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Bruce Prichard On Sgt Slaughter Winning WWF Title During Gulf War

Chris Stephens
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Sgt. Slaughter won the WWF Championship while working an angle where he was an Iraqi-sympathizer and admirer of Saddam Hussein. He defeated The Ultimate Warrior for the title at the 1991 Royal Rumble. Bruce Prichard recently discussed the 91 Rumble on an episode of “Something to Wrestle With” and spoke about the decision to put the title on Slaughter at the time.

Slaughter’s Royal Rumble victory took place on January 19th, 2021. Operation Desert Storm began 2 days earlier on January 17th, 1991.

“This was probably just a little too soon, a little too close to home and I don’t think that anyone ever really thought, until (the weekend of the Rumble), that we were actually going to have a full conflict and go to war,” Prichard said.

“This one turned into that major war that people hadn’t been apart of in many, many years and I think that it just affected the psyche of the country,” Prichard continued.

slaughter champion
Sgt. Slaughter as WWF Champion

Bruce Prichard On Similar Storytelling In Other Forms Of Entertainment

Prichard also mentioned how other forms of entertainment will use war as a storyline.

“Look at the movies that they did with the Japanese, and the war, and Hiroshima and different things like that, Pearl Harbor. World War I, World War II were glamorized in the movies, and the villains were accentuated, the evil Russians, the evil Germans, the evil Japanese. That had taken the shape of the villain in America’s eyes.”

He also made specific mention of Americans being used as heels in Japanese wrestling.

“You look at Japanese wrestling, where Japanese wrestling really took off is when they started bringing Americans in to be the villains, the heels.”

Bruce Prichard On Similar Characters In Wrestling

Conrad Thompson asked Prichard about similarities between Sgt Slaughter’s 1991 title win and the Muhammad Hassan character in WWE years later.

“I’d say both were victims of bad timing as well as just bad characters,” Prichard said.

“I think if they had been done at any other time, when some of the outside circumstances hadn’t taken place, I think they would have been fine. But when you start seeing people in war, which they had never seen in real-time before. You got to remember, your closest war was Vietnam.”

Corey Graves On The Problems With WWE’s Women’s Tag Team Division

Chris Stephens
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Corey Graves recently spent some time on his podcast talking about why he feels the WWE women’s tag-team division doesn’t feel important.

“I don’t mean this as any disrespect to any of the women on RAW or SmackDown that compete for the Women’s Tag Team Championships,” Graves said on the show. “I feel like the lack of legitimate tag teams is what’s killing that division.”

There are a few established teams in WWE but not many. Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott as the Riott Squad, Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose have been teaming up as of late, and Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce have been doing an angle where Royce doesn’t really want to be teaming with Lacey.

“You have people that show up randomly that want a match and now they’re a team,” Graves continued. “You’ve got Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke who are about the closest thing to a legitimate team. You’ve got Nia and Shayna that have grown into that role, but it’s just been a bunch of mashups of two random people competing for the championships and I feel like it’s just never really allowed that division to shine.”

6 teams have held the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships across 9 different title reigns.

  1. Asuka & Kairi Sane (1x champion) 171 combined days as champions.
  2. Sasha Banks & Bayley (2x champions) 145 combined days as champions.
  3. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross (2x champions) 123 combined days as champions.
  4. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce (1x champions) 120 combined days as champions.
  5. Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (2x champions) 119 combined days as champions.
  6. Asuka & Charlotte Flair (1x champions) 42 combined days as champions.

Football Great Doug Flutie Wins & Loses WWE 24/7 Title

Chris Stephens
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Doug Flutie has won a Heisman Trophy, played in a Pro-Bowl, won 3 Grey Cups in the Canadian Football league, and is the man behind 1984’s “Hail Flutie” pass while with Boston College. He can now lay claim to being a former WWE 24/7 Champion as well.

Flutie pinned R-Truth to win the title during yesterday’s Celebrity Flag Football Game on ESPNews. R-Truth would win the title back shortly after, however.

Truth was being interviewed before the game when Flutie came up behind him and rolled him up to win the title:

Later in the game, however, Flutie was taking a snap from a shotgun position when Truth rolled him up to win back the title.

Flutie became the 46th person to win the 24/7 Championship. When Truth won it back from him it was the 136th time the title has changed hands since its inception on May 20th, 2019.

Truth’s 49 reigns with the title and combined 353 days spent as champion are by far the most in each category. Rob Gronkowski’s 67-day reign with the title is the longest single-reign with the championship ever. Alicia Fox and Peter Rosenburg also briefly held the title recently as a result of title changes that took place at the 2021 Royal Rumble event.

Deonna Purrazzo Reacts To Reported Reasons For Steve Cutler’s Release

Chris Stephens
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Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo took to Twitter shortly after it was reported that her partner, Steve Cutler, had been released by WWE.

Not long after that, Purrazzo clarified that she and Cutler both tested positive for COVID-19 in January.

It was then reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that Cutler was released due to attending a New Year’s Eve party and catching COVID-19.

“This was said to be a disciplinary reason that got Vince McMahon livid when he heard about it,” wrote Dave Meltzer. The report would continue to say that Vince promised guys like Roman Reigns a safe environment to return to.

“The belief is that it had to do with his New Year’s Eve party that led to that and that McMahon had promised a few wrestlers like Reigns a safe environment when he returned and Cutler was around all the talent,” Meltzer continued.

Purrazzo then recently took to Twitter to comment on a report regarding Cutler’s release.

“My reasoning is I was at a party w/ people who I’ve spent the ENTIRE last year w/ & who are tested every week. The worst case scenario happened. Once we were aware, we took every precaution to test & quarantine properly. Articles insinuating otherwise are FALSE,” she also Tweeted.

In other Deonna Purrazzo related news, her dog built a new fort recently:

Bad Bunny Match Reportedly Planned For WrestleMania

Jake Skudder
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Rapper Bad Bunny reportedly has a WrestleMania match set. The rap star has been training at WWE’s Performance Center and is set to appear in-ring at WrestleMania 37 on either April 10th or 11th.

eWrestlingNews has the scoop that Bad Bunny will be teaming with Booker T at the show. Booker T is of course the subject of Bad Bunny’s new mega-hit track; and now the 2-time WWE Hall of Famer will apparently be entering the ring with the Puerto Rican rapper.

