The new UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña is open to following the footsteps of many others before her and having a pro wrestling career in WWE once she is done with MMA.
The Venezuelan Vixen recently had an interview with New York Post (via MMANews). Among other things, she discussed the possibility of a career in pro wrestling.
Peña said that right now her focus is on fighting for UFC. Though she didn’t say no to a WWE career and claimed that she doesn’t see why it couldn’t happen down the line:
“Right now my focus is on fighting. Later on, if that opportunity presents itself, I don’t see why I couldn’t explore that avenue.” Julianna Peña said “Definitely, my focus is on fighting for the UFC,”
Bobby Lashley Explains Why He Never Signed With UFC
We have seen some big names crossing over to WWE from UFC over the years. This includes Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey who are arguably the biggest stars of their respective divisions right now.
WWE will not say no to the opportunity as UFC stars usually bring mainstream attention to the product. It wouldn’t be a surprise if AEW makes a play for her as well.
Though Julianna Peña is focused on her rematch with Amanda Nunes right now. An official date for the same hasn’t been announced but it’s targeted for sometime later this year.
WWE received some major visibility during the most-viewed sporting event of the year on Sunday night. Peacock reportedly paid for a WWE WrestleMania 38 advertisement to air during Super Bowl LVI on Sunday night between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.
With the WWE Network moving to the Peacock streaming service domestically last year, the brand looked to hype up WWE’s biggest show of the year during what is always the biggest sporting event of the year.
During the pre-show for the Super Bowl, a 30 second advertisement aired for WrestleMania 38, which will of course air on Peacock in early April. Then, during the first half of the Super Bowl game itself, a 15 second spot aired promoting WrestleMania.
Both commercial feature the voice of Pat McAfee. You can view the 30 second advertisement below, which aired during the pre-game show.
Two matches have been confirmed so far for WrestleMania 38, which is just under two months away in Arlington, Texas at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will take on Brock Lesnar, while WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair will wrestle Ronda Rousey.
Lesnar has a chance to make his match against Reigns a title vs. title match. Next Saturday at WWE Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia, Lesnar will participate in the Elimination Chamber match for Bobby Lashley’s WWE Championship. As the Top Rope Nation podcast first reported last week, Paul Heyman has been pushing hard for a title vs. title match at WrestleMania during creative meetings for several weeks now.
Do you want to see Reigns vs. Lesnar as a title vs. title match? Let us know in the comments section below!
Don’t forget to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Despite all the other things he has to do, Dwyane Johnson made time for a Super Bowl intro and he channeled The Rock in his full form for it. The former WWE star kicked off the big game between Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals from the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Sunday.
Giving the camera his signature eyebrow, The People’s Champion cut a passionate WWE-style promo. He got the crowd hyped up for the big match:
“It is time. It is time for all of us here and millions around the world to bear witness to these incredible players who will leave every ounce of sweat, guts and pride and legacy on this hallowed field” said The Rock, “because that is what champions do, Ladies and gentleman, it is my honor to say, finally, it is time for the Super Bowl!”
The Hollywood star had been rumored for a WWE return at WrestleMania 38 but those talks have since cooled down. Reports suggest that WWE is now trying to build a match between him and the Universal champion Roman Reigns for WrestleMania 39 in Hollywood. Though anything can happen between now and then. We will have to see if the former champion is able to make time from his busy schedule for this bout.
Miro learned quite a bit from John Cena during his run in WWE.
AEW star Miro competed as Rusev when he worked under the WWE banner. He was signed to FCW in 2010 and made his main roster debut in 2014. While Miro captured the United States Title three times, many felt he wasn’t utilized properly long-term and he was released from the promotion in 2020.
Learning From Doctor Of Thuganomics
During an appearance on The Kurt Angle Show, Miro went in-depth on being able to pick John Cena’s brain on how to thrive in the wrestling business.
“Oh man, John is the best. John is absolutely the best. I learned so much from him even to this day. Once again, he’s such a teacher.
“He’s so good and he’s one of those guys, ‘What’s your four best moves?’ That’s what I learned from him that I utilize to this day. He asks you that not because — He just wants to highlight you in the best spots, in the best lighting. So, he’s just trying to understand in his head where he’s gonna put these four best moves.
