A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE WrestleMania Backlash PPV.
WWE confirmed Damian Priest vs. The Miz. On Monday’s Raw, it was revealed that a singles match between Priest and John Morrison would see them battle it out to determine a stipulation for this match.
Thus, when Priest won the contest, it was confirmed what the upcoming match will be a lumberjack match. He has been feuding with Miz and Morrison since January. Priest teamed up with Bad Bunny for a special tag team match at WrestleMania 37 where they went over the heels. It appears this will be the blowoff match in this feud.
WWE presents the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 16, 2021 from Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center that will air on Peacock. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming days.
Updated WWE WrestleMania Backlash Card
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Bayley
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio
Jinder Mahal is back on WWE Monday Night Raw as he made his return on the May 10 edition of the program.
He did so when he beat Jeff Hardy in a quick match. He was joined by former NXT tag team Indus Sher (Rinku Singh and Dilser Shanky). They are now going by the names Veer and Shanky.
He appeared on the May 3rd Main Event TV tapings where he beat Hardy in a singles match. Mahal did work the Superstar Spectacle special back in January that aired on the WWE Network as he teamed up with The Bollywood Boyz to face Drew McIntyre and Indus Sher.
In June 2019, Mahal went to Birmingham, Alabama to undergo knee surgery at Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center.
While wrestling Ali, who won the match, at the WWE live event in Denver, Colorado in June he ruptured his patella tendon. Mahal had signed a new deal that was said to be for 5 years while on the shelf.
He returned to action in April 2020 before suffering another injury. WWE was forced to scrap a planned feud between Mahal and McIntyre.
Mia Yim, also known as Reckoning, was set to make her SmackDown debut last week, which was the throwback edition.
There were rumors that Yim had been pulled from the show due to unknown reasons. Fightful Select reported today she was slated to start a feud with Carmella but it was cut for time as WWE had to add in throwback content to fit the theme of the show.
The throwback idea came from FOX and WWE quickly accommodated their request. It was said that time was added to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ segment, but it’s unknown if this added to the time cut directly affecting Yim’s delay.
Dave Meltzer reported in the daily update on F4Wonline.com that Yim is slated to make her debut on the blue brand this coming Friday night.
She was moved from Raw to smackdown after WWE broke up the Retribution group. Yim hasn’t worked a match since dropping a loss to Nikki Cross last December during a Main Event TV taping.
A new Aleister Black vignette was also scheduled to air this past Friday, but that was nixed due to time as well.
The third season of Vice TV’s Dark Side of the Ring started last Thursday. The first episode was about the life and career of Brian Pillman.
The topics for the third season were previously announced as there will be two parts of the season. The exact air dates weren’t known for the first part until now.
The Nick Gage episode will air on May 13th followed by Collision in Korea, Becoming Warrior on May 27th, Grizzly Smith episode airing on June 3rd, and the first part of the season finale on June 10th with Dynamite Kid.
Here is the synopsis for each episode:
The Ultra-Violence of Nick Gage – “Nick Gage is the self-proclaimed king of deathmatch wrestling, but his road to the top has been marked with a six-year prison sentence for armed robbery and personal tragedies.”
Collision in Korea – “In one of the most bizarre acts of political theatre ever conceived, professional wrestlers who were deployed to North Korea faced a terrifying ordeal that had them fighting for their lives.”
Becoming Warrior – “The Ultimate Warrior was a divisive force in and outside of the ring; his first wife reveals how an aspiring chiropractor morphed himself into wrestling’s most polarizing figure.”
In The Shadow of Grizzly Smith – “Having survived familial abuse at the hands of their father and the mysterious abduction of their sister, Jake The Snake and his siblings struggle to reconcile with their past.”
Dynamite Kid – “The Dynamite Kid earned worldwide fame with a riveting, self-sacrificing style, but violent confrontations outside the ring would destroy his family, his body, and his legacy.”