It was recently rumoured that WWE Superstar Damian Priest would be appearing at WrestleMania in April to team with Bad Bunny. Bunny appeared at the Royal Rumble on Sunday for a performance of the aforementioned ‘Booker T’ track. The man himself Booker stood on the entranceway during the performance.

Bad Bunny then appeared later in the night when The Miz destroyed his DJ’s equipment during the Men’s Royal Rumble match. Bunny finally appeared on RAW with Damian Priest; and from that point it was being rumored that the duo would go on to the ‘Showcase of The Immortals’ in April.

With this news it looks as though Booker T will be getting that slot instead.

Are you looking forward to seeing Bad Bunny at WrestleMania? Do you want to see him team with Booker T or Damian Priest? Let us know in the comments

Taya Valkyrie Talks Who She Wants To Face in AEW and WWE

Jake Skudder
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Former IMPACT Wrestling performer Taya Valkyrie recently spoke to the Highsports Wrestling Network. Valkyrie discussed a number of topics during her time on the show, including the two promotions where she is likely to end up: AEW and WWE.

Taya Valkyrie’s husband John Morrison currently works for WWE, so it was believed that she may have left IMPACT to join him in the company. With the comments Taya made during this interview, it appears as though she has a few performers in both companies that she wants to work with.

“Well, I really enjoy both products” Taya Valkyrie began. “Obviously, I’m a wrestling fan, always have been. There’s a lot of people that get into wrestling [that] are wrestling fans, surprise, and honestly, I don’t know what’s gonna happen next for me because as a lot of people don’t realize is that I have been signed for about eight-and-a-half years from AAA into Lucha Underground into IMPACT.”

Taya Valkyrie on Free Agency

“This is actually my first-ever time in my career as a free agent,” revealed Valkyrie. “So, it’s a really important time for me to really think about what’s important for me, for my family and make the best decision moving forward for my career. So, we will see. It will all play out, don’t worry.”

Valkyrie finished by naming the specific performers in both companies that she would like to get in the ring with.

“Well, I have never wrestled Kris Statlander” Valkyrie stated. “I’ve never wrestled her. Is that weird? There’s somebody like that too that I’ve never wrestled before. I don’t know. Even someone like Britt Baker, I’ve only ever been in a tag match with her for like — I think we were against each other for like two seconds. There was never any sort of actual, you know, interaction there so I would love to face both of them,” said Valkyrie.

“I would love to face obviously some people like Charlotte and Sasha Banks and I have wrestled Io [Shirai] before one time in STARDOM and I would like to wrestle her again. So those are kind of my current top chicks if I had to pick.”

Where would you like to see Taya Valkyrie end up? WWE or AEW? Let us know in the comments

h/t Post Wrestling for the transcription

Seth Rollins Confirmed For WWE SmackDown Return Next Week

Jake Skudder
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WWE has confirmed that SmackDown Superstar Seth Rollins will be returning to the blue brand next Friday. The ‘Messiah’ has not appeared on SmackDown since Survivor Series 2020; where he was eliminated early in a traditional Survivor Series match by Sheamus.

The quick elimination was reportedly in part due to Becky Lynch giving birth imminently. Lynch and Seth Rollins welcomed their first child Roux into the world on December 7th 2020, just weeks after Rollins left WWE programming.

Another reason for Rollins’ quick elimination from that match was apparently due to one his opponents. The Messiah has stated in the past that he has no desire to wrestle against Matt Riddle, with Riddle’s wife previously having made comments about female WWE performers. Riddle’s wife previously wrote an Instagram post about performers not being in shape, with an image of Becky Lynch part of the post. This situation has reportedly now been resolved, as the two men apparently spoke backstage after the Survivor Series match itself.

Seth Rollins #29

Seth Rollins made his return to WWE programming during the Royal Rumble match this past Sunday. Rollins entered the match at #29 and eliminated Riddle, Daniel Bryan and Christian. Seth was eliminated from the match by Edge, leading to a potential storyline down the line if WWE chooses to go that route.

Check out the promo from WWE hyping Seth Rollin’s return next week here:

Triple H Invites NFL Star Darius Leonard To NXT

Jake Skudder
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Triple H recently reacted to comments made by NFL Indianapolis Colts Linebacker Darius Leonard. The Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development was called out by Leonard on this week’s episode of The Bump on WWE Network.

Appearing on The Bump, Darius Leonard stated that he wanted to take Triple H’s “belt.” The NFL Linebacker also said “I don’t think you want any smoke with the Maniac.”

“Interesting, you really must have ALL the smoke!” The Game wrote on Twitter. “If you ever need to find me, I’ll be at the CWC every Wednesday for WWE NXT. Pat McAfee can give you directions. Just be sure to bring your helmet, so as The Rock says, I’ll turn it sideways & ah.. you know the rest!”

Triple H then appeared on the NFL Network and again offered Darius Leonard the chance to back up his recent comments. You can see Triple H’s remarks to Darius Leonard in the video player embedded below.

Discussion: Do you think that we’ll see Darius Leonard appear in NXT?

Corey Graves: “I Don’t Buy John Cena Not Being at WrestleMania”

Jake Skudder
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WWE commentator and host of After The Bell Corey Graves recently discussed John Cena on the podcast. Cena recently confirmed that he would not be appearing at WrestleMania this year; due to the scheduling conflict with his new Peacemaker show on HBO Max.

“Currently, I’m in Vancouver shooting Peacemaker, the series for HBO Max” Cena recently said to Sports Illustrated. “Given the quarantine regulations, if I were to leave Canada, upon return I would have to quarantine for another two weeks. Essentially, that would shut production down. Strictly based on the letter of the law right now, there is no logistical way I can be there. We film now until July.”

