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Tamina Names The ‘Roman Reigns’ Of WWE’s Women’s Division

Michael Reichlin
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Universal Champion Roman Reigns is the top dog in WWE. After years of fans rejecting him as the next face of the company, his current Tribal Chief persona has finally resonated.

WWE veteran Tamina recently spoke with ViBe & Wrestling and was asked who she feels is the ‘Roman Reigns’ of the Women’s Division.

She first said that if we’re talking only women of Polynesian culture, it’s gotta be her, not Nia Jax. “It’s not Nia for sure, definitely not Nia,” she joked.

Tamina then named Charlotte Flair as the Roman Reigns of the WWE women’s locker room. “I would say probably Charlotte at this point. She came back and she definitely got something on her head. She is coming back for something and definitely wants to prove who she is. She came out and put everybody on the spot and she addressed all the locker room, so I would have to say maybe Charlotte right now.”

Charlotte Flair is a logical pick. Both are second generation competitors who have racked up more world title accolades than you can count.

WWE has a deep women’s division that includes other prominent stars such as of Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Bayley and Alexa Bliss.

Check out ViBe & Wrestling’s interview with Tamina:

Former Nexus Member Michael Tarver Says That John Cena ‘Buried’ Him

Jake Skudder
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Former Nexus member Michael Tarver recently spoke to VOC Nation’s Talkin Sass podcast. The former WWE Superstar discussed a number of topics during the interview, including how he felt he was ‘buried’ by John Cena during his time on the WWE main roster.

“The irony of how WWE works, you could be the man or the woman in developmental, and (when you) get to the main roster, it doesn’t matter how good you are,” Tarver began on the show.

“If one of the main people there don’t like you, they will do everything they can do to bury you” Tarver added. “I got to the main roster and just got buried.”

Michael Tarver on John Cena

“It was [John] Cena,” Tarver revealed, discussing who at the top of the card in WWE was ‘burying’ him. “I don’t have any heat with him now, I make jokes about it.  But there was a target on my back.  I don’t know why he targeted me, but it is what it is.”

“We ended up on good terms (but) I had to defend myself a lot” noted. “Everyone was high on me, and then all the sudden they all turned on me. People wouldn’t shake my hand, they wouldn’t even speak to me.”

Roman Reigns Alludes To ‘Forbidden Door’ During Promo

Jake Skudder
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WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Daniel Bryan on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown. With that win, Roman has ‘banished’ Bryan from the blue brand of WWE.

Following the win Reigns posted a video online, saying that the former WWE Champion Bryan should ‘thank him’ for giving him the ability to go home and ‘be a dad.’

“Already putting in the work, just a few hours removed on Saturday morning” Reigns began during the mid workout video. “Last night, I achieved greatness once again. As I’m hitting this cardio, I’m sitting here thinking, the whole world should be thanking me.”

Roman Reigns on Daniel Bryan

“Daniel Bryan, you should be thanking me” Reigns added. “I’m a man of my word, I did what I said I was going to do. Not only did I give the audience what they need, I got rid of you and I’m driving us forward, taking care of the future, getting rid of the old.”

“I gave you what you wanted. You made it clear; you were looking for a new door” Roman Reigns continued, alluding to Daniel Bryan saying that he potentially wants to wrestle elsewhere. “What better way to go through the new one when the old one hits you in the ass? That’s what I did, I closed this door on you.”

“We’re going to live the ‘Show up and Win’ mantra and keep putting work in” Reigns added. “Next Friday on SmackDown, not only do I expect you to acknowledge me — we’re not talking about you Daniel Bryan, we’re done with you. Go have fun, be a dad, save the world, hug a tree, whatever you want to do — To the WWE Universe.”

“Some of them call you that, but to me you’re mine. You’re my audience and my people” Reigns concluded. “Not only are you going to acknowledge me on Friday, you’re going to thank me.”

Do you want to see Daniel Bryan leave WWE and look for a ‘new door?’ Let us know in the comments

Daniel Bryan Reveals His Favorite Ever WWE Match

Jake Skudder
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WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently appeared on My Mom’s Basement. The former WWE Champion discussed a number of topics during the interview, including his favorite ever WWE match.

“My favorite match in my WWE career is my match with Kofi at WrestleMania 35,” Bryan stated on the podcast. “It’s so special and such a cool moment. One of the things that I love is it’s Kofi winning at the end.”

“WrestleMania 30, my shoulder is horrible, I hurt my neck, I have this horrible pain down my arm and I have to get up and do media the next morning” Bryan continued. “Everyone comes up to you and are like ‘congratulations.’ There’s a lot of responsibility.”

“When I wrestled Kofi, everyone goes to Kofi and says congratulations to him. I get to have my moment with him and be like ‘Hey man, thanks. That was awesome’” Bryan noted. “Then, I get to hug my wife and daughter and go home the next day. Kofi is the one who has to do media and deal with people congratulating him.”

Daniel Bryan on Brock Match

Bryan also brought up his match against Brock Lesnar from Survivor Series 2018, after he had just turned heel. “I love my match with Brock Lesnar. It’s cool because I just turned heel and I was like, ‘I finally get to wrestle Brock Lesnar and it’s as a bad guy.’”

“One of the things I’m very proud of is I went out to boos, got them to cheer me by the end, and when I left they still boo’d me. Wrestling Brock gave me a deep-seated appreciation for how great Brock is. The other stuff, it’s hard to narrow down” Bryan concluded.

Do you think that Daniel Bryan will be moving on to RAW or NXT following his ‘banishment’ from SmackDown? Let us know in the comments

Carmella Talks WWE Releasing Billie Kay and Peyton Royce

Jake Skudder
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WWE SmackDown Superstar Carmella appeared on this week’s episode of The Bellas Podcast. Carmella discussed a number of topics during the interview, including the recent WWE releases of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.

