m here now.’ I don’t think he realizes what he did for me,” Cena continued. “It’s not just from a profession. I reference WWE in my daily life, it’s something I’m forever grateful for, because it’s made me into the man that I am.”
Austin Theory has said before that John Cena is his inspiration and the reason why he got into wrestling. Theory suffered bullying growing up and Cena’s way of handling himself have him encouragement to push through the harder times. “For me growing up, I was bullied in school, and I didn’t have my dad in my life, so it kind of helped me, like just his attitude and the way he was and the way he carried himself, no matter what the situation was. John Cena just gave me that encouragement, and even if it sounds cheesy, just to never give up. I mean it’s true, and that’s what’s gotten me here so quick,” Theory has said about Cena.
While it’s no secret that WWE is pushing Theory as the next big thing, some reports are claiming that WWE is trying to make him the next Cena. Theory is even teasing a SummerSlam match with his icon.
Theory recently taunted a fan at ringside who was wearing Cena merch and claimed that he is a better United States Champion than Cena was. Cena responded by giving him some advice along with a warning.
Ahead of last night’s Dynamite broadcast on TBS AEW taped several matches for their weekly Youtube episodic Dark: Elevation, which featured a new debut for the men’s division.
That man was indie sensation and former Ring of Honor Television champion Tony Deppen, who wrestled John Silver from the Dark Order. Reports had surfaced earlier in the day that Deppen had been spotted backstage, but it was not certain what his role would be at that time. You can see a photo from his matchup below. (Thanks to @darbygargano for sharing)
Deppen made his debut for ROH in 2020 in their Pure title tournament, where he would eventually be eliminated by PJ Black. This was right in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak so ROH was running taped shows in front of zero fans.
He would unsuccessfully challenge for the ROH TV title several times before finally dethroning Tracy Williams. Aside from ROH Deppen has wrestled for Chikara, CZW, PWG, and has become a regular for the very popular, GCW.
Deppen’s match with Silver will most likely air on next Monday’s AEW Dark: Elevation. As of this writing it is not known whether Deppen will continue appearing for AEW, or if he has possibly signed with ROH now that they are owned by Tony Khan. We will keep you updated on Deppen’s status in the competitive wrestling market.
“When you’re talking about somebody that you don’t know, that right there for me is taking it to another level… I have no problem or personal issues with Ryback or anything like that but I’m not someone that hides up under a rock or anything or that’s afraid to tackle a situation like this one right here. My thing is this. Ryback didn’t make it in the WWE, right? That’s a fact, he didn’t make it in the WWE.
“A person that says something like that, I just do not have a whole lot of respect for him. The thing is, if I saw him in his face, I’ll tell him, ‘I don’t have a lot of respect for you at all if any.’ Seriously, that’s just the type of person I am. I do know if I ever was to run across Ryback ever again in any form, he would not be receiving a handshake.”
Despite claiming to stand by the comments he made, Ryback has since deleted the tweet where he insulted McMahon’s mother.
Kurt Angle has four wrestlers in mind when it comes to his favorite he’s worked with.
The WWE Hall Of Famer recently took to his podcast, “The Kurt Angle Show,” to discuss several professional wrestling topics. During the show, Angle touched on the similarities shared between former WWE Champions AJ Styles and Shawn Michaels.
Angle noted that the two men’s athletic abilities, their in-ring work, showmanship, and more make them so similar. He threw in that both Styles and Michaels are amongst his four favorite wrestlers he’s ever worked with, along with both Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero.
“Shawn and AJ, they have so many identical ways about them, especially their in-ring performances, their athleticism, the way they were showmen. Very identical styles.
“Of the guys I worked with, I would say AJ, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Benoit were my three favorites to work with. And Eddie Guerrero is in there too.”
Angle has had some great matches with all four men mentioned. Of course, Styles and Angle had some run-ins with one another during their days under the TNA banner. And who could forget Angle’s amazing WrestleMania 21 match with “HBK” in 2005?
The Olympic Gold medalist also shared the ring many times with Chris Benoit, who, despite the dark ending to his life, is regarded as one of the best in-ring performers of all time. And finally, Angle and Guerrero also put on a match for the ages at WrestleMania 20 for the WWE Championship.