Graves stated on After The Bell that he just doesn’t see Cena not being at WrestleMania. “I don’t buy it,” Graves quipped. “Because it should be John Cena at WrestleMania in some capacity. There’s a lot of truth to what he’s saying, it makes sense, I understand it. But there’s also a guy as recent as the Royal Rumble last year told everybody he’s not coming back under any circumstance. Yeah, Edge, the guy who just won the Royal Rumble did the same thing.”

John Cena’s Status for WrestleMania

Unless John Cena has already pre-taped an angle or match for the show it is unlikely that he will appear. WWE is holding WrestleMania in Raymond James Stadium and as Cena mentioned, he would have to quarantine upon his return to the United States.

If WWE are indeed planning for another Firefly Fun House this year then there is a chance he could make a cameo. It is being rumoured that Randy Orton is set for the match against The Fiend at WrestleMania; and Cena’s feud from last year with Bray Wyatt could play into this, especially as Cena is (in kayfabe) stuck in The Fiend’s world…or something.

Chris Jericho Discusses When His AEW Championship Was Stolen

Jake Skudder
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AEW’s ‘Le Champion’ and Number #1 contender to the Tag Team titles Chris Jericho recently appeared on the Hollywood Raw podcast. The former AEW Champion discussed a number of topics during his time on the show, including when his Championship was stolen.

The incident occurred back in September 2019 after Chris Jericho won the AEW Championship at All Out. “It’s such a long story” Jericho began on the podcast. “Yeah, in retrospect, I’m pretty sure it was a big sting, because it’s… Long story short, I was on a charter plane that had the land in Tallahassee because there was a storm, so we went to get something to eat. Rather than wait for the plane, I got a limo to come grab me with something to eat and drive us home. I think when we got dropped off for something to eat, which was not the place I wanted to go, it was a place that the guy suggested.”

Chris Jericho on ‘The Sting’

“Maybe when he came inside to look for me, even though I was sitting right there and I saw him, that maybe his buddy came and grabbed it out of the back because there was some other stuff” Chris Jericho continued. “There was a thing of flowers that was into that, that I gave my wife that had shattered on the ground. I think it was just a big sting. ‘Hey man, we got this belt in here, come steal it.’ Then when they realized what they had and the fact that like, what are you going to do with this thing? You can’t sell it anywhere.”

Jericho finished by pointing out that the thieves wouldn’t be able to actually sell the belt itself. “It’s like stealing a ’59 Les Paul from Keith Richards” Jericho stated.

“It’s worth 500 grand, but who’s going to buy it? Everyone knows Keith Richards lost the Les Paul. You know what I mean? I think when they realized that they couldn’t do anything with it, they just kind of left it on the side of the road for somebody to pick up and turn in to the police department. It was just really weird. The police were taking pictures with the belt and posting it on Twitter and then they deleted it. It was just a very strange situation for this title that was barely 12 hours old.”

You can watch Chris JEricho’s appearance on Hollywood Raw in the YouTube player embedded below:

Matt Riddle Wants To Work With WWE Signee Parker Boudreaux

Michael Reichlin
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Matt Riddle has taken notice of Parker Boudreaux reportedly signing with WWE.

The Raw Superstar has been campaigning for a match against Brock Lesnar for the past several years. He’s called out Lesnar in countless interviews and vowed to retire the former WWE Champion. The two even had a backstage altercation last year at the Royal Rumble. Brock Lesnar no longer under contract with WWE, which makes the match even less likely.

Riddle is now turning his attention to Parker Boudreaux, whom some have dubbed “Baby Brock” due to his uncanny resemblance to the Beast Incarnate. Boudreaux was a standout college football player at the Universal of Central Florida prior to signing with WWE.

Riddle expressed interest in working with Parker Boudreaux on Friday. In tweet sent out to his 200,00+ followers, Riddle couldn’t help taking a dig at Brock Lesnar in the process. He wrote, “He looks just like Brock Lesnar but younger and doesn’t hate me enough to refuse a match with me yet, Awesome!”

Boudreaux responded with a playful emoji, an indication that he might be open to sharing a ring with the former UFC fighter.

WWE SmackDown Results (2/5): Edge & Roman Reigns, IC Title Match

Robert Lentini
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WWE SmackDown aired live from the ThunderDome. It was the first episode of SmackDown following WWE Royal Rumble 2021.

SmackDown (2/5) Results

  1. Dominik def. King Corbin
  2. Cesaro def. Daniel Bryan via submission
  3. Bayley def. Ruby Riott
  4. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. Otis & Chad Gable
  5. Big E def. Sami Zayn & Apollo Crews to retain the IC Title

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

Reigns Warned Edge

Universal Champion Roman Reigns came to the ring with Jey Uso and Paul Heyman. Roman Reigns boasted about defeating Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble and then said “enough about the past”. Reigns said “through the system, the future is Edge” because he won the Royal Rumble match. Reigns noted that he is the main event around here and brought up a couple issues he was having.

Roman claimed Edge should have never wasted his time on RAW or NXT and should beg him to be allowed on the Island of Relevancy. Reigns complained that he had to come to the ring first and that it was disrespectful that Edge was making him wait. Roman demanded that Edge come to the ring and Heyman started shouting that Edge’s music be played. Reigns was then informed that Edge isn’t even at the ThunderDome and suggested that Edge must think the Head of the Table is a fool.

Reigns said he didn’t want to play games and shouted “why would you play games with me?!”. Roman pointed out that the last man that played games with him was Kevin Owens and he is history because he whooped his ass. Reigns looked directly into the camera and said Edge is going to give him his decision by the end of the night.

Rey Helped Dominik def. King Corbin

Dominik faced King Corbin for the third time tonight. During his entrance, Corbin attacked Dominik and then went after Rey Mysterio. Corbin launched Rey off the entrance ramp and booted Dominik in the chest before making his way to the ring. Corbin missed with a Clothesline and Dominik connected with a Dropkick to begin the match.

