– Dean Ambrose’s win over Luke Harper in the Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules was Ambrose’s first PPV win since The Shield broke up last year. This was Ambrose’s first singles victory on PPV since defending the United States Title against Dolph Ziggler at Night of Champions 2013.

– Last night’s ring announcing duties at Extreme Rules were handled by Eden and JoJo, since Lilian Garcia is still out recovering form surgery. This was JoJo’s pay-per-view debut. Lilian spent the night live-tweeting the show from home.

– The Rock was in attendance for last night’s Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers NBA playoff game from Boston’s TD Garden. Here he is with a Bronze Star Marine who the Celtics honored as their “Hero Among Us” for the night:

An honor meeting you and your family. Thank you, sir for all you've done. Stay strong.. #Salute #BostonStrong pic.twitter.com/jSOYi2B6zG

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 27, 2015

Grammy award winning artist Billy Corgan spoke to Josh Matthews this week about the news of him joining TNA Wrestling as the new senior producer of creative and talent development.

Corgan said Dixie Carter reached out to him while he was on tour about joining their team. As a wrestling fan for nearly 3 decades, Corgan said it’s literally a dream come true to be working in the ‘major leagues’ of professional wrestling and to have an influence on the direction of the company.

When asked if there’s anybody in particular he looks forward to working with, Corgan said his previous experience as a wrestling booker taught him the importance of having something for everybody on the roster. He said there’s a ton of talented people in TNA and he’s looking forward to working with the entire roster. The product is at its best when everybody has a defined character and direction.

Corgan was asked about his involvement in the wrestling business, for fans who are unfamiliar with his work. He worked with Chicago-based indy promotion Resistance Pro Wrestling for four years up until 6 months ago, when their reality TV deal with AMC was canceled mid-season. He said he was heavily involved in the branding of the company, promoting indy wrestling and knows the business intimately.

Corgan said he’s really been impressed by TNA since their move to Destination America. He’s seen a renewed focus on wrestling, the storylines have improved and the best performers are getting a chance to shine. TNA is proving stars can rise to the top and it’s crazy to him that he’s going to have a hand in where the company goes from here on out.

As a performer himself, Corgan says he knows exactly what it’s like for the talent to go on tour and practice their craft in front of different audiences. During the late 80’s, his band would drive 8 hours in a van to perform a 40-minute opening set for another band in front of 20 people and drive back home. He knows what the wrestlers go through on their journey to the big time. When he was a booker, he’d have talent that would drive 14 hours to wrestle a 5 minute match. He’s very conscious of what the talent demands of themselves and that will help him craft stories for them.

– WWE announced during the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on Sunday that at the upcoming Payback pay-per-view on May 17th there will be an “I Quit” match between WWE United States Champion John Cena and Rusev. Lana noted that this will be the final chapter in the Cena-Rusev feud.

– WWE announced an attendance of 14,197 for last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which took place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

– Kofi Kingston posted the following photo of The New Day celebrating with their new WWE Tag-Team Championships backstage at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view last night.

Hate to say I told you so, but… now you feel the Power of Positivity! #POP #HoldItDown pic.twitter.com/NK59DC5dfG

— Kofi Kingston (@TrueKofi) April 27, 2015

• WWE Creative Team “Stunned” To Hear Dana White Say Ronda Rousey Can’t Do A Match

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has officially joined the TNA Wrestling as the new senior producer of creative and talent development. This is a developing story and we’ll have more information posted on the main page shortly.

Here is TNA’s official press release, featuring quotes from Corgan and Dixie Carter:

TNA Entertainment today announced Billy Corgan, founder of the Smashing Pumpkins and creative icon, is joining TNA Wrestling as Senior Producer, Creative and Talent Development, effective immediately. In this position, Corgan will develop characters and create story lines for TNA’s flagship program IMPACT WRESTLING, broadcast Friday nights at 9/8c on Destination America, as well as other TNA programming.