Carmella seemed as shocked as anyone that the former IIconics were sent packing just a couple of weeks ago from WWE. Billie Kay in particular seemed to have carved a perfect niche for herself in a comedy role on SmackDown; Kay had begun teaming with Carmella before getting released in April.

“I think everyone was,” Carmella began on the podcast, saying how the release of the two IIconics shocked the WWE locker room. “I don’t know what the right or wrong thing to say is. All I can speak from is my experience and we were super excited for this story.”

Carmella Rocked By Their Release

“I felt like ‘I’m done with this whole sexy gimmick they want me to do or try to be sexy’” Carmella added. “Which is fine and it’s fun to be sexy, but I wanted to show my personality more. I wanted to show a little bit more of a fun side.”

“And I was really looking forward to doing that with Billie [Kay]” Carmella continued. “Our entrance alone, she was cracking me up. She was so funny. I was really looking forward to where that was going to go. And obviously, unfortunately, we can’t do that any more.”

“Those two were some of my closest friends since I’ve been here, since they got here,” Carmella noted. “So this was the first time I was like really rocked by a release. I was like ‘wow. These are my friends. They’re not just my co-workers.”

Where do you think Billie Kay and Peyton Royce will end up next? Let us know in the comments

Andrade Challenges Kenny Omega to Defend AAA Title at Triplemania

Alex Laybourne
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Since his release from WWE Andrade was the subject of much speculation about where he would head. With his 90-day release clause coming to an end, we have already heard two major announcements from the Mexican star.

Andrade is wasting little time in getting himself back to where he wants to be and has now called out triple promotion champion Kenny Omega.

In a video released on YouTube, Andrade can be seen challenging Kenny Omega for his AAA title, at the promotion’s annual Triplemania event.

The company have not yet set a date for the event, but this only gives Andrade more time to get back into top ring conditioning. After his sporadic use in WWE and the mandatory post-release rest period they insist on, Andrade will need a few matches to get his wings back under him.

Kenny Omega has been the AAA champion since October 2019. While his appearances for the company have been limited due to covid, he will surely have to defend the belt at their big PPV. A bout between these two men would have a big draw for all wrestling fans.

Andrade Making Moves

Earlier this week Andrade announced he was signing for Mexican promotion Federacion Wrestling. He will participate in a multi-man tag match at their debut show in June.

Andrade is also scheduled to face Alberto el Patron at the end of July. More details on that match here.

For now, it looks as if Andrade will be sticking with his unmasked look. However, at the start of the video, he was wearing a La Sombra pendant. This is the latest in a series of hints that we might see a return of his masked character.

Chris Jericho Talks Editing Botches from AEW Matches

Alex Laybourne
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The pandemic era has changed wrestling in a number of ways, including the (re)introduction of taped matches. In a recent interview on Wrestling Observer Radio, Chris Jericho talked about how AEW will do several different takes of a spot just to get it right.

AEW Dynamite is often branded as being a live show. However, there have been instances during the pandemic where AEW has taped several shows. During his recent chat with Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez, the G.O.A.T of professional wrestling talked about how matches would be edited to remove botches. He went on to say he had gone through as many as three takes on a single spot.

“We worked with Top Flight, me and MJF against Top Flight, and I was gonna put one guy in the Walls and the other guy that jumps over me sunset flips over me where I catapult the other brother to where he’s on MJF who’s on the floor. When we tried this thing it fcked up so bad. We tried it again that it fcked up even worse the second that we had to try it a third time. I was like, ‘I would never do this, but why not take advantage of it?’ It’s a taped show.” Jericho said during his interview.

Blood and Guts Will Leave No Room for Error

Botches are a part of wrestling. We are talking about athletes who put together some of the most acrobatic displays you will see humans perform. Their spots take talent, timing and understanding in order to pull them off. It’s understandable that sometimes things don’t go fully according to plan. For the viewers watching at home, this can be everything from frustrating to illusion breaking. The benefit of watching taped matches is that the stars have the chance to stop, reset and try again. This allows them to create spots that look exactly as expected.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COEF-JHDJgl/

Jericho raises an interesting point. He went on to discuss using edits and re-shoots to make sure things went perfectly. Is that still wrestling? Do fans want a 100% flawless set of matches?

One thing is for sure, the blood and guys match will leave no room for error. AEW has confirmed that this match will be shot live. The other matches on the card, however, will be taped in advance.

Willow Nightingale to Make AEW Debut Against Thunder Rosa on AEW Dark: Elevation

Alex Laybourne
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This week on Elevation, Willow Nightingale will be making her AEW debut going head-to-head with none other than Thunder Rosa.

Many wrestling fans will not know Nightingale. However, those that follow the indie wrestling scene will no doubt be familiar with her name. The recent in a line of talent from NYWC – New York Wrestling Connection, she comes into AEW with a young, but strong pedigree.

Willow Nightingale debuted only 6 years ago in 2015 but has wrestled for some of the more prominent indie promotions, including CZW, House of Glory, and Shimmer. She was also a tag-team champion in Chikara. She held the women’s tag-titles as part of The Bird and The Bee for 228 days. They were the reigning champions until the company closed its doors at the end of 2020.

The chance of her picking up a victory against a wrestler with the momentum of Thunder Rosa is highly unlikely. However, this will not be your everyday squash match. It has everything it needs to be one of the better fights of the night. If she plays her cards right, it could be a major steppingstone for Willow Nightingale to get a full-time spot on the AEW roster.