The following topics will be covered in the second part of the season:
Johnny K9 aka Bruiser Bedlam
The Steroid Trials (Vince McMahon’s 1994 trial)
FMW
The Plane Ride From Hell (Infamous WWE flight back from European tour in 2002)
Luna Vachon
XPW
Chris Kanyon
Official air dates for the first part of Season 3…
5/13 — Nick Gage 5/20 — Collision in Korea 5/27 — Ultimate Warrior 6/3 — Grizzly Smith/Jake Roberts/Rockin’ Robin/Sam Houston 6/10 — Dynamite Kid
Which episode are you most looking forward to? GIFs only…
— Dark Side of the Ring (@DarkSideOfRing) May 10, 2021
Dave Bautista has landed another movie role as his successful career in Hollywood continues. Deadline.com is reporting that he has joined the cast of the “Knives Out 2” film.
The film is directed by Rian Johnson and is the Netflix sequel to the 2019 murder mystery film. As it stands right now, there is no word yet what characters Bautista will be playing.
Daniel Craig will be returning for the second film as Benoit Blanc, who is the lead star. It will start filming this summer in Greece.
The plot of the first film reads like this, “The circumstances surrounding the death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey are mysterious, but there’s one thing that renowned Detective Benoit Blanc knows for sure — everyone in the wildly dysfunctional Thrombey family is a suspect. Now, Blanc must sift through a web of lies and red herrings to uncover the truth.”
Bautista’s latest film, “Army of the Dead,” is directed by Zack Snyder. The plot reads, “ARMY OF THE DEAD takes place following a zombie outbreak that has left Las Vegas in ruins and walled off from the rest of the world.”
It will be released in select theaters on May 14, 2021. One week later, it will be made available on Netflix.
WWE SummerSlam expected to be held on Sunday, August 22nd. The date has not yet been confirmed by WWE and the location is still ‘to be determined’ as of this writing.
WWE has talked about holding this year’s SummerSlam in various locations such as Phoenix, Arizona, or somewhere in Texas. There has also been some speculation about the event being held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The company wants to have fans in attendance at SummerSlam and that is still the goal. While it’s expected to be held outdoors, the exact capacity will remain a big question as WrestleMania 37 had over 20,000 fans in attendance.
The belief is after SummerSlam will mark the beginning of WWE touring on a weekly basis with fans in attendance for TV.
WWE presents the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event on May 16th with WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman being billed as the top match.
After that, the Money in the Bank event takes place on June 20th and this year’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view show goes down on Sunday, July 18th. These three shows will be broadcasted from Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center.
PROGRESS Wrestling has confirmed that the final match in their Best of 3 Series for the PROGRESS Women’s Championship will take place in just under two weeks.
Kanji and Gisele Shaw will do battle for the third time in as many chapters to determine who will be the next Women’s Champion on Saturday May 22.
Former Champions Jordynne Grace and Jinny commented on the importance of the title ahead of the final match between the two stars.
“The PROGRESS Women’s Championship is tied as one of the most prestigious belts I’ve ever held, on par with the IMPACT Knockout’s Championship” Jordynne Grace said recently. “Only the best women’s wrestlers in the world have held that belt, and it’s an honor to be among them.”
PROGRESS Chapter 111
“PROGRESS gave me my start in wrestling” NXT UK Superstar Jinny recently noted. “It allowed me to make my dream a reality. There wasn’t a Women’s Championship when I started.”
“From having the first women’s match on a Chapter show and proving we need a Championship for the women of PROGRESS, to becoming a two-time PROGRESS Wrestling Women’s Champion, makes the title that much more special to me,” Jinny concluded.
The company has also released a video ahead of the final match between Kanji and Gisele Shaw hyping the trilogy match:
WWE 2K22 is the next WWE video game currently in development by Visual Concepts, a 2K Studio. We got a first look at the title during WrestleMania 37 weekend. You can see that 30-second teaser video here:
2K sent in word that the developers of WWE 2K22 will be providing an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at the game’s production.
WWE 2K20 was plagued by technical issues and universally panned by critics and gamers.WWE 2K21 was scrapped entirely so the franchise could be reimagined from the ground up.