“I’ve known Billy for years and have always been blown away by his musical artistry, as well as his knowledge and understanding of professional wrestling,” said TNA President Dixie Carter. “He has always impressed me with his creativity and passion for our business. Billy is truly gifted and understands the emotion tied to the psychology of connecting with an audience. The more we talked, the more I realized his perspective has the potential to make a huge impact on our brand.”

“Saying I’m humbled and honored by this opportunity to be part of TNA, a world-class wrestling organization, is an understatement and a dream come true,” said Corgan. “What’s great is the entire TNA organization stands in full support of my music life with the Smashing Pumpkins. In return, I’m fully committed to using my 30 years of entertainment experience, along with my deep-rooted passion for pro wrestling, to take on the thrilling challenge of creatively contributing to IMPACT WRESTLING, finding and developing new talent, and working eye-to-eye with the best-of-the-best. For as cultures currently evolve at great speed, so must pro wrestling meet and supersede such expectations to thrive.”

Corgan joins a gifted group of creative writers led by TNA Executive Vice President of Television and Talent John Gaburick. In addition to partnering with his creative colleagues in writing compelling and emotionally engaging story lines for TNA programming, Corgan will attend TNA television tapings where he will serve as a senior producer, working with TNA’s roster of world-class athletes including veterans such as TNA World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy and Gail Kim, as well as a fresh crop of Superstars led by Ethan Carter III, Bram, Rockstar Spud and more.

“As an iconic songwriter and performance artist, Billy stands as a true powerhouse,” said Gaburick. “I also find him to be an ardent historian of professional wrestling and a true visionary. We knew Billy would bring a great viewpoint when we offered, and he graciously accepted, to attend a recent creative summit. During those meetings, Billy’s pioneering perspectives and collaborative approach made it quickly evident we needed to bring him on as a permanent member of our team.”

TNA programming, which features unparalleled professional wrestling entertainment through its innovative high-flying X-Division, the best women’s division on the planet in the TNA Knockouts, and incomparable Tag Team action, is seen by millions of viewers each week in more than 120 countries around the world.

# # #

About Billy Corgan

Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum artist Billy Corgan is a celebrated creator, illustrious lyricist, distinguished musician and founder of the revered Smashing Pumpkins, who has written and released more than 300 songs, sold more than 31 million albums and later this year will co-headline ‘The End Times’ tour alongside Marilyn Manson, as recently announced on The Howard Stern Show. ‘Monument to An Elegy,’ the Smashing Pumpkins current studio album features ‘Drum + Fife,’ a stirring single calling attention to the issues of war trauma facing America’s servicemen and women, performances of which were featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and ABC’s Good Morning America. Corgan has also been featured on VH1’s Rock Icon, a music biography series profiling the most legendary artists in the history of rock music. A wrestling aficionado, in April 2015, Corgan announced a partnership with TNA Wrestling where he serves as a Senior Producer for creative and talent development. For more information, follow Billy on twitter @Billy and visit www.smashingpumpkinsnexus.com

• WWE Creative Team “Stunned” To Hear Dana White Say Ronda Rousey Can’t Do A Match

Eric Bischoff took part in a Q&A session with Jeff Jarrett over the weekend for Preston City Wrestling and revealed that he will be working with Global Force Wrestling.

Karen Jarrett asked Bischoff if he’ll be working with Global Force. Both Jarrett and Bischoff said yes, but noted that they are still in the early stages of launching the promotion.

Global Force will hold their first round of TV tapings on July 24th from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tonight’s WWE RAW takes place from Green Bay, Wisconsin at the the Resch Center an will feature fallout from Extreme Rules. No matches have been announced for the show as of Monday morning, but it’s expected that we’ll see several first round King of the Ring matches.

Top stars advertised include WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, United States Champion John Cena, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, Big Show and Sheamus. Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan is no longer being advertised by WWE.

The dark main event will see Randy Orton and Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins and Big Show.

WWE.com’s 5-point preview focuses on the following items:

* Will The Viper get retribution against Seth Rollins?

* A new hope for The New Day?

* Will Rusev make Cena say “I quit”?

* Who or what will Dean Ambrose destroy tonight?

* Will Sheamus’ Extreme Rules actions bite him in the “arse”?