All four of those men are undoubtedly some of the best in-ring talents professional wrestling has ever seen, and Angle can certainly count himself in that bunch as well.
A WWE Hall of Famer has credited the Undertaker for getting him into the pro-wrestling industry.
During an interview with WWE Now India the Great Khali explained how the Deadman was the sole reason he started watching the sport, later calling him an inspiration.
“I started wrestling after watching The Undertaker. He was my inspiration to get into the business.”
Later when Khali was asked about his most satisfying victories in WWE he once again mentioned Taker, stating that defeating him close to his debut was a moment that remains very close to his heart.
“It was such a memorable moment for me[win over Undertaker]. It was challenging match for me but it was equally momentous.. very close to my heart.”
The match Khali is referring to is Judgement Day 2006. The feud was set up when Khali attacked Undertaker during his bout with Mark Henry at the post-WrestleMania 22 edition of SmackDown. Fans were astonished to see a man towering over the legendary Phenom and manhandle him around the ring with such ease.
The Undertaker wouldn’t be the only thing Khali talked about during the interview. He also mentions his CWE Academy in India, and how hopes to inspire the next generation.
“It was my dream[to start an academy in India]. Since I was a wrestler myself, I did not want to be the last wrestler from India[to join WWE]. I wanted more young wrestlers from India to go to WWE to make India proud.”
Khali was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
A recent taping for AEW Dark: Elevation was hindered due to issues with power.
Ahead of the May 4 episode of Dynamite, AEW taped matches for Dark: Elevation. The matches included Max Caster vs. Cheeseburger, Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. QT Marshall & Nick Comoroto, Abandon vs. Emi Sakura, and Sonny Kiss vs. Peter Avalon. The Dark Order was also in action.
Power Struggles At AEW Dark: Elevation
There was one match on the Dark: Elevation tapings that won’t be airing on May 9. Nyla Rose took on Skye Blue but AEW couldn’t film the match due to a power failure.
“The entrance and the announcing place all of a sudden went dark. So, they did the match, Max Caster won, and then they did another match that they announced which was Skye Blue and Nyla Rose and they just said, ‘This match is only for you fans in the arena, it will never air.’ Because they couldn’t tape it because they had the power failure, or whatever it was. Luckily, they got the thing fixed by eight o’clock and there was no problem with Dynamite.”
As Meltzer mentioned, you wouldn’t know there were power issues watching Dynamite live. The situation cleared up before the live airing.
Time will tell if AEW rebooks Nyla Rose vs. Skye Blue so that the match can air. For those wondering, Nyla won the match as one might’ve guessed.
The Lee & Strickland vs. QT & Comoroto match was taped after Dynamite.
CM Punk has responded to Hangman Page’s “Bret Hart tribute” dig during this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
Page cut a promo on Punk ahead of their match at Double Or Nothing, saying that their match isn’t going to be a “masturbatory Bret Hart tribute.” In fact, he plans to “destroy” the Straight Edge grappler once and for all. He also mocked Punk for missing this week’s Dynamite.
Punk later responded on Twitter, teasing he’s going to put Page in the Sharpshooter.
Over his past several matches, CM Punk has been paying homage to Bret Hart with various spots. His match against Darby Allin in his AEW debut was almost an exact remake of Hart’s match against The 1-2-3 Kid on a 1994 episode of RAW.
Also, during Punk’s dog-collar match with MJF at AEW Revolution, Punk used the same finish from Hart’s match with Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8. Earlier this year, Punk’s match with Wardlow was also very similar to Hart’s match with Diesel at the 1995 Survivor Series.
Most recently, Punk’s match with Dustin Rhodes on Dynamite was very similar to Hart’s match with Goldust on an episode of RAW in 1997. It will be interesting to see if Punk does pay tribute to Hart again with some more cool spots during his match with Page at Double Or Nothing.
AEW Double Or Nothing will go down live on pay-per-view (PPV) from Las Vegas on May 29.
It appears Tessa Blanchard has shared a post in response to a report regarding her future with Women of Wrestling.
On May 4, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported that the relationship between Tessa and WOW had gotten rocky ahead of the promotion’s return tapings. The report noted that many have been none too pleased with Tessa after she “tore apart” Samantha Sage verbally during an April workshop class.