The female division is growing in the company, and as rumours of a female-only show abound, we could find ourselves getting very familiar with Nightingale as the year goes on.

Willow Nightingale’s debut for AEW was called by fans after spotting her in the crowd during an episode of Dynamite. This is not the first time a wrestler was spotted in attendance before making their debut for the company.

Young Rock Renewed For Second Season

Chris Stephens
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NBC’s “Young Rock” featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been renewed for a second season. The 10th episode in the series aired this week and garnered 2.4 million viewers. The 11th episode in the series will air on May 4th.

NBC announced that both “Young Rock” and Kenan Thompson’s show “Kenan” have been renewed yesterday.

“It has been a true joy to watch Dwayne Johnson & Kenan Thompson on NBC every week and see families connect with their relatable, entertaining and heartwarming stories,” said Lisa Katz, president of scripted programming for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We’re thrilled to renew both of these shows for another season and can’t wait to see more from Dwayne, Kenan and the incredibly talented casts and producing teams behind each of them.”

Show writer and former WWE creative team member Brian Gewirtz took to Twitter to comment on the show being renewed.

The Rock recently revealed to Deadline that Young Rock star Uli Latukefu, who plays the college-aged Rock on the show, has also been tapped for a role in Black Adam. The DC Comics movie starring the Rock is due for release in the summer of 2022. It has not been revealed what role Latukefu will have in the movie.

Chris Jericho On How “Blood & Guts” Is Different From “War Games”

Chris Stephens
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AEW will present “Blood & Guts” on the May 5th edition of Dynamite. Chris Jericho and his Inner Circle will take on Maxwell Jacob Friedman and the Pinnacle. While the double-ring steel cage match draws many comparisons to the War Games matches created by Dusty Rhodes in the 1980s, Jericho says Blood & Guts will be different.

“It’s not a true blue War Games either,” Jericho said on Wrestling Observer Radio. “The apparatus is different just because of the way – I don’t think I’m giving anything away here – the configurations of Daily’s Place… you’ve never seen an apparatus like this, there are some differences to it.”

“Blood and guts really is a new version,” Jericho continued. “It’s not WWE’s version of a War Games, it’s not Dusty’s version of a War Games, it’s AEW’s version of War Games which is why it’s called Blood & Guts, it’s got a different name to it. And I like that, I like the fact that it has to be a different match, not just because we don’t own the copyright for War Games because we actually are making this a little bit different from what you’re used to.”

Jericho also confirmed while there might be some blood, no guts will be visible during the match (unless something has gone horribly wrong).

“I’m sure there’ll be some blood. There won’t be any guts. I don’t want to disappoint you guys but nobody’s going to be hara-kiri’ed with a samurai sword where you see the endtrails or anything like that,” Jericho said.

Jon Moxley’s Return To NJPW Announced

Chris Stephens
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Jon Moxley defeated KENTA to retain his IWGP United States Championship on an episode of New Japan Strong in February. AEW recently revealed that Moxley will defend that title May 12th on Dynamite against NJPW’s Yuji Nagata. NJPW announced last night on New Japan Strong that both Nagata and Moxley will be in action on next week’s show.

Jon Moxley will team with Chris Dickinson next week on New Japan Strong to take on the team of Yuji Nagata and Ren Narita.

NJPW President Comments On New Japan Strong

In a recent interview with NJPW1972.com, NJPW President Takami Ohbari spoke about the importance of New Japan Strong to the promotion.

“Up to now, New Japan has been exclusively about Japan,” he said during the interview. “Until very recently, the only way to see a New Japan wrestler live outside of Japan was in another company. And vice versa; the only path to wrestlers from overseas to compete in a NJPW ring was an incredibly difficult one. What we have in STRONG is a mid-way point. That’s what I’ve always wanted to build. Now we have a place for wrestlers from all these other promotions to get together. It’s a place for wrestlers you’ve never seen before and matches you’ve never seen before. Without a practical example, it was hard for me to go out in that press conference in November 2019 and say ‘listen, this is going to benefit fans all over the world’, but now it’s happening.”

Chris Jericho Describes “Assassination Attempt” Story Referenced On Dynamite

Chris Stephens
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On AEW Dynamite this week, Chris Jericho made reference to Jake Hager having saved him from an “assassination attempt” in Abu Dhabi in 2012. Jericho appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio recently and detailed what exactly took place during this situation.

“That is a true story. He didn’t save me from assassination but he did have my back,” Jericho said on the show. “We were in Abu Dhabi and we were in a club and some guy was being a jerk so I just walked by him and gave him a body check, body checked him into the wall, a good o’l fashioned hockey move.”

“He claimed that his father owned, and I quote, 27% of the country and that I would be assassinated by the end of the day, like in 24 hours. I had a bounty for $7 million on my head.”

Jericho continued to say that he asked the person if $7 million was a good number for a bounty and what other size bounties are given in similar situations.

“Hager was behind me going ‘dude, this is the wild west, don’t mess with this guy.'”

Jericho would later say that he went back to his room and was thinking he wouldn’t go out again until things blew over. Eventually, he was convinced to go back to the same club, however.

“I go back to the club and the bouncer’s there and he goes ‘oh, you haven’t been assassinated yet’ and it’s like ‘no, should I be worried?’ and he goes ‘that m***erf***ker says that all the time. His dad doesn’t own the country, he owns a gas station down the street.’ But at the time we didn’t know and Jake had my back when I was threatened with assassination in Abu Dhabi.”

Kurt Angle Calls Bret Hart The ‘Greatest Of All Time’

Jake Skudder
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During a recent episode of the Kurt Angle Show at AdFreeShows.com, Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle discussed the topic of “greatest pro wrestler of all time.”