“I learned that, I learned psychology of a match a lot more. I learned how to control a match because beating up John for 10 minutes, 15 minutes a night the whole time what he’s doing is he’s [talking].
“All I’m doing is just listening and then after the match, he’s telling me why we did this. ‘You hear the crowd was here? We’re trying to get it there, that’s why we did this.’ This whole thing, I found out, it’s all about psychology.”
Miro also said that another key piece of advice Cena gave him was to listen to the crowd when every show starts to get a feel of who he is working in front of.
Nowadays, Cena is more focused on Hollywood but he still makes the trip back to the squared circle when he can. As for Miro, he works for AEW where he is a former TNT Champion.
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Mark Henry believes it’s possible for Ronda Rousey to better embrace her babyface role.
Rousey has seemingly had a love-hate relationship with fans dating back to her days in the UFC. “Rowdy” often doesn’t take too kindly to jeers from crowds, which doesn’t bode well for her as a face.
Ronda Rousey (Photo: WWE)
Advice For Rousey
WWE has tried to spruce up Rousey’s babyface persona by using artificial crowd noise. During an episode of Busted Open Radio, Mark Henry suggested a different approach.
“What can be done is you can start slowly intergrading her into doing the babyface things. You can have her do the community involvement and the association of being around the kids.
“She’s a mom now. She’s gotta make statements, ‘Hey, I gotta be better. I have to be better. I gotta be a better example for my family, for my daughter. I have to be a better example for the fans. I have to be a better example for the other women in pro wrestling.’
“Now, that tells me, ‘Okay, this person is on the nicer side of things.’ You have to keep her moving with a trajectory of positivity and success.”
Ronda has admitted that trash talk from fans has thrown her for a loop in the past. Rousey is set to challenge Charlotte for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at this year’s WrestleMania event.
Charlotte has been positioned as a top heel in WWE. It’ll be interesting to see how WWE handles Rousey’s promos throughout the buildup of this title match.
Do you think Ronda Rousey should be a full-blown babyface or a tweener?
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Mia Yim recently took to social media to comment on why she’s hasn’t wrestled since being released by WWE. Yim was released from the company on November 4th, 2021.
She clarified that due to her recent wedding to AEW’s Keith Lee, she opted not to take any bookings until March.
“To those wondering why I’m not back in the ring yet.. February is a busy month. With the wedding and the move, I decided to not take any bookings until March to focus on getting everything handled at home first. So don’t worry, I’ll see you all in the ring in March,” Yim Tweeted.
To those wondering why I’m not back in the ring yet.. February is a busy month. With the wedding and the move, I decided to not take any bookings until March to focus on getting everything handled at home first. So don’t worry, I’ll see you all in the ring in March ? #HBICpic.twitter.com/7s0dg7EQRA
The 32-year-old hasn’t wrestled a match in over a year. Her last actual match was a loss to Nikki Cross on Main Event on December 28th, 2020. This was under her “Reckoning” gimmick along with Retribution. Her only ever victory on the main roster came the week before on Main Event, when she defeated Cross.
Yim is a former 1x Knockouts Champion in Impact Wrestling. She also previously held the SHINE title as well.
It’s not clear where Yim could end up in the future. She might be signed by AEW, where her husband made his debut last week. Yim could also return to Impact Wrestling, where she has spent much of her career thus far.
“If he beats Goldberg next week, Roman Reigns will have beaten every person to hold the Universal title during his current reign.”
This Tweet did not sit well with Wyatt. His Fiend character was the Universal Champion heading into a triple threat against Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman at Payback. Reigns pinned Strowman to win the title, however, and not Wyatt.
“Worth pointing out that Roman Reigns didn’t actually beat Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble, but he retained the title over him, so the point still stands,” Dangoor also noted.
Where Will Bray Wyatt End Up?
Bray Wyatt was released on July 31st, 2021. He’s been gone from wrestling ever since. There were rumors that Impact Wrestling was interested in him but any thought of him going there is pretty much dead at this point.
According to sources close to Bray Wyatt, there is no deal with IMPACT Wrestling in place, or close.
Nick Wayne is All Elite. The 16-year-old son of the late Buddy Wayne received a contract offer from AEW during a recent Defy live event in Seattle. Wayne lost to Christopher Daniels in the night’s main event. Following the match, Darby Allin came out to offer Wayne an AEW contract.