Here’s the complete schedule for WWE Network original programming premieres for this week:

Monday:: Jerry Springer’s “WWE: Too Hot For TV” will be released on-demand after RAW.

Tuesday: King of the Ring live special at 8pm EST

Wednesday: Mick Foley Night kicks off at 9pm EST with a 1-hour career highlights. At 10pm is a special edition of Foley’s “Cheap Pops” comedy show, taped last week from Full Sail University.

Thursday: Chris Jericho’s podcast with Stephanie McMahon following Smackdown at 10pm EST.

Friday: A special on Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show from WrestleMania 24 at 9pm EST, obviously playing off the Mayweather-Pacquaio fight this Saturday.

Next week, a new edition of WWE 24 focusing on Roman Reigns will premiere after RAW.

Extreme Rules has come and gone, and fans were treated to a cage match, a sprawling Chicago street fight, and even some good old fashioned arse kissing. Without further ado, here are the pros and cons from Extreme Rules 2015.

Pros

If we are being completely honest, there wasn’t a lot to choose from tonight in terms of positives. If forced to choose a Match of the Night, it would have to be Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper in a Chicago Street Fight. The action was stiff and sprawling, with Ambrose beating Harper senseless with a kendo stick to start the match before Harper turned the tables and suplexed the Lunatic Fringe through a chair. After receiving a snake eyes into a chair propped up in the corner, Ambrose regained momentum after hitting an awesome clothesline from the apron. The backstage segments were refreshing, and it was nice to see this one continue later in the night. After two matches, the competitors returned in their car and interrupted the New Day’s victory celebration, with the action once again returning to the ring. From there, Harper buried Ambrose under a pile of chairs, but it would ultimately backfire, as Ambrose would suplex Harper onto the chairs and hit Dirty Deeds for the win. Overall, these two had great chemistry, Ambrose provided some humor, and it was a creative way to start the show.

The tag team match was definitely a treat tonight. As always, Kidd and Cesaro went together like peanut butter and jelly, teaming up for multiple combination moves throughout the match. Cesaro was the clear star of this one, displaying his strength by catching Big E in midcard and slamming him to the canvas. Just as it looked as if the champs would retain their titles, Xavier Woods distracted the referee and allowed for Kofi Kingston to grab the roll-up victory. Putting the titles on the New Day isn’t going to have anyone jumping for joy, but it will be nice to see Kidd and Cesaro chase the titles as babyfaces. Fans should be looking forward to these two competing again in the future, as they told a great story, pulled off a number of impressive spots, and the end sequence was believable.

It was announced that the King of the Ring would return on Tuesday night as a WWE Network exclusive. That’s sounds like something that is best for business.

Finally, the main event was sort of barely snuck its way into the pros column. These two ring technicians displayed solid fundamentals to start the match while Seth tried to sneak his way out of the cage. Rollins eventually took control after hitting the sling blade as both guys attempted to utilize the cage as a weapon early on. One positive in this match was that they were given sufficient time before the inevitable outside interference occurred, and seeing Orton hit a Pedigree was a nice change of pace. In the end, Kane of course interfered and helped Rollins retain the title after Seth hit Orton with an RKO. The commentators stupidly discussed whether Rollins was permitted to use the banned move after the match, as if it even mattered because the only two options were a win for Rollins or a disqualification victory for Orton – either instance resulting in Rollins keeping his title. Overall, this was your typical BS cage match, but it was one of the few highlights during an otherwise uneventful night, so here we are.

WWE’s King of The Ring tournament is back. It was announced during Extreme Rules that a KOTR live special will air this Tuesday night on the WWE Network at 8pm EST.

The tournament will kick off on Monday’s RAW with the finals airing live on Tuesday night.

The KOTR special will be take place prior to Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Moline, IL.

WWE Extreme Rules 2015

The 2015 WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view opens up with Lilian Garcia informing us that the Chicago Street Fight will open the show. We shoot to the announcers, who welcome us to the show.

