Keith Lee received what he feels is the ultimate validation from Randy Orton.
Lee isn’t exactly a rookie. He made appearances in ROH back in 2015 and was highly praised for his classic matches with Donovan Dijak, now T-BAR in WWE, under the PWG banner. Keith Lee signed with WWE in 2018 and made a name for himself on NXT. He ended up becoming the NXT and NXT North American Champion.
Keith Lee Has A Huge Supporter In Randy Orton
Speaking to Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast, Lee explained how some encouraging words from Randy Orton gave him a nice morale boost.
“I don’t know many people that get to walk into the main roster and get to immediately work with Randy Orton, but that was something where I feel like, ‘I’m good for the rest of my career.’ Randy is someone that has kind of become a mentor if you will, and someone that leads the way in great fashion. The moment he told me that I’m really good at this thing, I didn’t care what anybody else thought anymore. He’s not a person that will compliment you on your abilities if he doesn’t mean it. To get his approval is something like, I’m good because now I know I’m everything I say I am and I’m good with that. However everything else goes, it’s fine.”
Lee has been undergoing a character change on Monday Night Raw. He is now going by the name “Bearcat Lee.” Lee has been facing heels as of late but he definitely has a mean streak going. There is no more smiling from Keith Lee with this change in direction.
Both Lee and Orton are currently on the same brand. This means the two may be able to mix things up again in the near future. Orton is one-half of the Raw Tag Team Champions with Riddle as “RKBro.”
Io Shirai has commented on the wild ladder match spot from Halloween Havoc.
Shirai and Zoey Stark put the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line against Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne of Toxic Attraction, and the team of Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta. In the end, Dolin and Jayne walked out of the ladder match with gold.
What’s next for Shirai remains to be seen. The WWE draft has come and gone and Shirai remains on the NXT brand. It isn’t impossible for WWE to call her up to the main roster anyway but if she sticks around in NXT, it’ll be interesting to see if she remains in the tag team division or returns to singles action.
Mick Foley presented the GCW Championship belt when Jon Moxley faced Nick Gage earlier this month. Foley recently spoke to Metro about the promotion and praised Moxley and Gage in particular. Foley says that they are carrying the torch that he lit with Terry Funk back in their day.
“Who am I to tell someone their style of wrestling is wrong? I had the type of stuff that I enjoyed watching. I can appreciate lucha [libre], for example, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Foley said. “I like the wild matches and these guys have taken that torch that Funk and I lit, and ran a couple of laps on their own with it.”
Foley also noted that he would love to return as Cactus Jack and face Matt Cardona for GCW. He also noted he is not able to do so, however.
“Oh, can you imagine the heat that Cardona would have if Cactus Jack came back for one last match? I can’t do it – I’m just saying, imagine! That’d be great.”
Foley continued to praise GCW.
“There’s all different types of wrestling out there for all different types of fans, and then you find a product that caters to fans who really take their wrestling seriously – I tell you, GCW’s a great show!”
Ring announcer Greg Hamilton has been released from WWE. Hamilton (real name Greg Hutson) was let go from the promotion earlier this week.
Over the weekend, Hamilton had been involved in a spat with Roc Nation rapper Westside Gunn for using samples of his voice on a track. More on that below.
Update: Greg Hamilton has posted a message on Instagram confirming he is no longer with WWE. Hamilton calls it a ‘mutual respect departure’ from a great company. Unfortunately, WWE’s grueling travel schedule became too much for him to manage.
“52 weeks a year became too much,” he admitted. “Without our mental health, we have nothing. But man…..what a ride….there are truly no fans like the WWE Universe. Wow. 6 continents over 6 years; embracing your love and passion has truly changed me as a person. I am forever grateful.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CViKbAyrF4X/
Greg Hamilton & Westside Gunn
Hamilton posted several since-deleted comments about his voice being used on the track. He said he was looking for a settlement of up to $30,000.