Nick Wayne was recently prevented from appearing on The WRLD On GCW show after the athletic commission discovered his age.
“Due to circumstances that neither I nor GCW had control of, I was unfortunately not able to perform tonight at The Wrld on GCW at Hammerstein Ballroom. We still live to perform another day, Love y’all ?? Tonight was history making,” Wayne wrote on Twitter about missing the show.
Joey Janela Tweeted about this after the fact.
“This is 100% not a work, I walked up to nick & his mother before & told him I’d give him whatever he wanted. I told him to tell me what he wanted, he wants @WillOspreay we will make it happen. Nick is one of my favorites of all time! And I’m gonna look out for him @WillOspreay”
Due to circumstances that neither I nor GCW had control of, I was unfortunately not able to perform tonight at The Wrld on GCW at Hammerstein Ballroom. We still live to perform another day, Love y’all ?? Tonight was history making.
There are numerous pro-wrestling connections attached to this year’s Super Bowl. Most notably, Los Angeles SoFi Stadium will be hosting the big game this year and in 13 months will host WrestleMania 39. Also, The Rock will be part of the pregame show this year. Next year, Rock could be headlining WrestleMania from the same venue.
WWE will also have a presence during the broadcast of this year’s Super Bowl. Ads for the WWE Network are scheduled to air. These have been paid for and produced by the Peacock Streaming Service rather than WWE itself, however. WWE previously paid for a Super Bowl ad in 1999.
Batista will also be featured in a Super Bowl ad this year. He’s in a commercial for Nissan. A recent Tweet from Batista about the ad is below.
The WWE Championship once changed hands at halftime of the Super Bowl. The Rock defeated Mankind in an empty arena match that aired during halftime of the Super Bowl in 1999.
The following year, WWE aired a sit-down interview with Steve Austin during halftime of the game. In 2019, NXT aired a match taped after TakeOver: Phoenix during halftime of the Super Bowl. That match saw Aleister Black, Ricochet and Velveteen Dream defeated Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.
Brian Pillman, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Super Bowl
The Cincinnati Bengals will be in the Super Bowl this year for the first time since 1989. Brian Pillman played for the Bengals in 1984. He’d later play for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL before transitioning to wrestling. The Rock also was once on the Stampeders practice squad before doing the same.
When the Bengals last went to the Super Bowl in 1989, Pillman had an idea. His plan was to get Mark Madden’s media pass and chain himself to the field goal posts in order to get publicity. Madden was understandably not willing to give up his media credentials, however.
During our "off season" we'll be sharing some bonus clips & deleted scenes.
— Dark Side of the Ring (@DarkSideOfRing) June 14, 2021
Wrestlers Cheering For The Bengals Or Rams
Brian Pillman Jr. will be cheering on the Bengals tonight. He’s been re-tweeting posts from his father’s old team. On an unrelated note, he also posted the below Tweet:
I swear my chihuahua takes the biggest tiny little shits ever! Like they are small to me but compared to his body they are MASSIVE lol ? ?
Pillman is not the only wrestler cheering for the Bengals tonight, however. Jon Moxley is from Cincinnati and has converted his wife, Renee Paquette, into a Bengals fan as well.
Aaaahhhhhhhh holy crap!! Wow!! (I’ve literally lived in Cincinnati for less than 3 months, but I’m pumped to see this history being made!!) @Bengalspic.twitter.com/CtexcXu4bI
Matt Cardona is the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Trevor Murdoch for the title at “NWA Powerrr Trip” in Oak Grove, Kentucky. The show was not broadcast live but matches taped at the event will air on episodes of NWA Powerrr in the future.
Cardona becomes the 56th person in history to win the belt. The title’s lineage dates back to 1948 when Orville Brown was the inaugural champion. Cardona’s victory over Murdoch was the 99th time the championship has changed hands.
Murdoch’s reign finishes at 167 days, which ranks him 28th out of 56 all time.
“I am @nwa World’s Heavyweight Champion. I can’t believe I just typed that. Fuck that. I CAN believe I just typed that. I worked my ass for this! @TheRealTMurdoch is a tough son of a bitch and he will forever have my respect. As for @RealNickAldis?”