Chicago Street Fight
– Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper

Dean Ambrose makes his way out. Luke Harper comes out next and within seconds, Ambrose attacks him. The referee tries to restore order enough, and does, long enough to ring the bell.

Within a minute, we’ve got chairs, chair shots, kendo sticks, kendo stick shots and plenty of hardcore action going on in the early goings.

Ambrose goes for a tornado DDT, but Harper pushes him off and shoves him face-first into a steel chair wedged between the bottom and middle ropes. The Chicago fans break out into a loud “let’s go Ambrose” chant.

The brawl continues, spilling all of the way back into the backstage area, with each guy using every weapon in sight — too many to even list. Finally, the guys fight and brawl their way off the screen as the two get into a car and leave, and it looks like this match is going to continue later on tonight.

Backstage: Triple H, Kane & Seth Rollins

As the un-seen Ambrose-Harper action continues off-screen, the fans chant “CM Punk” loud as hell as we shoot to a backstage segment with Kane and Seth Rollins. Someone told Kane he did good on Monday, because he’s now doing his best “Days Of Our Lives” impression in this short, two-minute backstage pro wrestling segment. HHH tells both guys that Rollins is making his first defense tonight, he wants to make sure Kane doesn’t screw that up. He asks both guys to put aside their differences. The fans start chanting “Boring! Boring!” louder than you can imagine. Kane assures both HHH and Rollins that tonight, he will do what’s best for business. I’m pretty sure you can predict where that’s going (he’s going to come out and “shock” everyone by helping Rollins).

Kiss My Arse Match
– Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus

After the backstage segment, Dolph Ziggler makes his way out to the ring. It’s time for the “Kiss My Arse” match. The announcers acknowledge all of Ziggler’s controversial tweets about this match. So, you can pretty much forget about any “Montreal Screwjob” stuff happening in this one.

Sheamus comes out next to a chorus of boos. The bell rings and here we go. It doesn’t take long before Sheamus starts dominating the action. Sheamus gets outside of the ring and with Ziggler dominated, tells him he’s gonna kiss his “arse” tonight. Back in the ring, “The Celtic Warrior” continues the punishment.

Sheamus has literally dominated this entire match. We’re several minutes into this match and Ziggler has been either selling or on the defensive the entire time.

Ziggler gets a hope series of offense, teasing a comeback, but after a few seconds, Sheamus takes right back over of the offense. He plays to the Chicago fans, who are boo’ing the hell out of him as he does it.

Sheamus calls for the Brogue Kick, however Ziggler avoids it. He tries to roll Sheamus up for a pin, but Sheamus kicks out at two and goes back to kicking his ass. Literally seconds later — literally — he rolls him up again, and without any offense, somehow scores the three count. Sheamus looks shocked.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

After The Match

To keep it simple, Sheamus tries to run away, plays around almost forever looking like he’s dreading what he’s about to do, only to never do it. He takes Ziggler out with a low blow and then Brogue Kicks him. While Ziggler is unconscious, Sheamus grabs him and puts his face in his “arse” — trunks up — no lips — but it happened. Nice double-swerve, which JBL — Vince’s mouth piece — is strongly selling as we go to a commercial.

WWE has confirmed that Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan is off of tonight’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in Chicago, Illinois.

WWE announced via their official website today that Bryan is out and Neville is in against Bad News Barrett on tonight’s show.

WWE.com wrote the following:

“WWE.com has learned that Daniel Bryan is medically unable to compete tonight at WWE Extreme Rules. Therefore, there will be no Intercontinental Championship defense.

How will this breaking news affect the Intercontinental Championship picture? Stay with WWE.com all night long for updates as this story develops.

Meanwhile, WWE.com has also learned that Bad News Barrett, Daniel Bryan’s original opponent, will now face Neville in the WWE Extreme Rules Kickoff at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, available for free on WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Pheed and the award-winning WWE Network.”