“Well @westsidegunn @buffalokidsgallery let’s hope that since you STOLE my voice for your incoherent kindergarten fables, that you saved up enough delivering for Door Dash….because….You….are…. *****. You’ll be paying me for years….apologize and I’ll think about not collecting every dime for the rest of your life….or I can just get WWE lawyers….that’s ok too. Settle with my lawyer. And don’t EVER use my voice again….so wrong.”
“Tick… tock…..the longer this goes, the longer I have in court….you ready to settle or do you wanna dance with WWE lawyers? It’s a slam dunk. Price goes up by the day….,” Hamilton wrote. “It was 20k, but at noon eastern it’s $30k and we go to court.”
It is unclear if these comments are what led to his release, but the timing coincides.
Hamilton began ring announcing for NXT in 2015 and was later called up to the main roster in 2016. Prior signing with WWE, Hamilton had worked with the Orlando Magic and performed hosting duties for the Miss America organization.
AEW President Tony Khan recently appeared at the Monaco Streaming Film Festival. During the event, Khan spoke about growing AEW’s roster and mistakes WCW made in the past that he doesn’t want AEW to replicate. In particular, Khan feels that WCW burned through big matches and often had unsatisfactory match-endings, such as disqualifications or matches ending with run-ins.
“I think WCW built one of the greatest rosters ever in wrestling, and they were competing with WWF in the ’90s. And I thought one of the mistakes they made is they had so many exciting matches in WCW and it was like week, after week, after week they burned through them,” Khan said. “But not only did they burn through them, there were very unsatisfying conclusions. A lot of them ended in disqualification or something that wouldn’t make me that hungry to watch a rematch.”
Khan has also been very complimentary of WCW in the past. He noted during the interview that it is easy to talk about mistakes made with the benefit of hindsight.
“Despite all of this, I can talk with the benefit of hindsight about the business mistakes WCW made. They also rose to incredible heights and proved that it’s possible for a wrestling company to do this.”
Tony Khan and former WCW President Eric Bischoff have had an up-and-down public relationship. Bischoff has appeared on AEW programming and Khan has been complimentary of Bischoff’s contributions to wrestling in the past. Khan seems to have offended Bischoff recently, however, when he Tweeted that Ted Turner didn’t know “1% about wrestling” than he did. Bischoff has since made several comments critical of Khan and AEW.
I’ve never met Ted Turner. It’s very possible Ted Turner is smarter than me, but he didn’t know 1% of what I know about professional wrestling or WCW would still be on TNT/TBS. @AEW is here to stay, watch #AEWRampage LIVE tonight on TNT or WatchTNT app on your phone or any device https://t.co/eYLCzCiMiQ
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced a new weekly show on its English-language YouTube channel beginning Monday, November 1st. The show will feature an exclusive match each week not available anywhere else. Additionally, the show will feature news and highlights from NJPW action from both Japan and NJPW of America shows.
“Bringing together all the big news from NJPW rings around the world, Xtra will deliver highlights from action in Japan and on NJPW STRONG. Plus, fans can expect to see an exclusive match every week not available anywhere else!” A New Japan press release reads.
The exclusive match for the debut episode will be Jordan Clearwater, Kevin Knight, and The DKC vs Bateman, Misterioso, and Barrett Brown. The match was taped at the New Japan Resurgence show in August.
The November 8th exclusive match will feature Will Ospreay taking on Alex Zayne. That match was filmed at the promotion’s recent New Japan Strong tapings in Philadelphia.
A new weekly show comes to NJPW's official English YouTube next week!#NJPWXTRA brings news and highlights from NJPW in America and Japan and an EXCLUSIVE unseen match every week!
The October 26, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne def. Io Shirai & Zoey Stark andIndi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta to win NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles
Joe Gacy defeated Malik Blade
Roderick Strong defeated Odyssey Jones
Mandy Rose defeated Raquel Gonzalez to become the new NXT Women’s Champion.
Imperium defeated MSK in a Lumberjack Match to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.
Tommaso Ciampa def. Bron Breakker to retain the NXT Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
House Search
WWE announced that Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams would have to go to Dexter Lumis and Johnny Gargano’s haunted house to search for the lost NXT North American Title.