Many people would pick Angle as the G.O.A.T., but he named Bret “The Hitman” Hart as his pick.

“It is Bret Hart because I believe that he’s the greatest wrestler of all time,” Angle said. “I believe that with his in-ring performance, there’s nobody better. I would say Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit are close, even myself, but I still put Bret up there.”

Bret Hart: The Ultimate Technician

In addition to Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit, Ric Flair is also in the conversation. However, he was no Bret Hart when it comes to technical ability.

“Don’t get me wrong, a Ric Flair needs to be up there too because he’s the man,” he added. “Ric was a great wrestler and could get people interested in the psychology of the match, but he was also very entertaining.”

“He took a lot of crazy Ric Flair bumps. You knew what he was going to do and you wanted him to do it. Bret Hart was just the best overall technician I have ever seen in my life.”

Bret Hart himself has said on many occasions that he would’ve loved to face Kurt Angle in the ring. Unfortunately this is another dream match that would not come to pass.

During this 2020 interview with Chris Van Vliet, Angle revealed the match almost happened at WrestleMania XX back in 2004:

Chris Jericho Says That Darby Allin Is a ‘Main Event Draw’

Jake Skudder
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Former AEW ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho recently appeared on WrestlingINC’s daily show. The former WWE Undisputed Champion discussed a number of topics on the show, including how AEW has built younger stars into viable talents on a national stage.

“Our goal from the start was to make new stars” Jericho began the interview. “Because that’s what wrestling’s all about. It always has been. If you look at last week’s show, where we had Jungle Boy vs. Darby Allin in the main event, we had Shida vs. Tay Conti in a main event.”

“Those are two kind of fence post matches on our show and they both did a great number” Jericho continued. “We’ve made Darby Allin into a legit main event draw. I mean last night he’s in the main event with Ten for God’s sake and it will probably do a good number.”

“I give us a full Barry Horowitz pat on the back for that because we set out to do it and we did it” Chris Jericho added. “It’s not hard to do; pick the right guy and just stick with them.”

Jericho finished by discussing how the inclusion of Sting has really helped the Darby Allin character get over as the TNT Champion. “We paired Darby with Sting, so he got that rub. And now Sting is almost, I’m not going to say lackey, but he’s almost Darby’s second at this point. And that’s probably exactly what he should be.”

Would you like to see Chris Jericho vs Darby Allin in a feud over the TNT Championship? Let us know in the comments

WWE SmackDown Results (4/30): Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan, IC Title Match

Robert Lentini
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WWE SmackDown aired live from the ThunderDome. Roman Reigns defended the Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan tonight. Daniel Bryan had to win the match or he would be barred from WWE SmackDown. Apollo Crews also put the Intercontinental Championship on the line against Big E in a WrestleMania rematch.

SmackDown Results (4/30)

  1. Bianca Belair & Street Profits def. Bayley & Dirty Dawgs
  2. Natala & Tamina def. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
  3. Big E def. Apollo Crews via DQ (Apollo Crews retained IC Title)
  4. Roman Reigns def. Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal Championship

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

Bianca Belair & Street Profits Picked Up A Win

SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair kicked off this week’s show. She was immediately interrupted by SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. Ziggler told Belair that they will take it from here and began to rant about how great of a team they were.

Street Profits interrupted and said they cannot believe the Dirty Dawgs just interrupted the SmackDown Women’s Champion. Bayley then joined the party and ripped the microphone away from Belair. Bayley laughed into the microphone and Bianca dropped her with a punch. Bayley hit some punches and everyone started brawling as SmackDown went to a commercial break.

When SmackDown returned, Bianca Belair teamed with Street Profits to face Dirty Dawgs and Bayley. Belair hit Bayley with a Dropkick that sent her out of the ring to regroup. Ziggler and Ford tagged in as Bayley sent Belair into the steel steps outside the ring.

Ziggler connected with a Superkick for a near fall. Angelo Dawkins and Roode then battled in the ring. Dawkins hit Ziggler with an Exploder Suplex and followed it up with a Running Bulldog to Roode. Belair hit the KOD as Dawkins hit the Spinebuster on Roode. Ford tagged in and connected with the Frog Splash from the heavens for the pinfall victory.

Tamina & Natalya def. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler

Natalya & Tamina faced Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler in a non-title match tonight. Before the match, the Women’s Tag Team Champions were interviewed backstage but were attacked by Natalya and Tamina. Nia Jax and Baszler controlled the action early and isolated Tamina in the ring.

Natalya tagged in and planted Shayna with a German Suplex for a near fall. Natalya avoided the Kirifuda Clutch and connected with a Clothesline for a two count. Natalya quickly hit a German Suplex and went for another cover but Shayna was able to kick out at two.

Jax and Tamina then tagged in. Tamina climbed to the top rope but Reginald distracted her. Natalya tried for the Sharpshooter on Reginald but Baszler broke it up. Jax tripped up Tamina on the top rope and tagged Shayna back in. Baszler and Tamina battled on the turnbuckle. Tamina hit a headbutt that sent Shayna to the mat and then hit the Superfly Splash for the pinfall victory.

The IC Title Match Ended In A DQ

Apollo Crews defended the Intercontinental Championship against Big E tonight on SmackDown. Commander Azeez was in Crews’ corner for the match. Big E was interviewed tonight and vowed to overcome the odds and take back the Intercontinental Championship.

The action started off back and forth. Big E took control and hit a Splash on the ring apron and went for the cover but Crews was able to kick out at two. Apollo took control with a Clothesline and followed it up with a Suplex onto the floor outside the ring as SmackDown went to a commercial break.