• WWE “Stunned” To Hear Dana White Say Ronda Rousey Can’t Wrestle A Match

WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated the blog section of his official website, sharing his predictions for tonight’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view and talking about some other subjects. Below are some highlights:

On Friday’s “Cheap Pops” taping: “Had a great week down in Orlando observing the NXT TV tapings and doing some RINGSIDE w/ Jim Ross Show business before Mick Foley’s ‘Cheap Pops’ WWE Network TV special was taped that will air this Wednesday night. My 30 minute set will not be a part of Mick’s special which will be a great, one hour TV special that I encourage everyone to check out.”

On the WWE Extreme Rules main event: “WWE Title Bout to be held inside a Steel Cage with Randy Orton’s RKO ‘Banned’…Rollins has to retain and one can expect a “cast of thousands” so to speak to be involved but hopefully the integrity of the cage will not be overly compromised in the process. Seth Rollins is still evolving as the WWE Champion and he’s a great choice for that role as, like many of his successful predecessors, Seth is a “beatable” champion but not tonight. Rollins and Orton should have a great match before all the shenanigans commence one would hope.”

On the Russian chain match: “US Title Bout is a ‘Russian Chain Match’ which will, I think, be the first for both men which is always an iffy proposition. Having a run through in a live event would’ve been ideal but be that as it may I am not a fan of beating the villain in allegedly his type of match but I also find it challenging to see WWE beat John Cena who is doing a grat job of making the US Title mean something since he won it. Unique booking to say the least which isn’t a bad thing but I’d have Cena lose the Title, chase Rusev and thus continue to add equity and attention to the championship. That’s what I’d do but that’s not likely to happen as I could see a Cena-Rusev blowoff match for the Title at Summer Slam if Rusev wins tonight.”

On Daniel Bryan’s status for tonight: “IC Title bout between Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett isn’t likely to happen due to DB’s health status that well could be related to concussion type symptoms but that’s merely my speculation. Nothing is more important than a wrestler’s health so this bout not occurring doesn’t bother me.”

Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com.

• WWE “Stunned” To Hear Dana White Say Ronda Rousey Can’t Wrestle A Match

– Goldust is campaigning on social media for his brother Stardust to get a shot at the WWE Intercontinental Championship if Daniel Bryan is unable to compete at WWE Extreme Rules tonight. Goldust tweeted the following on Saturday:

https://twitter.com/Goldust/status/592084508360441857

– WWE re-tweeted the following Tough Enough audition videos:

• WWE “Stunned” To Hear Dana White Say Ronda Rousey Can’t Wrestle A Match

– Renee Young’s new ten-minute WWE Network talk show, “Unfiltered” is scheduled to debut this Tuesday at 4pm EST. Her first guest will be WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. The official description for the show reads as follows: “In the premier of Unfiltered, Renee Young hangs out with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins for a fun and revealing conversation!”

– Speaking of the WWE Network, some sort of special programming is scheduled to air at 8pm EST., on Tuesday night. The WWE Network currently has a one-hour program scheduled with the title being, “Network Exclusive.” The description for that one reads as follows: “To be announced, live WWE action and entertainment featuring top WWE stars.”

• Ric Flair Talks About His Daughter Charlotte FIGHTING Ronda Rousey!

– As noted, Jim Ross did a 30-minute opening act for Mick Foley’s “Cheap Pops” special, which was taped on Friday. The former WWE announcer confirmed on social media that his portion of the show will not air on the WWE Network this Wednesday night.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry Lawler posted the following photo on Twitter of a sketch he did of “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

Macho Man sketch I did. pic.twitter.com/AcDj6VNIpc

— Jerry Lawler (@JerryLawler) April 25, 2015

– Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the passing of Connor “The Crusher” Michalek. The official Connor’s Cure Twitter feed posted the following:

.@WWE @WWEUniverse One year ago we lost one of the most inspirational,passionate,dedicated WWE fans ever. #RIPConnor pic.twitter.com/XNsqALW8wk

— ConnorsCure (@ConnorsCure) April 25, 2015

• Ric Flair Talks About His Daughter Charlotte FIGHTING Ronda Rousey!

WWE Extreme Rules takes place tonight from Chicago, Illinois. Below is the final lineup for tonight’s show.