Just last week, Gargano came out to challenge Hayes for a shot at his title. A brawl broke out with Lumis and Gargano being in possession of the title.
It started with Williams and Hayes arriving in a car at a big creepy house. Williams didn’t want to go at first. Gargano told Lumis that he Home Aloned the place. There was a referee dressed up as a zombie, various people dressed up. They went through various spooky rooms until they found the title. Lumis and Gargano were standing behind them to punch them. Williams and Gargano ran off with the title. Gargano told Lumis that his place was weird and next year, they would do Halloween at his place.
WWE NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles
WWE NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Io Shirai & Zoey Stark vs.Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta vs. Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne in a Scareway to Hell Ladder Match took place.
The way WWE got to this match gimmick was last week’s show that featured a triple threat match between Shirai, Pirotta, and Jayne to determine who would spin the wheel to reveal the stipulation as Shirai pinned Pirotta.
The match started off the show. Starks fell off the ladder only to springboard off the top rope to take out the teams. She was selling her knee after it. Dolin got powerbombed onto a ladder. Io took a nasty fall off a ladder onto a ladder between the apron and announce table. Dolin grabbed the titles to win the match.
Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne are the new NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles.
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK defended the titles against Imperium and were dethroned.
Three weeks ago on the program, MSK retained their titles in a fatal four-way elimination match against The Grizzled Young Veterans, Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, and Carmelo Hayes & Trick Williams. Post-match, Barthel & Aichner attacked MSK.
Last week, Barthel & Aichner defeated The Creed Brothers. Post-match, MSK attacked the heels before telling them that they’d see them at Halloween Havoc.
They had a lumberjack match. They were a normal tag team bout with the heels dominating. Lee took out a bunch of lumberjacks with a dive over the top rope. Imperium won with their finisher.
Mandy Rose challenged NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez for the title in a match that was decided thanks to spin the wheel, make a deal gimmick.
Three weeks ago, Rose first set her sights on the NXT Women’s Championship when Toxic Attraction attacked Gonzalez. Two weeks ago, Io Shirai & Zoey Starks made the save for Gonzalez when Toxic Attraction were about to attack her again
The match was touted as a Trick or Street Fight. They used kendo sticks early in the match. There was a fire extinguisher spot. Raquel was put into a chair and trapped by a kendo stick. Rose got thrown face first into a chair. A masked person came out and hit Raquel in the back with a weapon. Rose hit a running knee for the win. The masked person was Dakota Kai.
In the main event, Bron Breakker challenged Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Title.
The announcement of this match and event was announced a few weeks ago by Ciampa during a promo segment while talking about Breakker wanting to challenge for his title and said that actions speak louder than words. After a back and forth, the match was made official.
Ciampa defeated LA Knight, Pete Dunne, and Von Wagner in a fatal four-way match to win the title on the premiere of NXT 2.0 after Samoa Joe had to relinquish it. That same night, Breakker (real name Bronson Rechsteiner) made his debut by beating LA Knight.
The match was back and forth with both guys getting their spots in. Ciampa sold for Breakker’s high impact moves. Ciampa hit a DDT on the exposed concrete. Breakker was bleeding from the top of his head. The finish was Ciampa hitting his finisher twice for the win.
Tommaso Ciampa put the WWE NXT Title on the line against the strongly pushed Bron Breakker on Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0 TV, which was billed as a Halloween Havoc special.
It served as the main event. The match was back and forth with Breakker being protected by the veteran. Breakker did some high impact moves, which Ciampa sold to perfection. Ciampa hit a DDT on the exposed concrete. Ciampa hit the fairytale ending for a near fall. Breakker was bleeding from the top of his head. Ciampa hit the fairytale ending again for the win.
Breakker had just one match before he was put into the title picture as after he beat LA Knight in his first-ever match, he teased going after the title that was held by Ciampa. They later worked a few tag team matches including wins over Pete Dunne & Ridge Holland and Grizzled Young Veterans in recent weeks before getting to this spot.