When SmackDown returned, Crews hit a Moonsault but Big E shrugged it off and hit a Belly to Belly Suplex. Apollo dodged a Splash and hit a big boot to the face for a two count. Big E battled back and connected with the Big Ending but couldn’t go for the cover because Commander Azeez dragged him out of the ring ending the match in a DQ.

After the match, Kevin Owens rushed the ring and attacked Azeez. Commander Azeez was about to hit Owens with the Nigerian Nail but Big E broke it up. Sami Zayn showed up and leveled Kevin Owens with a Helluva Kick. Sami tried to tell Commander Azeez what to do and it backfired as Azeez hit him with the Nigerian Nail.

Roman Reigns Retained & Sent A Message To Cesaro

Seth Rollins challenged Cesaro to a match next week and Cesaro later accepted in a backstage interview. Roman Reigns defended the Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan tonight. Daniel Bryan would be barred from SmackDown if he lost the match.

Earlier in the show, Daniel Bryan vowed to win the match and defend the Universal Championship against Cesaro. Several superstars also picked who they thought was going to win the match tonight. King Corbin picked Roman Reigns just because he wanted to see Daniel Bryan go home for good.

Paul Heyman was interviewed before the match as well. Heyman said he is so tired of hearing about Daniel Bryan and that everyone thinks Bryan will win tonight. Heyman claimed that Bryan will never be seen on SmackDown again and did a “no!” chant.

Daniel Bryan hit a Dropkick that sent Reigns to the corner to begin the match. Bryan hit a few Yes Kicks but Reigns put an end to it with a massive right hand to the face. Roman applied a Bear Hug but Bryan escaped and wrestled the Universal Champion down to the mat.

Bryan went for the Yes Lock but Reigns escaped and rolled out of the ring to regroup. Daniel Bryan went after him and connected with a knee to the face off the ring apron as SmackDown went to a commercial break.

When SmackDown returned, Bryan was still in control and was working on the Universal Champion’s arm. Daniel connected with two Dropkicks in the corner of the ring and went for another one but Reigns dropped him with a punch to the face. Reigns hit Bryan with a headbutt and then a Suplex for a two count.

Roman controlled the next few minutes and brought Daniel Bryan down to the canvas with a Headlock. Bryan broke free but Roman leveled him with an elbow to the face for a near fall. Roman charged but Bryan was ready and sent him into the middle turnbuckle. Bryan unloaded some Yes Kicks in the corner but Reigns responded with a Powerbomb off the second turnbuckle for a near fall as SmackDown went to a commercial break.

When SmackDown returned, Roman sent Bryan flying into the barricade. Back in the ring, Roman beat Bryan down in the corner of the ring until the referee broke it up. Reigns went for a Superplex but Bryan escaped and crotched Roman on the top turnbuckle. Bryan connected with a Back Suplex off the top turnbuckle and both superstars crashed to the canvas.

Bryan went for a cover but Roman kicked out at two as a “this is awesome!” chant was heard. Reigns battled back with a Samoan Drop for a two count. Daniel went back to work on Reigns’ arm and sent him out of the ring. Bryan went for a Suicide Dive but Reigns countered into a Suplex on the floor. Roman went for a Spear but Bryan got out of the way and the Universal Champion crashed through the barricade as SmackDown went to a break.

Bryan connected with a Diving Headbutt for a two count when SmackDown returned. Reigns hit the Superman Punch and went for the Spear but Bryan countered into a roll-up for another two count. Bryan stomped on Reigns’ face and applied the Yes Lock in the middle of the ring.

Reigns broke free and hit the Spear for a near fall. Roman applied the Guillotine Choke but Daniel was able to escape and got Reigns in the Yes Lock again. Roman escaped again with several forearms to the face and then a Powerbomb. Reigns then applied the Guillotine Choke and Bryan passed out to end the match. Roman Reigns is still the Universal Champion and Daniel Bryan is barred from SmackDown.

After the match, Roman brought some chairs into the ring but Cesaro made the save. Cesaro hit Reigns with some uppercuts but turned around into a Superkick from Jey Uso. Jey then held Cesaro back as Roman Reigns hit Daniel Bryan with the Con-Chair-To to close the show.

Daniel Bryan Banished From SmackDown As Reigns Retains Universal Title

Andrew Ravens
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Roman Reigns defended his Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan on Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown. The stipulation to go along with this match was if Bryan lost then he would be banished from SmackDown.

The match saw Bryan work over the right arm of Reigns. It was a battle between the supreme bigger champion against the hungry underdog. The back and forth match saw Reigns lock in the guillotine choke for the win to retain the title. Bryan’s SmackDown career is over, but he never tapped. Instead, he passed out. 

WWE did a show-long storyline last week that was about Reigns responding to Cesaro’s challenge for a Universal Championship match, which Bryan advocated for Cesaro to get the title shot. It turned out that Bryan teamed with Cesaro to defeat Seth Rollins & Jey Uso.

Paul Heyman later promised that at the end of the show Reigns would give an answer to Cesaro’s challenge. Fast forward to the main event segment, Reigns told Cesaro that his answer is no and will always be no because he doesn’t think Cesaro deserves it and isn’t on his level.

Reigns said the Universal Champion issues the challenges around here before turning his attention to Bryan. Reigns gave Bryan one more shot at the title, which Cesaro sided with Bryan. Reigns said he doesn’t want to see Bryan on his show again after Bryan loses and thus the match was made official. 

Andrade Joins Federacion Wrestling PPV (June 19th)

Andrew Ravens
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Andrade is headed to Federacion Wrestling. The Mexico-based upstart promotion will hold its first pay-per-view on June 19th.