I am @nwa World’s Heavyweight Champion. I can’t believe I just typed that. Fuck that. I CAN believe I just typed that. I worked my ass for this! @TheRealTMurdoch is a tough son of a bitch and he will forever have my respect. As for @RealNickAldis? ?? pic.twitter.com/Eaw4BNaSiV
Cardona’s singles titles now include the WWE Intercontinental title, United States Championship, the GCW World Heavyweight Championship, and the Impact Wrestling Digital Media Championship. He’s also the self-proclaimed Internet Champion and recently claimed to be the ECW Television Champion after defeating Rhino in GCW.
2x WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan recently claimed that he is the second-best professional wrestler of all time.
During a night out with the ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair, the ‘Immortal’ Hogan claimed on a club’s PA that he was the second-best ever and that Flair was the greatest of all time.
“Well, let me tell you something brother! I want everybody in here, on the one, two, three, to give me a ‘Wooo!’ for the greatest wrestler of all time. One! Two! Three! Wooo! Hey, thank you guys for coming out” Hulk stated whilst out partying with the Nature Boy.
“This is the greatest wrestler of all time, Ric Flair” the former WCW and WWE Champion continued, praising Flair.
Hulk Hogan on Ric Flair
Hogan also claimed that Stone Cold Steve Austin was the third greatest ever, saying “In honour of the third greatest wrestler ever, ’cause he’s #1, I’m #2. In honour of the third greatest wrestler of all time, that no good Rattlesnake, Steve Austin. Somebody give me a hell yeah!” Hogan concluded.
Check out the video below to see the Hulkster out partying with Flair and making some pretty big claims about the pro wrestling industry.
WWE keeps posting record profits but on the other hand, they also underpay their wrestlers. Things are even worse for developmental talents who are barely paid a living wage as they put their bodies on the line to try and make a name for themselves. Miro, who was once part of the developmental recently revealed how much he was paid.
The AEW star had an interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle on his podcast. He revealed that he was dealing with a torn ACL before signing with WWE. The former TNT champion explained that he didn’t have the money to fix it while he was wrestling in the independent circuit. His financial situation didn’t improve much after getting signed by the promotion:
“My ACL was completely torn, but my meniscus was flipped one on top of the other. It was really bad situation. It was a big mess, but we fixed it.” explained Miro, “Once again if it wasn’t for the opportunity to get into WWE [it wouldn’t have been fixed]. There’s no way I can get 10 or $20,000 to fix my ACL at home because I had no money. No health insurance clearly.
WWE at the time they were paying me $500 a week or $600 a week. So I’m already struggling there. I was making more money driving taxi and delivering food in California. And then they say ‘Hey, guys, we got to get insurance, which is $100 a month.’ [I went] ‘Holy smokes. How am I supposed to pull that money from now?”
Thankfully the former US champion managed to get signed by WWE with the injury. The company later helped him get the required treatment and rehab. You can check out the story of how God helped Miro in getting signed by WWE with an injury here.
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
Next week’s episode of WWE SmackDown has already been taped in advance, as the company will be heading to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Elimination Chamber on Saturday 19th February.
One of the segments that were taped for next week’s show saw Naomi, Sonya Deville, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey take part in what appears to be a contract signing for their match at the Elimination Chamber show.
Unfortunately, there was an extremely noticeable botch during the segment, when Rousey tried to slam Flair’s head on the desk in the middle of the ring.
SmackDown Botch
As you can see via the tweet below, the execution of the spot was horrendous, and it has since been going viral on Twitter.
It’s extremely likely that WWE will edit the segment as much as possible to avoid this going out on television next week, but with this fan cam footage, we can see just how bad the spot really was live.
Hopefully, the match between the four women at the Elimination Chamber PPV event itself won’t be quite so botchtastic.
Here is the current card for the Elimination Chamber 2022 event:
WWE Raw Women’s Championship Number #1 Contender’s Elimination Chamber Match: Doudrop vs. Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Nikki A.S.H. vs. Bianca Belair vs. TBA – The winner will receive a WrestleMania 38 title match for the WWE Raw Women’s Title.
Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Becky Lynch (c) vs WWE Hall of Famer Lita
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos (c) vs The Viking Raiders
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair & Sonya Deville vs. Ronda Rousey & Naomi
New WWE signees have to go through not only rigorous training routines but thorough medical check-ups as well. There are many stories of accomplished performers not being offered a contract if they don’t pass the medical test. However, Miro managed to get signed by the company with a torn ACL.