As a result, it’s been said that the acting classes were canceled until further notice. Another source claimed that Tessa is no longer in charge of training talent and has been replaced by Selina Majors.
Standing Up for Your Beliefs
Tessa Blanchard took to her Instagram Stories shortly after the report surfaced. In the story, she shared a post with an interesting quote:
“When standing up for your beliefs becomes a matter of great inconvenience, will you stand anyway?”
Tessa Blanchard: Lightning Rod for Controversy
Per the Fightful report, a source implied that Tessa will only be able to find work in Mexico going forward. One former WOW star is under the impression that Tessa is gone from the company but that isn’t a confirmation.
When WOW first announced its relaunch, Tessa was at the forefront as one of the promotion’s biggest stars. Having scored a deal with ViacomCBS, many questioned WOW for putting faith in Blanchard despite past accusations of her toxic behavior.
Blanchard has denied accusations of racism and bullying, which were brought about in early 2020. She also had a nasty split from Impact Wrestling while she was the promotion’s world champion.
Dolph Ziggler is having some fun after his brother, Ryan Nemeth, received AEW merchandise.
Dolph performs under the WWE banner, while Ryan works for AEW. The two have been known for roasting each other on social media and the antics certainly haven’t shown signs of slowing down.
Dolph Ziggler Roasts His Brother
AEW has rolled out some new merchandise for Ryan Nemeth and it’s available on ShopAEW. It’s a big deal for Ryan and he made sure he let Dolph know about it.
Dolph Ziggler has had a long career with WWE. He signed a contract with the company back in 2004, developing under Ohio Valley Wrestling. He made his main roster debut as Chavo Guerrero’s caddie. Chavo had undergone a gimmick change and was known as Kerwin White.
The ball started to get rolling with Dolph when he joined the Spirit Squad. Eventually, Dolph became a singles competitor and captured multiple championships in WWE. This included a brief World Heavyweight Title run.
More recently, Ziggler became the NXT Champion. The reign fell short of lasting a full month as Dolph was pinned by Bron Breakker on the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw.
The May 6, edition of AEW Rampage was taped last night after Dynamite went off the air at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
Here are the results for that show, courtesy of Ryan Schultz:
Toni Storm and Ruby Soho defeated Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. Storm pinned Baker for the finish, and post-match, a graphic was shown for the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament match between Storm and Hayter.
Hook defeated JD Drake in a short bout. Post-match, Danhausen greeted Hook to loud ‘Hookhausen’ chants from the crowd. Hook is still not interested in aligning with Danhausen. Tony Nese appeared to challenge Danhausen to a match at a later date.
Shawn Spears came out carrying a steel chair with “Giant Killer” on it. Spears said Wardlow might be the real giant of pro wrestling, but he’s the Giant Killer.
AEW TNT Champion Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, and Dan Lambert had an in-ring promo. Lambert insulted the Baltimore fans after talking about being from the area and said the fans ruined Baltimore so he moved to Miami. Page cut a babyface promo on Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara. Sky spoke about bringing prestige back to the TNT Championship so Lambert must return his version to the ATT trophy case. Frankie Kazarian appeared and challenged Sky to a title match next week.
Riho defeated Yuka Sakazaki to qualify for The Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament in a good match given plenty of time.
FTW Champion Ricky Starks and AEW World Tag Team Champion Jungle Boy brawled on the stage to build to their FTW Title match that’ll happen on next week’s Dynamite.
Jay Lethal defeated Konosuke Takeshita in the main event of the show. Post-match, Lethal, and Sonjay Dutt double-teamed Takeshita until Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta made the save. Satnam Singh arrived and beat up Best Friends while Cassidy avoided him. Ring of Honor World Television Champion Samoa Joe ran down with a steel pipe but security and officials stopped him on the ramp.
AEW star Shane ‘Swerve’ Strickland has said that Triple H refused to let him follow scripted word-for-word promos as part of WWE NXT.
Strickland joined WWE’s third brand in 2019, becoming a one-time NXT North American Champion, but was released weeks into his main-roster call up in November 2021.