During a virtual press conference held on Friday, the former WWE star was officially announced as appearing at the event. He will wrestle as part of La Facción Ingobernable. 

Andrade, RUSH, Bestia Del Ring, and a surprise partner against Matt Taven, PJ Black, and two surprise partners has been booked for the June 19th pay-per-view event. 

Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix against Bandido & Dragon Lee is the other match booked for the show. Red Velvet and Tay Conti will compete in six-woman trios action.

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Andrade – Federacion Wrestling

This marks his second post-WWE booking as his other match will take place on July 31st. 

Andrade requested his release from WWE last month, but at first, it was denied. Six days later, WWE announced in a statement posted on their website Sunday evening that he had been released. 

When he departed from WWE, he didn’t have the traditional 90-day non-compete clause like other wrestlers have been under, which is the reason that he was able to sign with this promotion. 

Sammy Guevara Addresses His Creative Disagreement With Impact Wrestling

Andrew Ravens
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Back in February, there was a situation between Sammy Guevara and Impact Wrestling. The AEW star was pulled from TV tapings with the idea of him working for the promotion after he quit Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle faction, but he didn’t like the creative direction and was later informed by Jericho to go home after he expressed criticism.

He was supposed to win three matches at the Impact tapings. It was reported at the time that Impact was mad about AEW sending talent over, putting plans in place, and then the talent wouldn’t do what was planned. In an interview with Fightful, Guevara commented on the matter. 

“It’s business at the end of the day. What was presented, I didn’t see it working for me. I still wish nothing but the best for Impact and everybody there. I didn’t put any information out online and I know there’s only a certain amount of people that knew certain information, so the information that was put out online is only coming from one side. 

I wish we could have kept it more close-knit instead of having to make it everybody’s business, because I feel like it wasn’t necessary for everybody to know any of this stuff. So that’s why I started trolling on the vlog, and certain things are coming out where I’m like, ‘Yo, this is not true at all’. So, don’t believe everything you read online. But hey man, it is what it is. We all could have handled things better, but that’s life in general man. You live, you learn, you grow and you go.”

He continued by noting that he has a lot of friends in Impact and there’s plenty of wrestlers he’d like to work with.

However, he knows that he will wrestle those wrestlers at some point whether that’s in AEW, Impact or on the independent scene. 

Mick Foley Pushes For Vince McMahon To Create An All-Women’s Brand

Andrew Ravens
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Mick Foley has been a big supporter of women’s wrestling for years and is now making the call to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon to make something special for the women’s division. 

The WWE Hall of Famer took to Twitter to send a message to his former boss, which is to create an all-women’s brand in WWE. He also added some possible bragging rights to it as he mentioned that if McMahon doesn’t then AEW could beat him to it. 

The Hardcore Legend wrote, “Dear Vince, An all women’s brand NEEDS to happen in @WWE Unless you want @AEW to beat you to the punch. Sincerely, Mick @VinceMcMahon.”

It should be noted that there’s been no talk of WWE creating an all-women’s brand, but perhaps, this suggestion made by the former WWE Champion could lead to it becoming a reality. 

The closest thing to what Foley is pitching was the WWE Evolution pay-per-view, which was the first-ever women’s event under the WWE banner back on October 28, 2018, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in Uniondale, New York.

WWE hasn’t held a second show like this since but various stars including Sasha Banks have expressed support for WWE to do so.

Mario Lopez in Talks to Make His WWE Debut

Alex Laybourne
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WWE have a long history of celebrity wrestlers stepping between the ropes, and the newest name linked to making their WWE debut is none other than Mario Lopez. 

The former Saved by the Bell star is already 47 years old, but has kept himself in great shape. He also has experience in wrestling dating back to his high-school days. This fundamental knowledge would certainly put him at an advantage and point towards his ability to really engage with an opponent. 

Mario Lopez was talking to WWE Legend Jerry the King Lawler on his own On With Mario Lopez podcast he mentioned that the WWE had already made an approach to have him appear.

“Jerry, they’re trying to get me to do something in the ring. For my kids, I think I wanna do it, get in there as a storyline.

“I’m almost gonna be 48 – I’m in pretty good shape though, and athletic. Any suggestions, any advice I need to know when I get in there. By the way, I grew up wrestling too!”

Mario Lopez Has a High School Wrestling Background

Mario Lopez is a long term fan of sports entertainment and for those that grew up in the early nineties we all remember the successful exploits of AC Slater and the Bayside High wrestling team.

Jerry Lawler was quick to encourage Lopez to get between the ropes. He referenced the recent WWE run for rapper Bad Bunny. The music star put in arguably the best celebrity performance ever seen on the biggest stage of them all. 

Lopez was also quick to jump on the bunny, laying down the challenge. “I wanna wrestle Bad Bunny! I wanna body slam and suplex Bad Bunny!”

Someone should make sure Lopez knows that they are fighting words. Could we be seeing the start of the first celebrity vs celebrity WWE feud?

Tessa Blanchard & Daga In Talks To Sign With AEW

Michael Reichlin
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Tessa Blanchard and husband Daga are in talks to sign with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The negotiations have been ongoing for over a month. One source close to the situation tells us that it’s “all but a formality” until they are signed.

Blanchard is a former Impact World Champion. She is widely considered one of the most talented female competitors on the open market.

She’s weathered her share of controversies, including claims that she is difficult to work with and allegations of racism, which she adamantly denied. AEW officials have discussed the idea of acknowledging Tessa Blanchard’s prior ‘issues’ on television and presenting her with a redemption storyline of sorts.

https://twitter.com/Tess_Blanchard/status/1387220024872603652

Blanchard’s father, the legendary Tully Blanchard, is currently part of AEW as a member of MJF’s faction, The Pinnacle.