2K and Visual Concepts will chronicle the development of WWE 2K22 with a “social media content series providing ongoing access to work-in-progress production and development.”
“AEW DYNAMITE” IS BACK ON THE ROAD WITH LIVE, TICKETED EVENTS IN MIAMI, AUSTIN, DALLAS
— Rescheduled Dates Announced for St. Louis and New Orleans Shows —
May 10, 2021 – After safely hosting 27 live, ticketed events throughout the past nine months at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Fla., AEW is bringing the excitement of its flagship show AEW DYNAMITE to Miami, Austin and Dallas this summer. AEW will become the first major wrestling promotion to safely return to a traveling schedule since March 2020.
The dates for the live shows in Miami, Austin and Dallas are:
Wednesday, July 7: James L. Knight Center in Miami.
Wednesday, July 14: H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas (greater Austin area)
Wednesday, July 21: Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas (greater Dallas area)
General tickets for the three shows will go on sale this Friday, May 14, at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT via AEWTIX.com. At the same time, tickets for the Miami and Austin shows will be available via Ticketmaster.com, while tickets for the Dallas show can be purchased at CurtisCulwellCenter.com. Tickets start at $30 (not including service charges or fees).
Each event will be held in compliance with state COVID safety guidelines, and seating capacities will adhere to state and local mandates.
“We’re so appreciative of our fans in Jacksonville who have been with us these past nine months, ” said Tony Khan, CEO, GM and Head of Creative of AEW. “Their support and incredible energy have lifted us week after week, and viewers have fed off their enthusiasm and support. Daily’s Place will always be our home.
“Looking ahead, we’re thrilled to welcome our fans back to become part of the action in Miami, Austin and Dallas. We’ve missed touring cities, meeting the fans and hearing their roar during our live shows. Please be assured, we are working closely with the venues to comply with state and local regulations in each city. Miami, Austin and Dallas are the first of many as we gear up the trucks to travel around the country again! ”
In the near future, AEW will be announcing additional live events for the late summer.
The company also announced two rescheduled dates for St. Louis and New Orleans:
• The show at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on June 23 has been rescheduled for Friday, November 5, 2021. The live event will be an AEW TNT television taping.
• The show at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans has been rescheduled for Wednesday, January, 12, 2022, as an AEW DYNAMITE event.
Fans who have already purchased tickets to either show will have their original tickets valid for admission to the respective rescheduled show, or they can receive a refund via the point of purchase.
As AEW continues to deliver the best matches and most entertaining moments in professional wrestling today, be sure to tune into AEW DYNAMITE every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on TNT.
Dark Side of the Ring Season 3 premiered last week with an episode on Brian Pillman. The show airs on VICE TV which recently signed a deal with Major League Wrestling. MLW shows now air on VICE Saturdays at noon est.
Co-creators of Dark Side of the Ring, Evan Husney and Jason Eisener, recently appeared on the WINCLY podcast and spoke about a potential crossover between MLW and Dark Side of the Ring.
“Court Bauer, he’s awesome. I’ve talked to him many times about this,” Husney said. “He had reached out to me, I think, when season two was airing. He reached out to me and and sort of had the idea of ‘wrestling is getting big on this network. What do you think?’ And obviously, because we did the Von Erich story, I knew Ross and Marshall Von Erich from the episode, and them being such a huge part of MLW, I thought it was a cool idea because Vice, the way the network launched originally to where what it’s kind of evolved into, it seems like now Vice TV, as a network, is open to a lot more different types of storytelling.”
In MLW, the Von Erichs are currently feuding with Tom Lawlor and Team Filthy. They lost the tag-team titles earlier this year to Los Parks from Azteca Underground.
Dark Side of the Ring Creators on How To Produce A Wrestling Show
The Dark Side of the Ring creators continued to talk about wanting to change the way wrestling is shot.
“If there is a way to innovate with MLW and to do something different, hey, if they want us to maybe look at some different lighting tweaks or camera tweaks, we can kind of bring a more cinematic lens to wrestling because that for me, as a whole, is the thing that makes wrestling really hard for me to watch today because I think the in-ring talent is great. I think there’s a lot of awesome talent across the board,” Husney continued.