The former US Champion told this story during the most recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show. He revealed that he had torn his ACL even before his WWE tryout. He couldn’t get it fixed because he had no money. According to the AEW star he went to the WWE tryout with a torn ACL as well, and he wrapped duct tape around his knee:
“I went to WWE developmental with a torn ACL. But they didn’t know that because once again, God, the man up there, Jesus Christ, protected me. I tore my ACL even before I went to developmental. I went to my tryout with a torn ACL. I just wrapped my knee with duct tape. You got to do what you got to do. I tore it one time in practice, and I don’t have the money to fix it. I was just wrestling on a torn ACL, which I’m sure that you have done before.”
Miro Explains How He Got Through The Medical Testing
Miro was known as Rusev in WWE
After passing the tryout, the next big hurdle for Miro was getting through the medical testing. Detailing how he got through the checkup with the injury, the former TNT champion revealed that the doctor that was going to check on him came in with a student. He was more focused on teaching the student on how things should be. This allowed the former WWE star to slip through:
“I got signed. They send you to these medical checks in Pittsburgh in your hometown. I go, and I lay down because I know they’re gonna come and check this. So I pray. I pray this entire time. Jesus, Lord, Our Father, please let it be ok. I already know that my ACL was torn, and I know that they’re returning people if you’re wrong. So the doctor comes in with a student. The whole time the doctor is kind of pay attention to the student and trying to explain to him things, blah, blah, blah. He sits down. pulls on my knee, pulls on my knee. He says I’m okay. I’m good to go.
I got signed and then later on, in developmental I was still duct-taping my knee and everything. In one match, my knee just gave out. I had somebody on my back [and] my knee gave out. They called me [to] the doctor to check me, to say you have torn ACL and I said, ‘Okay, let’s fix it.'”
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Deonna Purrazzo is a former WWE and Stardom star. She had her first run with Impact Wrestling from 2014 to 2017 before she left the promotion for WWE. Deonna was released from WWE in April 2020.
She returned to Impact in May 2020. She won the ROH women’s world championship from Rok-C during the January 10 episode of Impact earlier this year. Purrazzo is also the current AAA Reina de Reinas Champion.
Steve Maclin is better known to WWE fans as former Forgotten Sons member Steve Cutler. He was part of WWE from 2014 to 2021. Cutler was released from his WWE contract back in February 2021.
He made his debut for Impact Wrestling under his new ring name in June 2021. Maclin has been chasing the X Division title but is yet to win a championship in Impact.
Deonna Purrazzo and Steve Maclin have been dating each other since their WWE days. SEScoops congratulates the couple on their engagement.
Mickie James not only made history at Royal Rumble on screen but she also got closure on some past events backstage at the show.
The Impact Knockouts champion recently had an interview with SportsKeeda. She discussed her Royal Rumble appearance among other things.
During the talk, Mickie revealed that the new WWE president Nick Khan actually apologized to her for the infamous trash bag incident:
“Nick Khan came up to me at the show [Royal Rumble] and apologized. I think he was a part of the company but I hadn’t met him or knew who he was at that time, because it was an early transitional phase.
But even he apologized to me and (said) this should have never happened, and I agree.” said Mickie James, “It should have never happened, it shouldn’t have happened ten years ago, and now it will never happen again.”
For those who don’t know, the former WWE star was let go from her contract back in April 2021. It was part of the budget cuts that saw several other talents being released alongside the wrestling veteran.
However, James revealed that she was sent her belongings in a trash bag. This revelation stirred up a big controversy leading to the firing of senior executive Mark Carrano from the company.
The character work of Roman Reigns as The Tribal Chief has been praised by many wrestling veterans. Matt Hardy has now joined the list.
The AEW star talked about the current Universal champion on the latest episode of his podcast. He discussed how the Head Of The Table was receiving mixed reaction from the crowd as a babyface.
However, things have changed since Reigns turned heel. According to Matt it’s his favorite thing on WWE TV right now:
“The stuff he’s doing currently with him and the Usos, I can’t put that over enough. It is my favorite thing on WWE television. He’s killing it! To me, I’m almost disappointed it took them so long to actually step out and turn him heel.”