Corbin took control and unloaded punches to Dominik’s face. King Corbin hit a Splash and went for the cover but Dominik was able to kick out at two. Corbin applied a Headlock but Dominik was able to escape. Dominik bounced off the ropes and ran into an elbow to the face from Corbin.

Dominik sent Corbin out of the ring and hit him with a Crossbody outside the ring. Rey Mysterio hobbled his way down the entrance ramp as SmackDown went to a commercial break. When SmackDown returned, Dominik planted Corbin with a Neckbreaker and followed it up with a standing Moonsault for a near fall.

Dominik set up for the 619 but Corbin countered with the Deep Six for a two count. Dominik once again sent Corbin out of the ring and hit him with a Suicide Dive as Rey slid under the ring. Rey held Corbin’s leg and Dominik capitalized with the 619. Dominik then hit a Splash off the top rope for the pinfall victory.

Cesaro Tapped Out Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan squared off against Cesaro tonight on SmackDown. Bryan threw Cesaro out of the ring and connected with a Crossbody off the top rope. Back in the ring, Bryan followed it up with a Dropkick off the top rope and then a couple Yes Kicks in the middle of the ring.

Cesaro hit Bryan with an uppercut as Shinsuke Nakamura was shown watching the match backstage. Bryan went for the Yes Lock but Cesaro blocked and it kneed Daniel in the midsection. Bryan blocked an uppercut and hit a boot to the head for a near fall. Cesaro then got Bryan in the Swing and transitioned into the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring.

Daniel reached for the ropes but ultimately tapped out. Cesaro was busted open on the side of his head and walked up to Bryan after the match. Cesaro gave Bryan a fist bump and walked away.

Bianca Belair Didn’t Pick Her WrestleMania Opponent

Women’s Royal Rumble match winner Bianca Belair was interviewed backstage. WWE showed footage of Bianca’s parents jumping around after she won and her father even fell off the couch. Belair said her family means everything to her and will be with her at WrestleMania even if they cannot walk down the aisle. Bianca said this is the biggest decision of her life and she will be ready to decide who she will face at WrestleMania soon.

Later on SmackDown, Bianca Belair came down to the ring and grabbed a microphone. Belair said her whole life changed after winning the Royal Rumble and everyone congratulated her. Bianca said that Asuka was not just the Empress of Tomorrow, she is the Empress all day everyday. Belair brought up Sasha Banks but was interrupted by Reginald.

Reginald claimed that he was quite certain that Belair could defeat Asuka but would not have a chance against Sasha Banks. Reginald added that she couldn’t even beat Carmella. Carmella stated that Reginald is a wise man, even when he gets overexcited. Carmella bragged about beating Sasha Banks twice and said she is certain she could do the same thing to Belair.

SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks joined the party and told Carmella that she was going to stop looking in the rear view and focus on the road ahead. Banks told Bianca that she has her attention and complimented her on lasting nearly an hour and winning the women’s Royal Rumble match.

Banks added that she knows Belair is the strongest and fastest, but she is not the best. Banks told Belair that she has it all but does not have the title. Sasha raised the SmackDown Women’s Championship in Belair’s face. Reginald interrupted and once again told Bianca that she will lose against Sasha Banks. Belair whipped the hell out of Reginald with her hair and knocked him out of the ring.

Bayley def. Ruby Riott

Bayley faced Ruby Riott tonight on SmackDown. Liv Morgan was ringside and Billie Kay joined commentary for the match. Michael Cole said he thought the Riott Squad kicked Billie Kay out of the group and she ignored it. Bayley taunted Riott in the corner and Ruby responded with a right hand to the face. Ruby connected with a kick to the head and went for the cover but Bayley was able to kick out at two.

Bayley focused her attack on Ruby’s arm and applied an Armbar in the middle of the ring. Ruby hit an Arm Drag off the second rope and then rolled up Bayley for a near fall. Bayley bounced Ruby’s neck off the bottom rope and tried to Powerbomb her off the aprob but Riott held onto the ropes. Bayley applied a submission hold and Billie hopped onto the ring apron for a distraction. Liv and Billie started arguing and Bayley connected with the Rose Plant for the pinfall victory. Billie Kay gave Bayley her resume after the match.

Ziggler & Roode Dominated

SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode faced Otis and Chad Gable tonight in a non-title match. Street Profits did PiP commentary for the match for whatever reason and talked over most of the action. Gable got his ass kicked for a few minutes and then Otis tagged in. Otis slammed Ziggler to the mat. Roode and Gable tagged in and Robert hit the Glorious DDT for the pinfall victory.

Big E Retained The Intercontinental Championship

Big E defended his Intercontinental Championship against Sami Zayn and Apollo Crews in a Triple Threat match. Sami got knocked out of the ring right away and Big E caught Apollo with an elbow to the face. Sami hopped back into the ring and unloaded some chops to Big E’s chest. Big E shrugged them off and sent Sami flying across the ring with a Back Body Drop.

Apollo Crews connected with a German Suplex to Big and followed it up with a couple more for a near fall. Big E sent Crews to the ring apron and went for a Spear but Sami dragged the Intercontinental Champion out of the ring. Big E knocked Sami to the floor but Apollo flipped onto him. Crews followed it up with an awesome Moonsault off the ring apron as SmackDown went to a commercial break.

When SmackDown returned, Sami Zayn and Big E were battling in the ring. Sami sent Big E into the middle turnbuckle and set up for the Blue Thunder Bomb but Big E blocked it. Apollo Crews leveled Sami with a Dropkick off the top rope and sent him out of the ring. Big E hit Crews with a Belly to Belly Suplex but Sami hopped on his back for a Sleeper Hold.

Big E escaped with ease and hit Crews and Sami with a massive Splash. Crews connected with an Enziguri but Big E threw him out of the ring again. Big E planted Sami with a Uranage and went for the cover but Zayn was able to kick out at two. Big E connected with a Splash on the ring apron but turned around into a Dropkick from Crews. Apollo climbed to the top rope and hit Sami with a Frog Splash for a two count.