He then continued to say he’s had discussions with MLW about possibly doing a cinematic style FMW show. It’s not clear if Bauer is into this idea, however.
“We’ve talked about it,” Husney stated. “It’s funny because I’ve talked to him about FMW, and I’ve been like, ‘Yeah man, we got the smoke, and the fog and the da da da.’ I have mentioned it a few times to him. I don’t know if he thinks I’m totally out of my mind or if he thinks that it would be cool. But hey, I think obviously being on the same network, there’s got to be some possibility of collaboration. If my schedule frees up, we can do a Halloween themed PPV.”
Dark Side of the Ring returns to VICE TV on May 13th. The episode will focus on Nick Gage.
Darby Allin is in for the fight of his life this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite. The reigning TNT Champion will face his toughest challenge to date when he defends against Miro.
Last week on Dynamite, Miro declared his intention to take Darby Allin’s title. He delivered a sobering warning by billing the match as, “The man who doesn’t mind dying meets the man who doesn’t mind killing him.”
Later in the show Darby Allin was thrown down a flight of steps by Ethan Page. Allin said his shoulder is in bad shape, but he is not going to let that phase him.
Miro replied by warning Allin that denial will get him hurt. He took another dig at Sting, calling him Darby Allin’s emo face-paint Daddy.
Denial will get you hurt bad. Ask emo face-paint Daddy @Sting if you can win. If he wants to protect you he’ll tell you it’s over too. https://t.co/rDrA2FaiZr
Darby Allin replied to Miro’s comments with some trash talk of his own. He knows exactly who he is, but is Miro in touch with his own self? The Bulgarian brute came into AEW with great fanfare, but was soon relegated to playing video games and serving as Kip Sabian’s sidekick.
“Do you know who you are Miro?” he questioned. “You show up the hottest free agent just to talk about video games and be some best man. You’ve gotta be the most underwhelming Thing I’ve seen.”
He finished by warning Miro, “You ain’t taking shit away from me.”
You say Darby’s this & Darby’s that I know exactly who I am.
Do you know who you are Miro? You show up the hottest free agent just to talk about video games and be some best man. You’ve gotta be the most underwhelming Thing I’ve seen.
Last week, AEW presented a War Games style match titled Blood & Guts from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. According to PW Insider, WWE management hated the match with at least one person believing it will have serious negative implications for the industry.
“That just set the business back 30 years,” one person from WWE management reportedly said anonymously to PW Insider.
The match featured several wrestlers bleeding and Chris Jericho being pushed off the cage at the end.
The term “Blood & Guts” was actually a reference to similar criticism lobbied against AEW by Vince McMahon. At WWE’s 2nd quarter earnings call in 2019, McMahon stated he didn’t feel TNT would put up with AEW’s “blood and guts” approach for too long.
“As far as competition is concerned, the old adage is ‘competition is good for everyone,’ I think that’s generally the case,” McMahon said on the call about AEW. “We’re hoping that, to the extent that they are competition, they don’t continue with blood and guts and gory things that they have been doing, which would be bad. I can’t imagine, I can’t speak for TNT, but I can’t imagine they would put up with that.”
WWE has had similarly violent matches and segments recently, however. At Extreme Rules in 2020, Rey Mysterio’s eyeball was completely removed from his head in storyline. Bray Wyatt was also set on fire recently on WWE RAW.
Wes Lee and Nash Carter, formerly known as Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier, are the current NXT tag-team champions. They spoke to Metro UK recently about their time in NXT and the meaning behind their new team name “MSK.”
“It’s us. MSK is Wes Lee and Nash Carter. It’s what we stand for, it’s who we are,” said Wes Lee. He wouldn’t give away what the letters actually stand for, however.
“It’s what we do. It’s a lifestyle. It’s a mentality,” he continued.
What does MSK stand for?
The duo continued to say they like to “keep people guessing” about what MSK actually stands for.