Matt Hardy mentioned how people liking Roman Reigns’ heel persona would eventually make him a bigger babyface. He claimed that he would have loved to face the current champion if he was in WWE:
“So I love the work he’s been doing and I would have loved to have had a match with him. That would have been a lot of fun.”
Hardy himself has been teasing changes to his AEW character recently. He posted a video suggesting the imminent debut of a new star.
WWE Superstar The Miz recently discussed the recent releases from the company over the past 6 months.
Several major names were let go, including Mike Mizanin’s tag team partner John Morrison.
Speaking to The Rich Eisen Show, The Miz talked about the releases from the company and seeing his colleagues being let go.
“It’s always tough when your friends and your colleagues get released,” The Miz began, discussing the releases.
“But you always wish for the best for them and you just, you do what you do. You just keep going, you know? Like my buddy John Morrison, he got released. He was my tag team partner for a very long time. When he got released, I was like, ‘ah man’, you know?” Miz continued.
The Miz on WWE Releases
“But I know John and I know the type of person he is and I know he’ll succeed in everything that he does, right? And so, you always wish the best for them.
“And, for me in WWE, like, when you go to Monday Night RAW, ‘alright. What am I doing? How do I make this something that the live audience who paid money for their seats can get something out of this? Can really sink their teeth into, you know, and have a memory?'” The former WWE Champion concluded.
It is expected that Morrison will be heading to IMPACT or AEW once his non-compete is over, although this has not as of yet been officially confirmed.
WWE Hall of Famer Lita has been officially announced for an appearance on this Monday’s WWE Raw show from Indianapolis. Due to the Winter Olympics, Raw will air on SyFy.
The appearance will be to build to her match with WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch next Saturday at the Elimination Chamber premium live event in Saudi Arabia.
WWE.com made the announcement:
“Two weeks after making her return to Monday Night Raw and just five days away from her Raw Women’s Championship Match against Becky Lynch at WWE Elimination Chamber, WWE Hall of Famer Lita is back on the red brand!
“What will the four-time Women’s Champion have in store for the WWE Universe and Big Time Becks as she gets set for an extreme showdown at the Jeddah Premium Live Event?”
WWE.com
The two women had an interaction last week on Raw, with Lynch coming out to interrupt Lita’s promo. She acknowledged that her superstardom is possible due to the work Lita put in years ago, noting that there wouldn’t be a Becky Lynch without Lita. However, she also said that now that there is a Becky Lynch, there can be no Lita.
The segment broke down into a fight. In the end, Lita hit Lynch with a Twist of Fate and Moonsault.
Lita’s match for the Raw Women’s Championship against Lynch next Saturday in Saudi Arabia will be her first WWE title opportunity in 15 years. Lita impressed while wrestling in the Royal Rumble a couple of weeks ago and appears to still be in tremendous in-ring shape. The pair should have a good match next Saturday.
Also announced for this Monday’s Raw is an appearance by Brock Lesnar, Damian Priest defending the WWE United States Championship against AJ Styles, and an “RK-Broga Party” featuring Riddle and Randy Orton.
Don’t forget to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Eddie Kingston has been out of in-ring action since January 8th due to an orbital bone injury. However, according to the man himself and an outside report in a popular industry newsletter, we can expect Kingston back very soon.
Per this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kingston is expected back this coming week. He will likely pick up where things left off with his ongoing storyline with Chris Jericho, Santana, Ortiz, and the Inner Circle.
Kingston also addressed his injury during an appearance on the WrestleTalk podcast, noting that getting time off to recover now while with AEW is much different than his independent days when he would have to continue working injured.
“Like, I’ve had this injury before, but out on the independents, you got to go,” Kingston explained (h/t Wrestling Inc). “I got to make money, I got to pay my rent. I had the match, things happen. It’s not ballet, plus, we’re fighting. I like to keep it as realistic as possible. Blew my nose to my eye, swelled up, and I said, ‘Oh it’s an orbital, without a doubt. I’ve had this before.’
“I wanted to ask the AEW doctor, ‘Hey, is it alright if I cut it again?’ And he was like, ‘What are you talking about cut it again?’ ‘Well, I cut it and I just don’t do things for a little bit and I’ll be fine.’ He’s like, ‘No. Go to the doctor.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ But that’s what I had to do on the independents, you know what I mean? Where I would cut it a little bit to get the blood or the air out and then tell the, you know, go work the next day.”