Big E planted both Crews and Sami with an Exploder Suplex and all three superstars were down. Zayn hit Big E with a knee to the face and followed it up with the Helluva Kick. Sami went for the pin but Crews dragged him out of the ring. Zayn got frustrated and started yelling at Apollo. Crews unloaded some punches to Sami’s face and then launched him into the timekeeper’s area. Crews got back in the ring and Big E hit the Big Ending for the pinfall victory. Big E is still the Intercontinental Champion.

Kevin Owens Attacked Roman Reigns

Edge came to the ring in the final segment of this week’s show. He said that for the past 7 months while he was grinding through rehab, he was dreaming about coming back home. Edge stated that he was dreaming of winning the Royal Rumble and main eventing WrestleMania so that he could take back something that he never lost. Edge wondered if he should choose WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, NXT Champion Finn Balor, or Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Universal Champion Roman Reigns interrupted with Paul Heyman and Jey Uso. Edge wondered why Reigns had to bring backup and pointed out that he is out here alone. Reigns gave Edge his word that Paul won’t try to attack him. Edge said he is already renting space in Roman’s head and that is why Jey Uso is out here. Roman told Jey that he will meet him at the bus and he has got this. Jey and Heyman then exited the ring. Roman got in Edge’s face and said that he disrespected him and told Edge to acknowledge him as the main event of WrestleMania and the champion in WWE. Kevin Owens got into the ring and hit Roman Reigns with a Stunner as Edge smirked to close the show.

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar Is “On The Table” For Future WrestleMania

Andrew Ravens
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WWE has already locked in their plans for Roman Reigns at this year’s WrestleMania, but a future match for “The Big Dog” is still possible in the eyes of Vince McMahon. 

It was reported earlier this week that the plan is for a big name to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 37. 

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar “is on the table” and it would have an interesting story not only due to their history but also Paul Heyman being involved but the match is likely not happening this year.

Lesnar hasn’t appeared on WWE programming since WrestleMania 36 and his contract quietly expired around that time. His current status was first revealed when the company pulled his merchandise in August. 

The belief is that he will make his return once WWE is allowed to have fans in attendance at their shows going forward, which WrestleMania 37 will have, but no other events are expected to have the same until later this year.

There’s been no word yet on exactly when he’ll return. He’s also in Canada, and just like John Cena, there are travel restrictions in place that will prevent him from coming into the United States without quarantining.

Butch Reed Has Passed Away

Chris Stephens
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Butch Reed has passed away at the age of 66. It was revealed recently that Reed had suffered two heart attacks in recent months and was in ill-health. His death is being attributed to heart complications.

News of his passing was first announced on his official Instagram page:

“To everyone who reached out god bless you. Today we lost a great man. Due to heart complications Bruce ‘Butch’ Reed passed away. Butch is in heaven now with the wrestling god’s. I am sure he is already booked for a Heavyweight Championship match. Once again thank you for all the prayers. We will keep this page going in his memory. For funeral arrangements send me a dm for information if you would like to attend. God bless everyone and god bless in heaven “Hacksaw Butch Reed””

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK6sUPCpnKp/

Tributes For Butch Reed

Several people from the world of wrestling have paid tribute to Reed online:

https://twitter.com/OfficialHTM/status/1357748453460242433?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
https://twitter.com/RealStevieRay/status/1357746108013965313?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Reed’s career spanned from 1978 to 2011. He was with WWE in 1986-1988 during the big 80s Hulkamania boom. He would later move to WCW where he formed the tag-team Doom along with Ron Simmons. They are 1x former tag-team champions with the promotion.

Joey Janela Rips Fans Critical Of His TNT Title Shot

Chris Stephens
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Joey Janela will challenge Darby Allin for the TNT Championship next week on AEW Dynamite. Janela recently took to Twitter to fire back at fans who are critical of him receiving a TNT title shot.

“When other people do things it’s fine but when it involves Joey Janela it involves a lot of fans crying! Probably because I look a lot like you but the difference is I get to wrestle on tv, have a super hot Girlfriend, eat lobster whenever the fuck I want & don’t care!” Janela Tweeted.

The complaints regarding Janela receiving a title shot aren’t really about his abilities, however. Rather some fans feel his win/loss record in the promotion doesn’t warrant a title shot in storyline. The story is that Darby requested the match, however, and that’s why he’s getting the title shot.

Joey Janela vs Darby Allin

A likely storyline reason as to why Darby requested the match with Janela is the long history the two have against each other. Daring back to 2017, they have been in 11 matches together, including 6 one-on-one singles matches across 6 different promotions.

Darby Allin vs Joey Janela Singles Match Stats:

  1. 8/4/2017: Darby Allin defeated Joey Janela (Scenic City Invitational Tournament)
  2. 10/28/2017: Joey Janela defeated Darby Allin (GCW Worst Behaviour)
  3. 3/8/2018: Joey Janela defeated Darby Allin (MLW Spring Break)
  4. 7/15/2018: Darby Allin defeated Joey Janela (SFP Sound and Fury)
  5. 8/5/2018: Joey Janela defeated Darby Allin (EVOLVE 109)
  6. 5/10/2019: Darby Allin defeated Joey Janela (PWG Mystery Vortex VI)

Janela also appears to already be making dinner plans for tonight.

Parker Boudreaux Signs With WWE, Leaving UCF (Report)

Chris Stephens
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Parker Boudreaux is WWE bound. The 6’4″ heavyweight has long been on WWE’s radar. It now appears that he’s leaving the gridiron for the wrestling ring.

The University of Central Florida football team just released its roster for the next season and Parker Boudreaux was conspicuously absent. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Boudreaux has put pen to paper and recently signed a developmental deal with WWE. “He signed a developmental deal and did a publicity photo of him at a Royal Rumble party watching with Eva Marie.”

Dave Meltzer added that he was backstage at the January 20th NXT TV tapings.

Parker Boudreaux To WWE

Boudreaux is based out of the Orlando, FL area, home of WWE’s Performance Center. It is not currently known when he’ll be reporting to the PC.