“It’s like our matches,” Lee continued. “You never know what to expect from us. People identify us as highflyers, but that’s not all we do. We learned highflying because that’s what was exciting to us, but we know how to punch somebody in the mouth, we know how to snap an arm. We know how to get gritty and nasty as well – so you never know what you’re gonna get with us.”
Nash Carter continued to talk about how quickly everything has come since signing with WWE.
“The story of MSK has just been ready, set, go. Not even set! It’s just been ready, go. Everything just happened so fast, where it’s kinda hard to process. ‘Once we got the call, at least for me, I knew this is the place I wanted to be. I’ve always wanted to be a WWE superstar, I always loved WWE and this place, what we have access to, is second to none. It’s the greatest thing in the world.”
Visit Metro.co.uk to read the full interview with MSK.
Former WWE Superstar Mickie James appeared on this week’s episode of Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions. The former Women’s Champion and trailblazer discussed a number of subjects during her time on the podcast, including of course the ‘trashbag’ incident that saw her calling out WWE for their treatment of released talent.
When Mickie James was released just a few weeks ago, her belongings were sent back to her in a ‘trash bag,’ prompting James to write a message to WWE on social media. The anger from James meant that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon would apologize publicly, and Vince McMahon called her directly.
Chelsea Green was also given the ‘trashbag’ treatment upon her release, although she was accidently sent Natalya’s gear, something Green addressed on her new podcast ’50 Shades of Green.’
Mickie James Talks Chelsea Green Feud
Mickie James revealed on Oral Sessions that her and Chelsea Green were actually set to have a feud on WWE programming, before WWE nixed this and the two were forced to try and make something work on social media.
“That would’ve been fun,” James said on the podcast. “We started actually doing that on Twitter after the fact. I really didn’t think it was going to happen at that point because they had already pulled it. Because we shot the stuff and everything for it and for whatever reason it just never got approved prior to us even going out there and having the match.”
“That was supposed to be my comeback or whatever” James recalled. “That was part of my comeback from my injury and stuff. I was like ‘oh this will actually be really cool. And it’s a cool way to flip the script, do it differently but then hopefully build Chelsea up and do something. And maybe she even retires me or whatever.’”
Would you like to see Chelsea Green and Mickie James appear for another promotion? Let us know in the comments
AEW star and leader of The Pinnacle MJF recently spoke to Steel Chair Magazine. One of the questions posed to the outspoken and controversial character involved WWE and his Four Horseman-esque group potentially being lured over to the company.
“Me and my boys, we’re willing to go wherever the money’s at, it’s that simple” MJF began, speaking to Steel Chair. “Don’t get me wrong, AEW runs deep in me. I don’t want to leave, but I am a businessman at the end of the day. I can’t help myself if somebody’s got an offer for me, I’m going to listen to it.”
“I’m a prodigy” MJF claimed. “But people have been saying that about me since birth and the reason why it doesn’t shock me, but it shocks everybody else, is because, let’s face it, there’s ageism in this world.”
MJF on Being a ‘Prodigy’
“When people hear the number 25? They think, ‘Oh, that person probably doesn’t have their ducks in a row, he’s probably immature; he’s probably not ready for a big opportunity’” The Pinnacle leader concluded.
It’s highly unlikely that Maxwell Jacob Friedman or The Pinnacle would be heading over to WWE anytime soon. FTR themselves left the company to join AEW; citing a want to have more creative freedom and to be in an environment where they felt tag team wrestling was more ‘respected.’
WWE Superstar and the United Kingdom Champion WALTER recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. The Austrian performer discussed a number of topics during the interview, including the three names in WWE that would be ‘dream’ matches for him.
“When I first got into watching other wrestling, I was watching Ring of Honor” WALTER began, somewhat giving a clue as to the performers he wants to go up against. “A lot of those guys are the top guys in WWE right now.”
WALTER Talks Dream Matches
“Daniel Bryan is a match I would want to do” WALTER noted. “Obviously, Cesaro. I’ve never worked with (Cesaro). He’s a great role model for all of us German-speaking talent. He’s always been super supportive.”