Ciampa won the vacant championship back on the September 19th edition of NXT 2.0. He beat Knight, Dunne, and Von Wagoner (the former Cal Bloom) in a fatal 4-way match to do so.
The title became vacant by Samoa Joe after he revealed that he was relinquishing it due to an undisclosed injury. At the time, he said that he wouldn’t be out of action for very long, but didn’t say what the exact injury was. He has yet to return.
AEW boss Tony Khan says he turned down a pitch to have Rampage run in the format of WWE Backstage.
Rampage airs every Friday night on TNT at 10 p.m. ET. It’s a one-hour show that usually features three matches. Typically, the show airs right when WWE SmackDown wraps up.
Tony Khan spoke to Gavin Bridge at the Monaco Streaming Film Festival and revealed that he had been pitched having Rampage in the style of a talk show like WWE Backstage.
“I didn’t agree with [WWE] Backstage at all. I didn’t think it was a good format. I had actually been pitched to do a format like that with AEW and I refused because I don’t think wrestling fans want to see that format. Wrestling fans when they tune in to watch their wrestling show, they want to watch wrestlers wrestle and Backstage, to me, should be like a lower-budget streaming type show.”
Khan added that WWE Backstage had a very talented cast, but the ill-conceived format likely doomed the show.
“I don’t know if it had the legs to carry as a TV show, even though the people involved with it were awesome and a lot of them work for me now and are huge stars.”
Imperium stepped up to the plate and dethroned MSK as the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions in a Lumberjack Match on Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0 TV, which was billed as a Halloween Havoc special.
The match went 15 minutes in the co-main event spot on the broadcast. It was a solid tag team match that had a few spots using the other wrestler including when there was an outside dive to take out everyone. Imperium won with their finisher.
This was a big upset as MSK was listed as -150 favorites to retain the titles in the betting odds that were released this morning.
MSK became the champions when they won it in a triple threat match against The Grizzled Young Veterans and Legado del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver this April.
Other notable title defenses included a winners-take-all six-man tag match at the WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House event as well as them beating Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher at NXT: Great American Bash in July.
Mandy Rose was the latest challenger to step up to take a shot at dethroning Raquel Gonzalez as the WWE NXT Women’s Champion and she was successful.
It took place on Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0 TV, which was billed as a Halloween Havoc special. The match was touted as a Trick or Street Fight. There were various weapons used in the match including kendo sticks, chairs, and more. The finish saw Dakota Kai, who was dressed up, hit Raquel in the back with a kendo stick and Rose connected with a running knee strike.
Since returning to NXT a few months ago, Rose made the transformation with both her character and look as she went from having blonde hair to dark hair. She also aligned a faction called Toxic Attraction with Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. After they formed it, they beat Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter and Sarray in a six-woman tag team match as well as Rose scoring a win over Ember Moon.
At TakeOver: Stand & Deliver this April, Gonzalez won the NXT Women’s Championship by defeating Io Shirai. Since that time, Gonzalez had successful title defenses against Mercedes Martinez, Moon, Xia Li, and Franky Monet.
It will be interesting to see where Rose goes from here. Kai and Raquel will be picking up their feud again.
New NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions were crowned at Halloween Havoc, which was a special edition of WWE NXT 2.0, as Toxic Attraction’s Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne defeated Io Shirai & Zoey Stark and Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta in a triple threat Scareway to Hell ladder match to win the titles.
WWE decided on the stipulation thanks to the Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal. Leading up to the finish, Hartwell sent Shirai tumbling off a ladder and crashing onto another ladder. When Hartwell tried to climb the ladder, she was knocked off the ladder by Dolin, which got the titles.
Dolin and Jayne become the fifth team to hold the NXT Women’s Tag Team titles since they were introduced this March. Io and Sarks held the titles for 112 days after beating Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell for them back in July.
On this same show, Toxic Attraction leader Mandy Rose challenged Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship in a Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal match.
CM Punk admits that he was open to the idea of doing a swerve for his AEW debut.