During an interview with Bleacher Report, Boudreaux said he gets compared to Brock Lesnar frequently. “I probably get that one every day,” he said. “I’ll get [Ivan] Drago from Rocky. I’ll get [Brian] Bosworth. Everybody has something. It’s pretty funny.”

Brock Lesnar’s former advocate, Paul Heyman sees Parker Boudreaux’s star potential. Heyman told fans to keep an eye on him in 2021.

WWE is not the only company that had eyes on Parker Boudreaux. AEW Executive Jim Ross also sent feelers to him on social media.

Trey Miguel On Why He Turned Down WWE For Impact

Chris Stephens
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Trey Miguel’s former Rascalz stablemates, Zachary Wentz & Dezmond Xavier, are now known as MSK in WWE NXT. Miguel didn’t follow them to the company, however. He returned to Impact Wrestling last week. Shortly after Dez & Wentz were signed to NXT, Triple H was asked about why Miguel was not with them during the TakeOver: War Games post-event media scrum.

“Well look, I do not want to talk about why people are or are not here, there’s obviously a lot that goes into all of that, but for me, the people that do come here, it’s seeing the heart and the passion,” Triple H said. “That’s really what it comes down to—it’s a passion business, you have to be all in.”

Following these comments, Miguel released the below Tweet:

Miguel recently appeared on Taylor Wilde’s “Wilde On” podcast and clarified his decision to turn down WWE and return to Impact Wrestling. He said that what Dez and Wentz need from wrestling right now is different from his situation.

“Zach’s married (to Kimber Lee) and Dez is engaged now and they just need wrestling in a different way than I do right now,” Miguel said. “They need it to do different things for them than I do.”

“I feel like (Impact) ran out of things to do with the Rascalz,” he continued. “There’s no need in just staying if there’s nothing to do with.”

Trey Miguel On Things He Still Wants To Do With Impact

Miguel would continue to say that while they may have run out of things for the Rascalz to do, he still feels he has things left to accomplish in the promotion on his own.

“I have ideas for Impact and I have things I want to do and things I haven’t gotten done yet,” he continued.

Miguel would continue to say that working at Impact allows him to stay home near the wrestling school he is the head trainer of. His school is called Skull Bones Professional Wrestling and Fitness.

“Impact also affords me the luxury of being able to stay home which is super-duper important to me because we have a wrestling school here and I’m one of the head trainers there.”

“I’m there every single day and I’m so close to the kids that we have there and the other trainers too and I have a lot of family here.”

Trey Miguel On Not Wanting To Move Away From Family

Miguel reiterated earlier statements regarding not wanting to move away from his family.

“Wrestling has my heart more than anything in the world but I’ve just been through so much personally that I can’t pull myself away from my family right now.”

“I have a brother that passed away in 2013,” Miguel continued. “My oldest brother just had my most recent nephew and he was born premature because his mother fell ill so they actually induced her.”

“He’s home now but he was in isolated care for two months and they named him after my late brother and I couldn’t imagine moving to f***ing Orlando, Florida a month after this little miracle, you know what I mean?”

“It’s not like if I don’t go to Orlando, I don’t get to wrestle anymore. I still get to wrestle more than anyone at NXT. I train whenever I want!”

The comments transcribed above begin around the 15-minute mark of the below podcast.

Update On Cesaro’s WWE Status

Chris Stephens
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There have been recent reports that WWE’s Cesaro is set to become a free agent soon. As it turns out, the 40-year-old will likely not be leaving the company and is believed to have either signed or verbally agreed to a new WWE contract in recent weeks. Cesaro’s free agency was addressed recently in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“Either he signed or verbally agreed to a new deal a few weeks ago,” wrote Dave Meltzer regarding Cesaro’s status with WWE.

Also according to the report, Cesaro was set to be the one who made it to the finals of the Gauntlet match recently on Smackdown won by Adam Pearce. Shinsuke Nakamura was ultimately given the spot but Daniel Bryan, who has been playing a larger role in creative as of late, is said to have wanted Cesaro to be in that position instead.

“The gauntlet match that Adam Pearce won on Smackdown, the babyface star making spot of running through the field and then getting screwed at the end was an idea of Bryan, and his pick for the spot was Cesaro. However, since Cesaro hadn’t signed yet, it was switched to Nakamura,” Meltzer continued.

Cesaro started with WWE in 2011. He is a 7x tag-team champion (5x RAW, 2x Smackdown), 1x United States Champion, and the winner of the 2014 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He’s held tag titles along with Shinsuke Nakamura, Sheamus (5x as the Bar), and Tyson Kidd.

WWE Releases Forgotten Sons Member Steve Cutler, Cutler Reacts

Anutosh Bajpai
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WWE has announced the release of former Forgotten Sons member Steve Cutler. The announcement was made on their official website with a standard statement, wishing the now former WWE star the best in his future endeavors.

The former SmackDown star reacted to the news and he took on his Twitter to claim that the decision was shocking but he is excited about his future:

While WWE or Cutler himself did not reveal any details on the reason behind his release, Fightful select is reporting that the former NXT star had backstage heat.

According to the report, Steve had received significant heat from Mr McMahon himself after he contracted COVID-19 in January and it’s believed to be the reason for his dismissal from the company.

Though this might not be the end of his relations with the company as WWE has indicated that their doors are open for Cutler to return down the line.

Steve Cutler signed with WWE back in 2014 and he made his main roster debut alongside Wesley Blake and Jaxson Ryker as the Forgotten Sons in April 2020.

The trio was pulled from TV in June after Ryker made a controversial tweet in support of the then-president Donald Trump. Cutler and Ryker made a brief return in December as part of Baron Corbin’s “Knights of the Lone Wolf” faction but they haven’t been seen on WWE programming in a while.

AEW-NXT Ratings: Beach Break Delivers, Dynamite Doubles In Key Demo

Michael Reichlin
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AEW Dynamite scored a decisive win over NXT this week in the Wednesday Night War. Both shows were unusually close last week, but Beach Break helped propel Dynamite back to a comfortable margin of 200,000+ viewers over NXT.