Daga has been wrestling for Mexico’s Lucha Libre AAA promotion. He was the AAA Latin American Champion up until this past week, when he vacated the belt.

Scott D’Amore Comments On Recently Released WWE Stars Coming To Impact

Chris Stephens
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Last year when WWE released 20+ talents in April, Impact built up their Slammiversary PPV around who would be debuting or returning to the company. Promotional materials for this year’s Slammiversary event carry a similar feel.

Scott D’Amore recently appeared on the Wrestling Perspectives podcast and implied that negotiations with some recently released WWE talent might have already begun.

“I think you look at what we did at Slammiversary last year with all the buzz, and I think there’s an opportunity here. There’s some great talent and they’ve got this hiccup in their career. We’ve all been there probably where we’ve been let go and they’ve got the opportunity to do like so many of the people did last year and forge new opportunities and different and in some ways better opportunities for themselves,” D’Amore said (transcriptions via Fightful).

Scott D’Amore on Samoa Joe

With Samoa Joe now a free agent, D’Amore made specific mention of when he wanted to bring Joe to TNA in 2005.

“In 2005 when I got put in charge of the creative for TNA I knew there was one guy that I wanted, and that was Samoa Joe, and I worked very hard getting on the phone because WWE wanted him as well. Myself and Mike Tenay, who’s an amazing, amazing dude that I know some of you have met and got to be around, we just knew Joe was different and special and we wanted to have him there. That was 2005, we were able to get him and do some pretty damn cool stuff. I got mad respect for Samoa Joe and would always love an opportunity to work with him again, both because of his unbelievable talent and his unique charisma and also because he’s just a good dude.”

Scott D’Amore On Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, and Chelsea Green

D’Amore also hinted that some conversations may have already started.

“So many of that other talent. you look at it, whether it’s Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, whether it’s Chelsea Green, you know, there’s just so much there and I just got to say, I think there’s a chance that some talent’s going to move around and you’re just going to have to stay tuned and be careful what I say, but maybe some conversations have started.”

NBA Playoffs To Disrupt AEW Dynamite Schedule Next Month

Chris Stephens
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The NBA Playoffs get going on May 22nd, 2021 and several of the games will air on TNT. The episode of AEW Dynamite originally scheduled for May 26th, 2021 will not air in the promotion’s usual time slot due to the basketball schedule.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the show scheduled for the 26th will now take place on Friday, May 28th. Additionally, the show will air at 10 PM est rather than at 8 PM est. AEW’s next PPV is scheduled to be Double or Nothing on May 30th, 2021. This means the delayed show on the 28th will be the go-home show for the event.

AEW was also forced to move several shows last summer to make way for the NBA Playoffs. The NBA was forced into a bubble for the end of the season and playoffs last year, months after the season would have normally already ended.

Tony Khan On AEW’s Deal With Turner For Wednesday Nights

Turner Sports also recently signed a deal with the NHL. The deal is not expected to impact AEW programming much, however. Tony Khan recently spoke about AEW’s deal with Turner for Wednesday nights during an appearance on Busted Open Radio.

“I know Wednesday night is our slot and our home,” he said. “I’m thrilled with our partnership with TNT. It’s the lifeblood of our company and our primary revenue source and t’s the way most fans get exposed to AEW and see our show. And tonight and every night that we do Dynamite, for a lot of wrestling fans, it’s a really important night of the week.”

“We have a contract with over two and a half years left for Wednesday nights in this slot. And if there was ever an opportunity to move or if there was a deal to be had, I would consider it. If we did something, it would have to be a really good deal for AEW and it would have to make sense for us. As it stands right now, that is the spot we’re in. If we move, I would certainly consider a deal if there was something in it for AEW.”

Impact Results (4/29): Kenny Omega & Good Brothers Attack

Chris Stephens
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Impact Wrestling this week was the first show since Kenny Omega defeated Rich Swann to become the new Impact World Champion. Omega would appear on this show but Scott D’Amore had to go to great lengths to ensure the new champion would fulfill his commitments.

The full replay is available on Impact Plus even for non-subscribers.

Impact Wrestling 4/29 Quick results:

  1. Under Siege Qualifier
    Chris Bey defeated Jake Something
  2. W. Morrissey defeated Sam Beale
  3. Taylor Wilde defeated Kimber Lee
  4. X-Division Championship
    Josh Alexander (c) defeated Ace Austin
  5. Under Siege Qualifier
    Matt Cardona defeated Brian Myers
  6. Under Siege Qualifier
    Sami Callihan vs Eddie Edwards – No Contest

Scott D’Amore Reveals How Kenny Omega’s Next Challenger Will Be Determined

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKIypVMvjF0

Scott D’Amore cut an in-ring promo to start this week’s show. He noted that because of the “winner take all” aspect to Omega vs Swann at Rebellion, there was no rematch clause put in the contract. A new challenger will have to be determined to face Omega. D’Amore then announced there will be a 6-way match at Under Siege to determine who will challenge the champion next. 3 qualifying matches would take place on this week’s show and 3 on next week’s show. Without much delay, Jake Something was chosen to face the returning Chris Bey in the first qualifier.

Qualifying Matches:

  • Chris Bey vs Jake Something (this week)
  • Brian Myers vs Matt Cardona (this week)
  • Eddie Edwards vs Sami Callihan (this week)
  • James Storm vs Moose (next week)
  • Rhino vs Chris Sabin (next week)
  • Trey Miguel vs Rohit Raju (next week)

Chris Bey Qualifies For Under Siege

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz7qkaz3P6M

Something and Bey had a back-and-forth match with Bey using his speed and “finesse” against Something’s size and strength. The ending came when Rohit Raju grabbed at Something’s foot from ringside. The momentary distraction allowed Bey to roll-up Something for the pin. This could lead to some type of angle between Something and Raju as Bey now has a chance to qualify for a title shot against Kenny Omega.