“As soon as we stepped foot in WWE, he reached his hand out to all of us” WALTER revealed of the Swiss Superstar. “He’s a fantastic wrestler. Regarding NXT, the one match I wanted before COVID was Finn Balor. Those are the three.”
The biggest reason that we have not seen WALTER appear more on the main roster is his want to stay in Europe. Reports have indicated that WALTER is settled and happy to perform in the UK/Europe; so he isn’t looking to relocate to the United States anytime soon.
Controversial NXT referee Drake Wuertz was reportedly suspended by WWE earlier this year and has had his responsibilities reduced backstage. This comes on the heels of journalist David Bixenspan’s reporting on Wuertz’s extreme political views.
In November, Bixenspan published an article titled “WWE appears to have a Drake Wuertz problem.” The article details Wuertz’s relationship with a a QAnon-adjacent “anti-child trafficking” charity, and his activity on Parler including his following the official “Proud Boys” account. According to the report from Fightful, WWE officials were “horrified” by what they read in the article.
According to a report from Fightful, Wuertz is no longer the head referee in NXT. That job has now gone to Darryl Sharma. Wuertz was also not given the role of timing matches in NXT in favor of giving that role to the returning Scott Armstrong. Wuertz is said to have been banned from the Capitol Wrestling Center for a period, either formerly or informally as well. He has since returned, however.
Drake Wuertz Response On Facebook
Wuertz published the following response to the reports about him on Facebook:
“My wife said some folks are apparently writing about our “Radical Views “. *Human Trafficking is modern-day slavery and we seek to eradicate it *Abortion is Murder and needs to be Abolished *Children in my community that are being forced by local government to wear masks for 8 hours a day against their parents wishes is abuse. We have a God-ordained duty to speak up for the ‘least of these’ and petition our magistrates to prevent harm upon children. If this is “Radical” then label me an extremist for Christ. Were not called to fit in with the world. Were called to serve God!…”We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29”
What Is Qanon?
In April, a report was published by the global security-focussed non-profit group the Soufan Center, and stated that Qanon messaging and conspiracy theories were being amplified by foreign countries with the goal of sowing civil discontent within the United States.
“Our data collection and analysis has demonstrated that QAnon has been weaponized by America’s adversaries,” cautioned Zach Schwitzky, Founder of Limbik. “Actors from Russia, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia have all entered the fray amplifying QAnon messaging, most likely as a means to sow further discord and division among the American population.”
Jon Moxley will defend his IWGP United States championship against Yuji Nagata on Dynamite this Wednesday. Moxley teamed with Chris Dickinson on NJPW Strong this week and they defeated the team of Yuji Nagata and Ren Narita. Following the match, Nagata locked Moxley in an arm-bar. Both teams were interviewed after the match and Nagata and Moxley both spoke on their upcoming title match.
“Mr. Jon Moxley. Under this COVID-19 situation, I, Yuji Nagata, came for you here in America,” Nagata said. “And I had a match with you. I still want more. I got some good attacks from you. Your move was not bad. However, that was not enough. I am not satisfied with today’s tag match. When is the next match with you? The next one is the US Heavyweight Championship match. I am going to give it all I got. Do same thing to me. And then, I will win. Zea!”
Following Nagata’s comments, champion Jon Moxley and his partner Chris Dickinson were also interviewed backstage.
“Let me tell you about Nagata-san,” Moxley began. “Let me tell you about this guy who got on a plane and came all the way across the Pacific Ocean to do me a favor, to come here and glad handle the American citizens and all the fans. The great respected Yuji Nagata making a tour of the United States, problem is he’s going back to Japan in a body bag.”
“Tonight, what I saw after this match, that’s the Nagata I want! I want an angry Nagata, I want a mean Nagata, I want a pissed off Nagata,” Moxley continued.
NJPW is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak. 7 additional wrestlers have now tested positive for the virus. This brings the total number of 9 infected people on the NJPW roster. 2 wrestlers also tested positive for the virus following Wrestling Dontaku Night 2.