Most agree that AEW pulled off Punk’s debut perfectly. The company dropped several hints about CM Punk making his promotional debut on the second episode of Rampage. As a result, AEW was able to sell out the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Fans weren’t disappointed as Punk made his way down the aisle to a thunderous ovation.
Ahead of the big debut, some fans speculated the possibility of Punk’s theme song playing only for MJF to make his entrance and troll the crowd for massive heat.
Appearing on Z100 New York, Punk claimed that the MJF swerve was actually in consideration.
“Lowest hanging fruit in that aspect. That, of course, did cross my mind. Once I realized that was the thought on everybody’s mind, to me, it wasn’t the right thing to do yet. Not yet.”
Punk has yet to feud with MJF but the general consensus is that it’s only a matter of time. A recent sheet of potential AEW Full Gear matches leaked. Tony Khan said these matches are simply ideas. On the bout sheet was Punk vs. Wardlow, who is MJF’s bodyguard.
MJF is currently in a feud with Darby Allin. While it hasn’t been announced, many expect that match to take place at the Full Gear PPV on Nov. 13. It’s a match that was also seen on Khan’s bout sheet.
Kevin Owens has unveiled when he believes he’ll know it’s time to hang up his wrestling boots.
Owens is currently a member of the WWE Monday Night Raw roster. He was drafted from the SmackDown brand. On his first night back on the red team, Owens participated in a ladder match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship. KO fell short in the match.
Following the loss, Kevin Owens took to his Twitter account to thank his fans. He also revealed when he’ll know it’s time to wrap up his in-ring career.
I really don’t know what to say other than thank you all for your continued support and kind words. It really means a lot.
The day I stop giving it my absolute all in that ring is the day I walk away. Not a second sooner.
“I really don’t know what to say other than thank you all for your continued support and kind words. It really means a lot. The day I stop giving it my absolute all in that ring is the day I walk away. Not a second sooner. P.S. Rey Mysterio is the best.”
A lot has been made about the future of Owens. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that KO’s deal with WWE is set to expire in Jan. 2022. Jon Alba followed up on this report saying that several people within WWE expressed their belief that Owens will not be signing a new contract with the company.
Shawn Michaels has been filling in for Triple H while running things backstage at the events. The WWE Hall of Famer spoke to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to promote the Halloween Havoc edition of NXT 2.0 on Tuesday night and during it, spoke about it.
Michaels views it as a situation to step in for his best friend as a way to pay him back for years of friendship.
“Trying to step in and fill his role is impossible to do. Everybody here misses him unbelievably, especially me. But I always go back to this—everything in real life takes precedence over everything else. This was a situation where my best friend needed my help and needed me to step in, so I look at this as an opportunity, in a small way, to thank him for everything he did for me earlier in my career.
Taking over the responsibilities here is a drop in the bucket compared to what he did for me all those years back. I’m honored to at least have the opportunity to pay him back a little bit and be there for him. That’s what this whole company does—this whole relaunch has been everyone pulling together, and I’m energized and inspired to keep this NXT territory going strong during his absence.”
For the last few years, Michaels has been the right-hand man of Triple H, who had been overseeing the creative process of the brand, in addition to being a coach and Producer.
Bryan Danielson is going with the quality over quantity approach.
Since making the move to AEW, Danielson has been a part of some stellar matches. He’s had barn burners with Kenny Omega, Minoru Suzuki, Nick Jackson, Bobby Fish, and Dustin Rhodes. For Danielson, the key is ensuring that he isn’t forced to water things down due to spreading himself thin.
During an interview with WEEI in Boston, Bryan Danielson said that AEW has been doing things right by featuring him in less matches.
“I’m a little more judicious, but, realistically, the big thing that has changed, and this was a choice when I re-signed my last WWE contract and when I came to AEW, and one of the benefits of AEW, is that I need to be doing less matches because I like to go hard. If you tell me, ‘Go a little bit lighter today,’ it’s easy to say but in practice it doesn’t work like that. I don’t care if there are 20,000 people like at Arthur Ashe Stadium or if there are 85 people, and I’ve wrestled in front of less than a 100 people many times, the people still pay their money to see the show and you want to give them a great show. It’s hard for people like me to pull back. Really, it’s about doing a less number of matches per year and focusing on the quality of those matches and making sure I give the live crowd something they are happy they paid their money to see.”