W. Morrissey Debuts On AXS TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0InwUJrz94

After making his promotional debut at Rebellion, W. Morrissey (FKA Big Cass) made his debut on AXS TV this week. Before his match against Sam Beale, Morrissey cut a promo about how the fans don’t really know him and they don’t really know the wrestlers in the back. He continued to say the wrestlers in the back are all bad people and so is he. The difference is, he’s at least honest about being a bad guy.

Morrissey then made quick work of his opponent in a complete squash match. Later in the show, Willie Mack would challenge him to a match at Under Siege. Morrissey pinned Mack in 8-man tag action at Rebellion.

Taylor Wilde Not Interested In Teaming With Tenille Dashwood

Taylor Wilde has returned to Impact Wrestling and she’s looking to “Main Stage Impact-alooza” as she said this week. Tenille Dashwood and Kaleb interrupted her backstage segment and Dashwood implied that the two should form a tag-team. Wilde, however, is interested in going for singles gold and not teaming with Dashwood.

Wilde would go on to defeat Kimber Lee in singles action later in the show. Susan was at ringside and did everything she could to help her ally gain the advantage but it was all for not. Wilde made Lee submit to a deathlock.

After the match, Susan attacked and the heels had a 2-on-1 advantage on Wilde. Dashwood then made the save for Wilde. So it’s possible these two could end up teaming together even if that’s not what Wilde wants.

Josh Alexander Retains X-Division Championship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pl7zJ4gfL0

Josh Alexander won the title at Rebellion in a 3-way match that also involved TJP. This week, he’d have to face the former 2x champion Ace Austin in singles action. The end of the match came shortly after Madman Fulton had attempted to interfere on the outside. The distraction allowed Austin a momentary burst of offence but Alexander countered a Divine Intervention attempt and the locked in the Ankle Lock submission for the win.

Matt Cardona Avenges Loss At Rebellion, Defeats Brian Myers To Qualify For Under Siege

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XjVDGGxeNc

Brian Myers defeated Matt Cardona at Rebellion after taking advantage of his opponent’s injured knee. This week, Cardona attempted to gain the advantage by attacking Myers before the match. Myers would counter this by continuing to focus on Cardona’s leg throughout the match. Cardona struggled to get sustained offence as his former tag partner continued to focus on his injured limb. Finally, as Myers appeared to be setting Cardona up for the Roster Cut Lariat, Cardona countered it with Radio Silence and got the 3-count.

El Phantasmo Coming To Impact Wrestling

With the Forbidden Door getting wider and easier to walk through every week, NJPW’s El Phantasmo was advertised as coming to Impact Wrestling on this week’s show. ELP is a 2x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and has won the Super J-Cup tournament two years in a row in 2019 and 2020.

Kenny Omega, Don Callis & The Good Brothers Interfere In The Main Event

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNbzkeh5a8E

As the match between Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan was ongoing in the main event, Kenny Omega, Don Callis, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows did a run-in.

Throughout the night, Scott D’Amore had said that if Omega didn’t appear personally live on the show, he’d be stripped of the title. Omega made it at the last second to interfere in the main event. Omega was about to give Callihan a V-Trigger when FinJuice made the save. The heels still had the numbers advantage, however, and were able to fight off the tag champs. With the ring cleared, Don Callis cut a promo praising Kenny Omega to end the show.

Coming Up In Impact Wrestling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NM2DTRHwm0

The following matches are upcoming in Impact Wrestling.

Next week:

  • James Storm vs Moose
  • Rhino vs Chris Sabin
  • Trey Miguel vs Rohit Raju
  • El Phantasmo vs TBA

Under Siege (May 15th)

  • Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers vs Eddie Edwards & Finjuice
  • Knockouts Tag Team Championships
    Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering (c) vs Fire N Flava
  • 6-Way #1 Contenders Match
    Chris Bey vs Matt Cardona vs TBD vs TBD vs TBD vs TBD

NJPW’s El Phantasmo Headed To Impact Next Week

Chris Stephens
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On last night’s edition of Impact Wrestling, a vignette for NJPW’s El Phantasmo was shown to preview the 34-year-old’s pending arrival in the promotion. ELP going to Impact comes on the heels of NJPW’s David Finlay and Juice Robinson doing the same. FinJuice are the current Impact Wrestling tag-team champions and wore the title bouts to the ring during a recent NJPW tour.

Phantasmo is a former 2x IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. He’s also won the Super J-Cup tournament two years in a row in 2019 and 2020.

ELP is from Vancouver and began his training alongside other British Columbia bred wrestlers, Kyle O’Reilly and WWE’s Bollywood Boyz (aka the Singh Brothers).

Following the announcement of his forthcoming debut for Impact, Phantasmo named over a dozen wrestlers he wants to work with.

https://twitter.com/elpwrestling/status/1388110725894180866

Forbidden No More

NJPW President Takami Ohbari recently commented on his company’s new approach to talent-sharing with other promotions:

“I will say this until I’m blue in the face: this is a star driven business, and the wrestlers are the focus,” Ohbari said in an interview with NJPW1972.com. “So if our wrestlers say ‘I want to wrestle that guy’ ‘I want to test myself against that guy’ ‘I want to show that I’m better than that guy’. Then it becomes our job as a company to do what we can to back them, make it happen and make it successful.”

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