Here is this week’s breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:

  • AEW: 844,000 viewers, 0.32 rating (A18-49), 3rd in the demo on cable for the night
  • NXT: 610,000 viewers, 0.15 rating (A18-49), 51st in the demo on cable for the night

Beach Break featured several high-profile matches that were promoted weeks in advance. Chris Jericho and MJF won the tag team battle royal to earn a title shot against the Young Bucks at Revolution, Penelope Ford and Kip Sabian’s wedding [predictably] ended in chaos and the 6-man tag main event delivered in a big way. The show closed with the surprise debut of NJPW star Kenta, who will be in action next week.

NXT featured an appearance by WWE legend and Royal Rumble winner Edge, so the viewership drop is disappointing. The show also saw Dusty Rhodes tag team classic tournament matches and more.

Check out our results and takeaways articles from both shows:

Former WWE Star Tyler Reks Reveals She Is A Woman Named Gabbi Tuft

Chris Stephens
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Gabbi Tuft was formerly known as Tyler Reks while she was a WWE Superstar. A press release was sent out today from Extra TV regarding Gabbi making her long-awaited gender reveal that she is a woman.

“Despite his successes during and after his WWE career, Gabe was still wrestling with a secret persona dwelling deep within him,” the press release reads. “This is a persona he has been hiding in the loud silence of his soul since childhood. Finally, with the blessing of his loving wife Priscilla, Gabe is ready to reveal who he really is. “He” is now known as “She”: A beautiful, wise, witty and wonderful woman called ‘Gabbi’.” 

More on Gabbi’s story will air tomorrow on Extra TV.

“This is a story that wrestling and other sports fans, friends and followers must not miss, especially many in the LGBTQ community dealing with challenging transgender issues, who Gabbi and Priscilla are willing to help. Airing exclusively on Extra on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Tune in to your local listing for this exclusive story.”

Gabbi Tuft’s social media profiles have been counting down to today’s announcement:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK4HjGrHFXA/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK1kTyrHoeE/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKy7XAAH-HP/

Gabbi has similar posts going back several days on her account.

Tyler Reks started with WWE in 2007 and asked for her release in 2012. She retired from wrestling although would later team with Curt Hawkins in 2014 on the indie scene for a brief period.

Reks is a former FCW Champion, 2x FCW tag-team champion (1x w/ John Morrions, 1x w/ Curtis Axel).

Chris Jericho on Stadium Stampede – “We Filmed a Hollywood Production in 8 Hours”

Jake Skudder
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AEW star and ‘Le Champion’ Chris Jericho recently had AEW President Tony Khan on his Talk Is Jericho podcast. The main premise of this week’s episode was discussing the last few months of AEW Dynamite and PPV tapings.

The last couple of months have seen AEW have to shift gear and produce content whilst under the COVID-19 situation and the restrictions that entails. Tony Khan was quick to say how the production, planning and creative output from the performers really helped to elevate the show.

Chris Jericho on Stadium Stampede

“Stadium Stampede, that was your [Tony Khan’s] initial idea” Chris Jericho began on the podcast. “‘Let’s do something in the stadium, we have this stadium at our beck and call. We were forced to be creative, in spite of the pandemic.”

The Stadium Stampede match took place on May 23rd back at AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV event. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz) took on Matt Hardy and The Elite (Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) inside of the TIAA Bank Field stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

Chris Jericho also discussed the logistical aspects of creating the Stadium Stampede match back in 2020. “Once again the Stadium Stampede is still one of my favourite matches I’ve ever had, I don’t care what anybody says” Jericho stated. “It was everything that wrestling is to me, and we did it all in 12 hours.”

Jericho finished by praising how AEW managed to turn around such a big production in a short space of time. “That’s like a major Hollywood production that we filmed in like eight hours” Jericho stated. “But my point is, we really came together to put on these great shows and try something different.”

Do you think that we’ll get another Stadium Stampede match this year? Do you want to see Chris Jericho and The Inner Circle back in the bout? Let us know in the comments

NJPW Launching On Roku Channel 2/11: New Weekly Show, On-Demand Content

Michael Reichlin
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New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced the launch of new programming on the Roku Channel. It will be available starting next Thursday, February 11th and will be available in the United States, Canada and the UK.

“New Japan Pro-Wrestling” is a new one-hour weekly show that premieres Thursdays at 5pm (Eastern). Additional NJPW content from 2020 will also be available on-demand.

A press release at the NJPW website includes quotes from NJPW and Roku executives.

“Our fans in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are among our most loyal, and they have been very clear that they want NJPW’s content made available to them,” said Takami Ohbari, President of NJPW. “NJPW is unlike any other pro-wrestling in the world. It is the most athletic, sports-oriented pro-wrestling on the planet, and we are excited to bring our athletes and matches to these markets in such a major way. Thank you to The Roku Channel, and we look forward to a successful partnership that brings NJPW to millions of new fans around the world.”

“Expanding the breadth and quality of our programming has fueled The Roku Channel to one of the largest and fastest growing channels on our platform,” said Ashley Hovey, Director of AVOD Growth, Roku. “Sports programming continues to be an important category for our users, and we are very excited to partner with NJPW to put the world of professional wrestling at the fingertips of millions of engaged users on The Roku Channel.”

In the fourth quarter of 2020, The Roku Channel reached United States households with an estimated 61.8 million people.

MLW Fusion (2/3): Baklei Brawl Headlines, Azteca Underground Mystery Continues

Chris Stephens
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MLW this week featured a Baklei Brawl between Alexander Hammerstone and Mads Krugger in the main event. Los Parks also defended their tag-team titles against TJP and Bu Ko Dao. Jordan Oliver and Gino Medina were also featured in singles action.

The full show can be viewed in the player below:

MLW Fusion 2/3 Quick Results:

  1. Jordan Oliver defeated Sentai Death Squad Member
  2. MLW Tag Team Championships
    Los Parks (c) defeated TJP & Bu Ko Dao
  3. Gino Medina defeated Gringo Loco
  4. Baklei Brawl
    Alexander Hammerstone vs Mads Krugger

Injustice and Contra Unit Rivalry Continues

Last week, Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed from Injustice dressed up as Sentai Death Squad members in order to attack Contra Unit. This week, Oliver would take on one masked member of the squad. Myron Reed also challenged Contra Unit to a tag match for next week, which was later made official.