Danielson is currently participating in an AEW World Heavyweight Championship tournament. He has advanced to the second round thanks to his victory over Dustin Rhodes. He will be meeting Eddie Kingston next.
Rey Mysterio’s daughter Aalyah is considering a career in professional wrestling.
The master of the 619 was just interviewed by Scott Fishman for TV Insider. During the discussion, Mysterio revealed that Aalyah is thinking about following in his footsteps.
He supports the idea of her wrestling, but he urged her not to give up on her education.
“Not too long ago, she asked, ‘Dad, what would you say if I wanted to step in the ring?’ I said, ‘As long as you don’t leave your career behind. She wants to join the medical field.”
He continued, “As long as she does that and tries wrestling as a second option, I don’t mind. She always had the curiosity to take a bump, hit the ropes. I said, whenever you want to try it, let me know. I think it’s in the back of her mind. She is very dedicated to her school and education. I’m proud of that right now.”
Aalyah Mysterio in WWE
Aalyah has appeared several times in WWE as a kid and most notably last year. The WWE involved her in the feud with her brother Dominick and Seth Rollins. Aalyah was also in a brief on-screen relationship with Buddy Murphy during the rivalry as well. However, the WWE decided to take her off WWE TV after the feud with Dominick and Rollins ended.
Back in May, Mysterio told Alex McCarthy (TalkSport) that she hadn’t talked to him about becoming a professional wrestler.
“She hasn’t asked the question, but it’s funny you asked me that because my wife, she asked me a couple of days ago, she goes, ‘What would you say if your daughter came at you and said, Dad, I want to become a wrestler?’ I said, ‘I would be the first one to train her, just like I did with Dom!’ She said, ‘No, you wouldn’t,'” said Mysterio. However, he had the same stance: while he would support her, he wanted her to focus on medical school.
Aalyah has gained interest in professional wrestling, but it’s unclear how serious she is to commit. However, it seems she hasn’t closed the door to follow in her father’s footsteps.
Katsuyori Shibata is seemingly testing the waters of a comeback.
Shibata broke the hearts of Japanese wrestling fans after he suffered a subdural hematoma in his classic IWGP Heavyweight Championship match with Kazuchika Okada back in April 2017. A series of headbutts, specifically a gnarly one near the end of the match, was to blame.
While Shibata hasn’t had a full-on wrestling match since the showdown with Okada, he has gotten physical. During the G1 Climax 29 finals event back in 2019, Katsuyori Shibata attacked KENTA after KENTA turned heel and joined Bullet Club. At the G1 Climax 31 event, Shibata and Zack Sabre Jr. had a surprise five-minute grappling match that ended in a draw.
Shibata told Tokyo Sports that more and more, he’s itching to make a comeback (h/t Reddit user Weezy-NJPW_Fan).
“It was a great space. It’s a special place. This is the only way for me. My desire to make a full-fledged comeback seems to have grown stronger. I’m living my life one step at a time, and year by year, the ring is getting closer and closer. Anyway, if I don’t have a goal, I really don’t know who I am, so I always keep it there. As Okada said when I was injured, pro wrestlers are superhuman.
“Three steps forward, two steps back. Sometimes I take three steps forward and four or five steps back. But I don’t want to give up. This is all I can do. I’m not going to give up. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing this job.”
Shibata has played a key role in NJPW’s LA Dojo system. He has been tasked with ensuring that foreign talent is able to grasp Strong Style before breaking free from being a Young Lion.
A number of superstars were not picked by any brand during the latest WWE Drafts, making them free agents. This list included names such as the beast incarnate Brock Lesnar and the empress of tomorrow Asuka.
Now PWinsider has provided an update on which brand some of these free agents might end up on. The site has revealed which rosters they are listed internally.