Kingston has had a memorable run with AEW since being brought in to face Cody Rhodes in July 2020. Kingston’s tag team with Jon Moxley is among the highlights of his current run — Moxley and Kingston faced the Young Bucks in an outstanding match for the AEW Tag Team Championships at last year’s Double or Nothing PPV event.
Don’t forget to check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news: Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
It’s no secret in the wrestling world that Mustafa Ali has been trying to get released from his WWE contract. So far, these attempts have been met with resistance by management.
Ali has not been used in any meaningful way on television by WWE in several months despite being one of the most talented in-ring performers on the roster. And even with several dozen releases of active talent over the last two years, deemed necessary for “budget cuts,” WWE is not willing to part ways with Ali.
Taking to his Twitter page on Saturday, Ali wrote, “I’ll see ya all in like 2 1/2 years.”
If that is indeed the amount of time left on his contract, it’s difficult to imagine WWE would continue to pay him for that length of time to sit out. We’ll see what happens in the coming months, though both sides appear to have really dug in at this moment when it comes to the situation at hand.
WWE has typically been signing talent to three year contracts in recent years, though months can be tacked on if talent misses time.
Ali formally requested his release back on January 16th in a very public way. He published a video across social media with the following text.
“I have a message that is much bigger than my dreams in pro wrestling. Despite my best efforts, I will not be able to deliver this message while working with WWE.
Mustafa Ali’s Run In WWE Has Disappointed Creatively
Mustafa Ali was revealed as the leader of Retribution on Raw
Despite his undeniable talent, Ali has been saddled with bad creative and positioning since his debut with the company back in 2016. Most notably, he was given the leadership role with Retribution, a stable that seemed destined for failure before it ever even got off the ground.
Mustafa Ali’s real-life backstory is incredibly interesting. He’s a former police officer from the Chicago area and has an incredibly engaging personality and work ethic in the ring. Even so, the upper tiers of WWE management have yet to be able to capitalize on his real life story and demeanor in any meaningful way in front of the television cameras. It’s hard to blame the man himself for those company failings.
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Billy Corgan’s National Wrestling Alliance will present the Crockett Cup on March 19th and 20th from the Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. To promote the event Corgan recently took part in an interview with the Tennessean. During the discussion, Corgan spoke about the current state of tag team wrestling.
“I’m a big fan of tag team wrestling,” says Corgan. “The Crockett Cup spotlights the unique art of in-ring storytelling that [tag team wrestling] allows. Young talents breaking out as stars and traditionally masters of the craft have been involved in this style of wrestling.”
Corgan also noted during the interview that WWE does not put much emphasis on tag-team wrestling.
“WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) sets the standard in the industry, but for the past decade, they’ve not focused on tag teams as much as a core part of their programming,” he added. “[Different than WWE], the NWA is not abandoning tag team wrestling’s traditional place [alongside singles matches] in pro wrestling.”
“For wrestling purists and casual fans alike, there’s something at the Crockett Cup to appreciate,” Corgan continued. “We’ll have ‘unbelievable’ marquee wrestling matches that appeal to wrestling fans. But for people who find that being told a great story by great storytellers is an underappreciated art, we have that, too.”
No surprises here, but we're honored to announce as the first *official* entrants into the #CrockettCup?:
The 2022 Crockett Cup will be just the 5th in history. The original events ran from 1986 until 1988. Corgan then brought the tournament back in 2019. That year, PCO and Brody King won the tournament and the NWA tag team titles in the process.
The NWA has only officially confirmed one team for the event. Nick Aldis and Doug Williams have re-formed their British Invasion team in the NWA and will be in the Crockett Cup. Other teams assumed to be participating include the NWA Champions La Rebelion, former ROH & GCW tag champs the Briscoes, and more.
Special for the @Tennessean, I spoke to @Billy about not @SmashingPumpkin, but instead, the @NWA, which he's owned since 2017. The NWA's bringing the legendary Crockett Cup tag team wrestling tournament to Nashville, March 19-20.
WWE taped the 2/18 edition of WWE SmackDown last night from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. WWE will be in Saudi Arabia on 2/19, leading to next week’s Smackdown being taped ahead of time.
A new Intercontinental Champion was crowned on the show as Sami Zayn defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the title.