Speaking on Talk is Jericho this week, Strickland discussed working with the Game, saying:
“We did Great American Bash and we [Strickland and Leon Ruff] had a blow-off match. That’s when Hit Row was introduced. I was cutting promos in the studio backstage and Triple H was like ‘Nope – take away the script. Don’t let him use the script anymore.’ So I was like ‘cool’.”
WWE’s policy is for promos to be written ahead of time by the creative team and for Superstars to recite these promos verbatim.
The company has been heavily criticized for this approach, with fans and wrestlers alike arguing that this stifles the creativity of the Superstars.
Triple H ran NXT until the show’s rebrand as NXT 2.0 in September 2021 and has recently been recovering from a cardiac event.
Strickland joined AEW at Revolution 2022 in March and most recently faced Darby Allin on last week’s Rampage in a losing effort.
In addition to WWE and AEW, Strickland has worked for Lucha Underground and MLW, and is a former World Heavyweight Champion of the latter.
WWE Raw Tag Team Champion Randy Orton has said he has experienced “meltdowns and breakdowns” in front of company Chairman Vince McMahon.
The 14-time WWE World Champion and McMahon have worked closely both behind the scenes and on-screen, even having a match on the April 6, 2009 Raw which ended in a no contest.
While speaking to Metro, Orton discussed his relationship with his boss:
”He’s seen me in dark periods where I’ve had meltdowns and breakdowns in front of him. I’ve beat my head against the wall in front of him, as a 25-year-old man just emotional f***** – ‘Arrrr!’ – not knowing how to express myself. He’s witnessed that in close quarters. I think he sees a little bit of my crazy in him – even if it’s just a little bit.
“From an early age when I was f****** up like that, I think it almost made him want to nurture that part of me. We’ve grown together in that regard, so now our conversations are a lot different. If I knock on his door, peek my head in, nine out of 10 times, no matter who’s in there he’ll tell them to f**** off so I can come in and talk to him. Which is pretty cool, you know?”
Last month, Orton celebrated the 20th anniversary of his WWE main roster debut on the April 25, 2022 Raw.
Orton will team with Riddle and Drew McIntyre to face Roman Reigns and The Usos at WrestleMania-Backlash.
WrestleMania-Backlash will take place this Sunday at the Dunkin Donuts Center, in Providence, Rhode Island.
Former WWE Superstar Maria Kanellis-Bennett has praised newly-signed talent Roxanne Perez, comparing her to Becky Lynch.
Perez, previously known as Rok-C, officially signed with WWE in March 2020, and is a former Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion.
Speaking to the Bleav in Pro Wrestling Podcast, Kanellis-Bennett said that Perez shares a lot of similarities with the former Raw Women’s Champion:
“I hesitate to say this because I don’t like anybody comparing anybody to anyone else, but the ability that you have in Becky Lynch, you have in Roxanne. I think that is only going to continue to grow. Of course, she’s still got things she has to work on but I think at some point, Roxanne will be on the same level as Becky.
“She has the technique down. She has the story, she has the heart. She used to ride the bus to go to wrestling training before she could drive a car or anything like that. She rode a bus so she could go to training.”
Roxanne Perez’s ROH Women’s World title win came when Kanellis-Bennett had a backstage role with Ring of Honor’s Women’s division.
Perez made her WWE in-ring debut on the April 12, 2022, episode of NXT LVL UP, defeating Sloane Jacobs.
In her most recent match, she faced NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose in a losing effort
Kanellis-Bennett recently announced the start of her own all-female promotion ‘Women’s Wrestling Army.’
A comic series created by Muhammad Hassan and the late-Shad Gaspard is to be adapted into a feature film.
The pair of former WWE Superstars worked together to create ‘Assassin & Son’ which focuses on the titular assassin, Donovan Braddock, who works with a team of covert killers known as ‘The Horsemen.’
When Braddock’s wife is killed in front of their son, the father-son duo set out on a quest of revenge and family ties.
Deadline reports that State Street Pictures have picked up the comic series to adapt into a movie but no release date has been confirmed.