According to the report, Lesnar who proclaimed himself to be a free agent during the draft is listed under the SmackDown brand. This makes sense as it appears that his storyline with Roman Reigns will continue in the coming times.
Asuka, Elias, and the Lucha House Party are all currently listed as part of the Raw roster. Though there is no word yet on when they might make their return.
There are other names whose futures are still undetermined. Probably the most prominent of them all is Bayley, who is currently out of action due to a torn ACL.
Other names that have not been assigned a brand as of yet include all red everything Eva Marie and sassy southern belle Lacey Evans. We will have to see what decision the officials make for their future.
Suzuki didn’t participate in this year’s G1 Climax tournament. This allowed the “King of Pancrase” to travel to the United States. Suzuki made his mark for various promotions including AEW, Impact Wrestling, and GCW.
Playtime is over in the “Land of the Free,” however as Minoru Suzuki is returning to “The Land of the Rising Sun.” Suzuki expressed gratitude on his Instagram account (rough translation via Google).
“The entire two-month long tour ‘Minoru Suzuki’s Alone National Circuit Tour’ (long laughter) has been completed, and I’m leaving the hotel for the airport. Two months spent with American professional wrestling fans. I carved a lot of experience and wounds on my body. No … I’m getting stronger again. .. .. You can live anywhere in the world with professional wrestling!
“See you next time… I’m the KING.”
Suzuki certainly made the most of his time in America. He mixed it up with the likes of Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Jonathan Gresham, Nick Gage, and Josh Alexander. Time will tell what’s next for Suzuki in NJPW but judging by his social media post, we may have not seen the last of him in the United States.
Impact World Champion Moose has his first championship defense set for Impact’s next Pay Per View, Turning Point, on November 20th.
Impact Wrestling is currently taping episodes of their show at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada. A Fan uploaded clips on Twitter from yesterday’s tapings that revealed the number one contender for the Impact World Championship.
Spoiler for Number One Contender for Impact Title
A triple threat match between Matt Cardona, W. Morrissey, and Eddie Edwards happened during the tapings. Edwards won the match by pinning Cardona and became the number one contender to face Moose at Turning Point. Edwards will try to become a two-time Impact World Champion with a win over Moose.
Edwards becoming the number one contender at Turning Point raises the question of what Impact Wrestling is doing with Josh Alexander. Alexander seemed to be Impact’s next babyface champion after defeating Christian Cage at Bound for Glory on October 23rd. However, Moose would defeat Alexander shortly after to win the title. Fans watching the event questioned Impact’s motive for taking the championship away from Alexander. It now seems that Alexander won’t be getting a rematch for the title anytime soon.
While Alexander is not in the title picture, Impact Wrestling promoted that he’d face Minoru Suzuki during the tapings. It is unclear what Alexander will do at Turning Point or when he will get his rematch.
Another match that is Impact Wrestling teased during the tapings was Mickie James vs. Mercedes Martinez for the Impact Women’s Championship. Martinez challenged James to a title match at Turning Point. However, the match has not been made official by Impact Wrestling. The promotion will air the taped episodes for several weeks, starting this Thursday.
Broadcaster Charly Arnolt was with WWE from 2016 until earlier this year, when she decided to leave for ESPN.
Arnolt recently took part in an autograph session with East Coast Autographs and spoke about possibly appearing for AEW.
“I am a huge fan of Tony Khan,” she said during the appearance. “I’m a huge fan of Cody Rhodes and his wife Brandi. I have to imagine that whatever they are putting together over there is gold. I will make it a point to tune in and, who knows, maybe one day I’ll make a cameo or more than a cameo.”
Charly Arnolt is not the only former WWE announcer who has expressed interest in All Elite Wrestling. Renee Paquette recently said she’s never spoken to Tony Khan about working for AEW, but she’s “certainly open to the opportunity.”
Arnolt & Tony Khan
Charly Arnolt has been friends with AEW President Tony Khan for many years. In fact, she knew TK before she joined WWE.
“I’ve known Tony for years and years,” she added. “I was friends with Tony even before I took my job with WWE. Long-standing relationship right there.”