While NJPW has not announced which wrestlers have tested positive, Kazuchika Okada, Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, and YOH were the wrestlers removed from Wrestling Dontaku Night 2. According to updates from NJPW1972.com, 2 of those wrestlers presented to the May 3rd show with a fever. Those wrestlers would later test positive for the virus, while 4 additional wrestlers were kept off the show as well.
Following these positive tests, NJPW tested its entire roster and 7 more additional positive tests were confirmed.
“In light of this news, all those who had close contact with the infected parties, in addition to every wrestler on the roster, received PCR tests, with a further seven wrestlers testing positive,” an NJPW update reads.
All 9 wrestlers who tested positive are said to be experiencing mild or no symptoms.
“All those who tested positive are experiencing mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. According to protocols and under medical advice, all are isolating and receiving appropriate treatment,” NJPW’s statement continues.
NJPW recently cancelled planned shows in Yokohama on the 15th and inside the Tokyo Dome on May 29th.
EC3 announced on social media last month that he had been hospitalized and now he has written a long blog to detail the situation.
He had been dealing with an infection that has caused him to miss out on work for the past month. The severe infection happened months after he had COVID-19 last year. He cited a torn toe tendon procedure and a cut suffered during a match.
“A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a swelling developing in my arm, and in other areas of my body,” he wrote. Paying it very little attention while using bro-science and internet diagnosis, I continued my daily missions and the overwhelming burdens I place upon myself in training, performing, business, and creative endeavors. When I thought about getting it looked at professionally, another thing would come up that I’d give priority.
This repeated and I lived life normally, consistently going, no rest,” he continued. “Finally, after an attempt at some athletic based therapy, my arm became a gigantic, swollen, horrifying, ungodly, painful atrocity and I went to the ER. Next thing I knew, words like cellulitis, staph, and stenosis were thrown around, I was being pumped full of fluids, antibiotics, and morphine, and was in an ambulance to my STAYCATION DESTINATION, Advent Health Downtown Orlando.”
He continued by noting that for 10 days, he shut down both physically and mentally.
“It was a reminder of both a childhood spent very ill, and a career spent where when things were very promising, began to reach an apex, and accomplishments being achieved I would drasticly be shattered with catastrophic injuries (torn ligaments, tendons, concussions etc.) Completely unforeseen. Completely unnecessary.”
EC3 added that he is at home now where he can continue to heal and rest. He also circled three dates on his calendar with the first date being May 27th.
EC3 has not wrestled since April 9 where he lost to Moose by DQ at a Game Changer Wrestling event.
IWGP United States Champion was in action on Friday’s edition of NJPW Strong. He and Chris Dickinson teamed up to defeat the team of Yuji Nagata and Ren Narita.
Moxley picked up the pinfall victory by hitting a paradigm shift on Narita. Post-match, Nagata attacked Moxley. The two will battle in a historic singles match next Wednesday on AEW Dynamite. It will be the first time in history that a championship sanctioned by NJPW is defended on AEW programming.
Here are full results from Friday’s NJPW Strong:
Barrett Brown and Adrian Quest defeated The DKC and Kevin Knight
The West Coast Wrecking Crew (Royce Issacs and Jorel Nelson) defeated Misterioso and Jordan Clearwater
IWGP US Champion Jon Moxley and Chris Dickinson defeated Yuji Nagata and Ren Narita
Court Bauer’s MLW promotion is gearing up for the start of a new era. El Jefe from Azteca Underground was revealed on Fusion this week and a big show from the 2300 Arena has been scheduled for July.
It has also been reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently that MLW and WWE were developing some type of relationship. Bauer recently spoke to Forbes about those rumors. Bauer noted that his company is in talks with some “interesting people” but any relationship would have to benefit both parties.
“A collaboration must have a long-term vision and a genuine commitment to enriching both parties,” said Bauer.
“We’re having some interesting conversations with some interesting people, and if there is a two-way relationship that feels like it’s a win-win for the companies, the talent and the fans—and has a long-term sustainability to it—we’ll always examine it. You can’t do one-sided. I don’t kiss rings, I don’t need the validation,” Bauer continued.