State Street Creative Executive, Lawrence Mott told Deadline about his excitement to bring ‘Assassin & Son’ to the big screen:
“What excites us creatively is the balance of hard-hitting action and emotional themes presented in the source material.“
“We met Shad at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. He was known for his brawn in the world of wrestling, but what we were taken by was his humor, intelligence and creative genius,” added Don Handfield of Scout Comics. “We were blown away by his and Marc’s comic, and we’re proud to bring it to the world.
State Street Pictures was founded in 1990 by filmmaker George Tillman Jr (The Hate U Give) and Robert Teitel.
Gaspard tragically passed away saving the life of his son Aryeh in May 2020, days before the publication of the first issue.
Last month he was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a Warrior Award recipient, which was accepted by Aryeh and his wife Siliana.
AEW Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa’s next challenger has been revealed.
Rosa is approaching the two-month mark of her AEW Women’s Championship reign. She captured the title during the St. Patrick’s Day Slam edition of Dynamite, defeating Britt Baker.
Thunder Rosa made her way out to the stage during the May 4 episode of Dynamite. Serena Deeb saw it as a perfect opportunity to address the champion. We then learned that Rosa vs. Deeb is now official for the Double or Nothing PPV set for May 29 in Las Vegas.
Mercedes Martinez has ushered in a new era for ROH by unifying the women’s gold.
On the May 4 episode of AEW Dynamite, Martinez went toe-to-toe with Deonna Purrazzo. Going into the match, Martinez was the interim ROH Women’s Champion while Purrazzo was the main titleholder.
Something had to give in the main event of Dynamite. In the end, it was Mercedes Martinez who forced Purrazzo to tap out via Surfboard Dragon Sleeper. She is now the undisputed ROH Women’s Champion.
The former COO of ROH, Joe Koff, has issued a statement expressing gratitude following the sale of Ring of Honor.
Back in March, AEW President Tony Khan announced he is the new owner of ROH. SEScoops first reported that the sale hadn’t officially closed but ROH staff members were expecting that to change as soon as April.
It may have taken a tad bit longer but Khan announced that the sale has finally closed.
It’s Wednesday, you know what that means:#AEWDynamite LIVE on @TBSNetwork @ 8pm ET/7pm CT TONIGHT! It’s a stacked card + my 1st day as @ringofhonor owner (the sale just closed), & we’ll crown an undisputed ROH Women’s World Champion! Thank you everyone watching Dynamite Tonight! pic.twitter.com/b7shEjCqi0
Wrestling financial analyst, Lavie Margolin, added the following:
Here we go, in the 8K filing: "In May, the Company sold certain assets of Ring of Honor Entertainment, including the wrestling promotion’s extensive video library dating back to 2002, brand assets, intellectual property, production equipment and more, to an affiliate of AEW".
“Here we go, in the 8K filing: ‘In May, the Company sold certain assets of Ring of Honor Entertainment, including the wrestling promotion’s extensive video library dating back to 2002, brand assets, intellectual property, production equipment and more, to an affiliate of AEW.'”
Joe Koff Issues Statement
If there’s one person who fought tooth and nail for ROH over the years it was Joe Koff. He took to his LinkedIn page to respond to the ROH sale close.
“What started with a dinner with Cary Silkin some 12 years ago, ended with Episode 552 of Ring of Honor television, which aired recently across our Ring of Honor network, featuring all of the Sinclair Broadcast stations, Bally Sports Networks, Marquee, select stations across America, regional cable systems, international clearances, STIRR, and Honor Club.
“12 years. 552 weekly original hours. Over 1,000+ hours of additional match content. Close to 100 podcasts. YouTube specials. Honor Club. PPV’s. Live House shows on 3 continents. Merchandise. And let me not forget a SOLD OUT Madison Garden. That was our Ring of Honor and now, it is in the most capable hands of AEW and the brilliant Tony Kahn along with all of the stars that shone in our Ring and the new stars sure to glow as brightly in his Ring of Honor. Thank you again Tony.
“As I look back on this amazing journey, there are so many people who joined this journey with me, our staff, our brilliant athletes that you will always know as Ring of Honor, our partners in production and distribution, our vendors and most importantly, you, our fans. I want to thank you personally for your continuous support, belief in me and our product, what we could do, what we would do, what we did!
“It was the journey of a lifetime and I thank you for sharing it with me.”