WWE SmackDown 2/18 Spoilers:
Roman Reigns and Goldberg had a face-off segment. They never came to blows but just exchanged promos.
Ricochet defeated Sheamus.
Intercontinental Championship Sami Zayn defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (c) to win the title.
Ivar defeated Jimmy Uso
Drew McIntyre, Happy Corbin, and Madcap Moss had a promo segment.
A contract signing segment took place featuring Ronda Rousey, Naomi, Charlotte Flair, and Sonya Deville. A tag team match has been booked for the Elimination Chamber featuring Rousey teaming with Naomi and facing Flair and Deville.
New Intercontinental Champion
Zayn’s victory over Nakamura was the 181st title change in the history of the Intercontinental title.
Zayn is now a 3x champion and ranks 39th out of 87 in terms of days spent with the title (152).
In just a few days he will pass Ric Flair and Curtis Axel on that list. Nakamura ranks in at #12 on that list with 383 days spent as champion.
Christopher Daniels is one of the TNA originals. He joined the company during their NWA days in 2002 and helped build the promotion from the ground up. The Fallen Angel also won numerous accolades in the company, including winning the X Division championship 4 times. However, despite wrestling for the organization for over 15 years in multiple tenures, Daniels never won the Impact world title.
The AEW star recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He first discussed his time in Ring Of Honor. Unlike TNA, the high-flying star got a reign with the ROH world championship back in 2017. Talking about this, Daniels mentioned how the Ladder War between SCU, The Young Bucks, and The Motor City Machine Guns that took place a couple of months before that laid the groundwork for his title win:
“The discussions about me being world champion didn’t come around until after ladder war. When ladder war happened, and the reaction to the match between me and Frankie, and the Young Bucks and the Guns, just the reaction to that match. It was the first time that some people went ‘Wait a minute! This might be the time for Christopher Daniels to be a world champion.'”
Why Christopher Daniels Never Won The World Title In TNA
Christopher Daniels ROH
The wrestling veteran then talked about his TNA career. Speaking about never winning the world title in the promotion, Daniels recalled the circumstances leading to his ROH title win. He mentioned how he was always around the world title in TNA, but there was never a moment that put the crowd behind him like the ladder war did in ROH:
“Honestly, I don’t think there was ever a moment in TNA. The thing, I mentioned about how ladder war went and how the groundswell sort of support happened for me in Ring Of Honor. There was never really a moment in TNA where that happened. There were times where I’d come back and I would have good matches. They would put me in the ring with someone like AJ [Styles] who had the belt at the time, a lot of the time.
But there was never that moment like, ‘oh, you know what? The crowd reaction to CD getting the belt at this time from this person [is going to be amazing].’ I don’t think there was ever a moment where the powers that be thought, ‘Oh, this is the time where Chris Daniels should win the belt.’ And you know, that’s how it is. I feel like every promotion has their idea of the best thing, the best path for their championship to travel. It just happened to be away from me or around me the entire time for TNA.”
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
Chad Gable seemed to have a bright future ahead in NXT when he was part of the American Alpha. However, things haven’t gone his way since then. The former NXT star recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. During the episode, he opened up about his frustrations with his career.
Gable discussed how having a WrestleMania moment is the goal of any WWE superstar. Gable’s only Mania appearance took place in 2017 where he competed in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The WWE star mentioned how hasn’t even been able to find a place for himself in the card since then:
“As it is with any superstar in WWE, your goal is to have that moment at WrestleMania, to get your match, and I’ve never come close to that. Not only have I not come close, there’s been years where I haven’t even been on, and that was last year and that was the year before.”
Chad Gable Is Frustrated With His Work Not Paying Off
Chad Gable continued by explaining how working very hard every year for things to not be paid off in the end is very frustrating:
“I still treat it like I would a big amateur wrestling tournament, like WrestleMania is our big one. I’ll get myself ready. I’ll get in better shape. I’ll mentally prepare better because it’s our big event.
To do all that work every year and not have it pay off, or not feel like it paid off, is so frustrating. It’s almost like a mission this year to make it happen more than ever.”
The American Alpha were called up to the main roster during the 2016 draft. The duo won the SmackDown tag team championships once, but Gable’s career went downhill after Jason Jordan retired from active competition.