Court Bauer on MLW and VICE TV
Bauer also spoke about MLW’s new deal with VICE TV and how it helps both parties.
“Vice TV has found an audience in pro wrestling. They’re the fastest-growing entertainment cable network in America, and in this day in age to be growing in linear cable a lot—and their success with Dark Side of the Ring and finding this audience—[the pro wrestling audience] is a very loyal audience. It always has been. That’s why Turner Sports grew in the ‘70s, because of the Atlanta Braves and pro wrestling. The reason USA Network found its way in the ‘80s was because of WWF. Pay-per-view thrives because of wrestling. This formula worked for them, and in us they have a partner that’s very true to their audience, which is full of Gen Z and millennial viewers.”
MLW is looking to add some fresh faces to its roster before the show on July 10th. The promotion announced a draft of sorts will take place in the coming weeks.
Paul Heyman recently spoke to DAZN. The Special Council To The Tribal Chief discussed a wide variety of topics during the interview, however his answering of a question regarding Brock Lesnar returning to face WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns as particularly intriguing.
Although Reigns and Lesnar have already fought on multiple occasions, including WrestleMania main events, a meeting between the two now would be arguably the one that draws the most intrigue from the audience. With Heyman now aligned with Roman, and Reigns portraying his Head of The Table character, it means that Lesnar has a different reason to go after the Samoan Champion.
“The problem that I have with your question is that it’s based on a hypothetical” Heyman said to DAZN during the interview. “My father was a far smarter man than I will ever be, which is a testament to my father. My father used to have a saying, ‘If your aunt had balls, she’d be your uncle.’ She doesn’t. So she’s not.”
“If Brock Lesnar were to return, ‘if’ is a hypothetical. Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do” the former ECW owner continued. “How you can be cognizant of the fact that Brock Lesnar does not want to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal championship, or at least not yet, is because he hasn’t done it.”
Paul Heyman on Brock Lesnar
“Because if Brock Lesnar wanted to it, it would have happened already” Heyman noted, in an extremely telling manner. “And it hasn’t happened already because he doesn’t want to.”
“Now, there may be reasons why he doesn’t want to” Heyman added. “And that’s for Brock Lesnar to reveal if Brock Lesnar ever decides to reveal it. Man doesn’t tweet. He doesn’t post pictures on Instagram. He’s not a public persona. He’s a very private beast. He does enjoy being on his tractor and on his combine, and the man loves the farm.”
“If Brock Lesnar ever decides to appear in public, it’ll be when Brock Lesnar wants to appear in public because Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do” Paul Heyman concluded, leaving the door open to a potential mega match down the line.
AEW star and husband of former WWE Superstar Peyton Royce, Shawn Spears, recently spoke to Inside The Ropes. During the interview, the member of The Pinnacle discussed Peyton and her IIconics tag team partner Billie Kay potentially joining him in All Elite Wrestling.
“Obviously they [the fans] would assume that would be the plan that because I work there” Spears said during the interview. “Her [Peyton] husband works there, that it’s just, naturally she’s going to… Those questions are above my pay grade.”
“I don’t have anything to do with the hiring process” Shawn Spears continued, discussing the popular tag team unit and them potentially signing. “Selfishly, of course! Why would I not want my wife working there? Not only do I feel it’d be great to see her on a weekly basis with me, but what her and Jess can offer our women’s division and the entertainment world as a whole is just second to none.”
Shawn Spears on The IIconics
Shawn Spears then seemed to almost ‘pitch’ the duo, saying “you’ve seen how entertaining they are. I don’t need to explain to you what they bring to the table, and I don’t think I would need to explain to Tony Khan what they bring to the table either. That guy knows everything about every talent.”
With Billie Kay and Peyton Royce being almost shock releases from WWE a few weeks ago, there’s a good chance that they’re on the radar of many promotions. Whether we will see the duo end up in AEW remains to be seen, as IMPACT, NWA or even a return to Australia are all viable options.