Oliver got a quick win here but he may have been injured. He came up favoring his leg after a running kick. Oliver hit a springboard cutter shortly after for the win. He’s wrestled a bunch since these tapings so I’m assuming his leg is fine.

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357199706267475969

After the match, Oliver cut a promo saying he now weighs 220lbs and is a heavyweight. He’s coming after Jacob Fatu and the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.

Is Azteca Underground Going To Purchase IWA Puerto Rico???

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357119679148474369

Salina de la Renta cut a promo this week where she spoke about the mysterious owner of Azteca Underground having deep pockets. Salina revealed that this mysterious person has put in an offer to purchase a percentage of IWA Puerto Rico, the promotion that Savio Vega is currently the owner of.

Update On The MLW Referee Scandal and Tim Donaghy

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357120434102284289

Last week, the referee had the heart of the 2007 NBA Betting scandal cost Savio Vega the Caribbean Championship in a strap match against Richard Holiday. There were a few updates this week, including the fact that several late bets came in on the match between Holiday and Vega. Alicia Atout confirmed that MLW is looking into the matter. She’ll interview Richard Holliday about it next week.

Los Parks Defend Tag Titles Using Underhanded Tactics

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357123957330038784

TJP and Bu Ko Dao qualified for this tag title match by picking up a win last week. Things wouldn’t go as smoothly for them this week, however.

Salina de la Renta brought out her Los Parks tag-team but was accompanied by an unnamed man who was described as being a representative for El Jefe (a moniker often used for Dario Cueto in Lucha Underground).

The finish of the match came when El Jefe’s representative lifted up the ring apron and allowed a LA Park Jr., who was not in the match, to replace El Hijo de LA Park. Salina had the referee distracted and when they returned to the match, they did not notice that the Park sons had swapped spots. This allowed LA Park Jr. to hit a shoulder-breaker on Bu Ko Dao for the win.

After the match, TJP seemed upset with his protege and walked out on him.

Lio Rush vs Laredo Kid Next Week

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357150633309196288

Lio Rush is the new MLW World Middleweight Champion. He defeated Myron Reed for the belt at Kings of the Colosseum last month. Laredo Kid is the AAA Cruiserweight Champion. Next week, the two will clash in what will be a fairly epic main event match.

This week, Lio Rush cut a promo saying he wants to be a two title champion in MLW and AAA and wants to challenge Laredo Kid.

Concerns Piling Up Regarding “Filthy Island”

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357303389747507207

Sponsors have been turning away from Tom Lawlor’s “Filthy Island” in droves. This is mainly due to Lawlor being suspected to have been behind the recent attack on ACH. With no money backing the island festival, it seems things are turning into a bit of a Fyre Festival type situation. The Filthy Island event will air on February 17th and it might turn out to be a fairly infamous show. King Mo vs Low-Ki has been booked for it.

Gino Medina Defeats Gringo Loco

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357128990876598272

Before this match, we saw clips of Richard Holliday and Gino Medina arguing over if Medina was fired from the Dynasty or if he quit. This week, we saw Gino Medina in singles action against Gringo Loco. Medina was able to pick up the win by reversing a pinning combination into his own pinning move. After the match, however, Medina was cutting a promo and Gringo Loco came flying in from above with an attack. It appears things aren’t over between these two.

Contra Unit Has “Big Plans” For Alexander Hammerstone

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1357130500469620736

Alexander Hammerstone met Mads Krugger this week in an undisclosed location for a Baklei Brawl. In storyline, the match is a no-holds-barred type fight that Krugger is believed to have taken part in frequently in South Africa.

Camera operators were nervous and could be heard lobbying for leaving the location throughout the match. There were concerns about the presence of liquid nitrogen and other dangerous items as well.

Hammerstone appeared to have gotten the advantage on Krugger and pinned him but things weren’t exactly as they seemed. Hammerstone then noticed that Krugger didn’t have the same tattoos and the glove was on the wrong hand. This wasn’t Mads Krugger! The real Krugger then came out and attacked Hammerstone. The show closed with Krugger standing tall over Hammerstone and saying Contra Unit has “big plans” for him.

MLW.com has since updated Hammerstone’s condition:

“Hammerstone, who had his bell rung, has refused medical treatment despite a huge knot swelling on the side of his head from a crushing blow to his skull in the closing moments of the Baklei Brawl.”

“Fleeing the scene as several cars arrived carrying MLW security and staff, Mads Krùgger and CONTRA soldiers were spotted the referee and camera man in the Baklei Brawl leaving a note near a still downed Hammerstone.”

Chris Jericho Responds To Vitor Belfort’s Callout

Chris Stephens
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With ONE Championship signing a deal with TNT, Vitor Belfort has called out Chris Jericho for an inter-promotional match. Belfort challenged Jericho during an interview to promote ONE’s debut event on TNT on April 7th.

“With myself being with ONE, and on the same network, I think it’s time for [AEW CEO] Tony Khan to give me Jericho, and I can whip Jericho’s butt. We can really make that fight happen,” Belfort said to SCMP MMA.

Chris Jericho responded by pretending to not know who Belfort is.

This led to Belfort saying that Jericho had “made the list.”

Jericho then challenged Belfort to meet him in Jacksonville.

The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion has appeared on Dynamite previously. Belfort was a member of Mike Tyson’s entourage that confronted Jericho on an episode of Dynamite last spring.

“I think this is what the audience wants, we can draw a lot of audience for AEW and ONE. It’s time to cross-promote and bring these two together. ONE has a lot of top athletes, including myself, and we can make some big fights in both,” Belfort said.

“It’s gonna be phenomenal. Think about me and Chris Jericho doing a ONE fight and going over there, imagine how many fans wanna see that – him making his debut in ONE, and me making my debut in AEW.”

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