According to Arnolt’s Wikipedia bio, she was invited by Tony Khan to attend a WWE Smackdown show in 2016. It was there that she met WWE Director of Talent Relations Mark Carrano and Michael Cole. This led to her hiring with WWE. At the time, she had been working as a sports reporter in the Indianapolis area.
Former WWE Superstar Tony Nese appeared in the crowd during AEW’s Saturday Night Dynamite broadcast from Orlando this weekend. He was billed as, “one of the hottest free agents in pro wrestling.”
The 36-year-old grappler from Long Island, New York would later make his AEW in-ring debut over the weekend at the latest set of Dark tapings from Universal Studios in Orlando, FL.
Tony Nese is All Elite
Nese’s situation with AEW was addressed recently on Wrestling Observer Radio. According to Dave Meltzer, Tony Nese has signed with the promotion. This has not been made official, however, and it is being speculated that this is due to an angle AEW has planned.
“On the show on Saturday, they showed him in the stands so obviously he’s signed,” said Meltzer. “But they won’t announce it because probably they are doing something. They did the Dark tapings yesterday in Orlando and he wrestled, I think he wrestled in more than one match. He’s signed, that’s the deal.”
Nese signed with WWE in 2016 to take part in the Cruiserweight Classic. He would later become a regular with the 205 Live brand.
Nese won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship on the WrestleMania 35 Kickoff Show in New Jersey. He defeated Buddy Murphy to win the title. Nese would hold the championship for 77 days before dropping it to Drew Gulak.
Some spoilers have become available from the recent Impact Wrestling tapings from Sunday in Las Vegas have become available.
According to a report from PW Insider, Minoru Suzuki’s first angle with Impact took place on Sunday night. Suzuki is said to have gotten into a brawl with Josh Alexander. Alexander had won the Impact World Championship at Bound for Glory briefly before Moose cashed-in his “Call Your Shot” trophy and won the title from him moments later.
Josh Alexander and Minoru Suzuki staredown and brawl at IMPACT TV Tapings following Bound for Glory. ??? pic.twitter.com/be4foMUziv
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, several other events took place which should air on this coming Thursday’s broadcast:
Mickie James retained her newly won Knockouts Championship against Madison Rayne. Mercedes Martinez then came out and challenged James to a match at Turning Point.
Ace Austin defeated Chris Sabin.
Laredo Kid became the new #1 contender for the X-Division Championship after winning a fatal 4-way. He’ll face new champion Trey Miguel for the title at some point. It hasn’t been revealed who is opponents were, however.
A match between the Good Brothers (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows) vs FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) went to a no-contest after interference by all 3 members of Impact’s Bullet Club faction (El Phantasmo, Chris Bey, & HIKULEO).
Eric Young returned from injury and won a squash match over Jai Vidal.
Heath defeated Violent By Design’s Joe Doering, but after the match VBD attacked both Heath and Rhino.
The new Knockouts Tag Team Champions the Iinspiration (Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee) watched a match between Decay and the Undead Bridesmaids from the stage area. There was said to have then been a small altercation after the match. It is not clear who won this match, however.
Impact Wrestling was advertising that Monday’s show would feature a match between Josh Alexander and Minoru Suzuki.
Last week, the G1 Climax Final match between Kota Ibushi and Kazuchika Okada was stopped early after Ibushi suffered an injury. After missing a Phoenix Splash attempt, Ibushi was attended to by ringside physicians and the match was stopped and Okada was declared the winner.
NJPW1972.com released an update on Ibushi’s condition today.
“The evaluation revealed a right anterior dislocation of the shoulder, and joint lip damage. Recovery is expected to take two months,” reads NJPW’s update.
If all goes well in his recovery, Ibushi will be able to return in time for 3-night Wrestle Kingdom on January 4, January 5, and January 8, 2022.
Kota Ibushi has undergone evaluation on an injury sustained during last Thursday's G1 final.
His diagnosis is a right anterior shoulder dislocation and joint lip damage. He is expected to make a recovery in around two months.