WWE World Heavyweight Title
Steel Cage Match
Guardian of the Gate: Kane / The RKO is banned.
– Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins

WWE United States Title
Russian Chain Match
– Rusev vs. John Cena

WWE Intercontinental Title Match
– Bad News Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan

WWE Divas Title Match
– Naomi vs. Nikki Bella

Kiss Me Arse Match
– Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler

Last Man Standing Match
– Big Show vs. Roman Reigns

Chicago Street Fight
– Luke Harper vs. Dean Ambrose

Kickoff Pre-show:

WWE Tag Team Title Match
– The New Day vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd

• Ric Flair Talks About His Daughter Charlotte FIGHTING Ronda Rousey!

Here are the updated betting odds for Sunday’s WWE Extreme Rules pay-per-view, which are usually a good indicator of who will be walking out victorious. It’s interesting to note that all champions are expected to retain.

– WWE World Heavyweight Campion Seth Rollins is a -900 favorite over Randy Orton.

– United States Champion John Cena is also -900 against Rusev.

– Roman Reigns is -420 against Big Show.

– Sheamus is -225 against Dolph Ziggler.

– Dean Ambrose is -215 against Luke Harper.

– Intercontinental Champion Daniel Bryan is a slight -195 favorite against Bad News Barrett.

– WWE Tag-Team Champions Tyson Kidd & Cesaro are also -195 against New Day on the pre-show.

– Divas Champion Nikki Bella is -150 over Naomi.

Join us here this Sunday night for Live Coverage of WWE Extreme Rules.

WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley revealed the premiere date for his “Cheap Pops” WWE Network special on social media today.

The hardcore legend noted that the special, which was taped on Friday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, will air this Wednesday on the WWE Network.

Below are some comments from Foley regarding the special, as well as some photos from the taping:

“I had an incredible time last night, bringing ?#?CheapPops? to life at ?#?FullSailUniversity?. I believe it will be making it’s premiere on ?#?WWENetwork? on WEDNESDAY! Now I start all over again, working on a brand new show to bring on the road when the new tour starts at the end of May. Who’ll be watching? Who’s ready for some great stories, and some cheap pops!”

@realmickfoley was amazing tonight! I had such a great time! So happy I went! I laughed the whole time! #CheapPops pic.twitter.com/tTwdbQvcnj

— Courtney (@KalaoStar) April 25, 2015

https://twitter.com/realmickfoley/status/591735606406991872

https://twitter.com/realmickfoley/status/591799673406521346

• Ric Flair Talks About His Daughter Charlotte FIGHTING Ronda Rousey!

As reported on Friday evening, WWE has released five developmental talents from NXT this weekend — Dustin Mueller, Leyvonna Zakari, Laszlo Vandracsek, C. Denzel Freeman and Tony Briggs.

There now a sixth release to report – Courtney Freeman, who had yet to wrestle a match at a live event. Freeman was an amateur wrestler from the University of The Cumberlands and was signed by WWE right out of college.

• SAMOA JOE Met With Triple H Backstage At Thursday’s NXT Tapings: Full Details

The WWE Universe will get its annual dose of extreme this Sunday at Extreme Rules. Every major title is scheduled to be defended, and nearly every match on the card features some sort of stipulation. Here are my predictions for this Sunday’s pay-per-view.

Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (Tag Team Champions) vs. The New Day (Pre-Show Match)

The New Day sucks, plain and simple. They belong on the pre-show, and there’s absolutely no way they capture the titles on Sunday. Kidd and Cesaro continue their run as champions after picking up the victory. I do not think they will do so via pinfall or submission, however. I believe the New Day will be on the verge of defeat, leading to Xavier Woods interfering in the match and the New Day viciously attacking the champs. This would further solidify them as heels, while also starting a face turn for the champions by building fan sympathy.

Winners: Kidd & Cesaro by disqualification

Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper (Chicago Street Fight)

This has the potential to be one of the better matches of the night. Expect the action to sprawl all over the area in something resembling a hardcore match from the Attitude Era, with multiple weapons being utilized along the way. In the end, Ambrose will find a way to win after incapacitating his opponent with Dirty Deeds, hopefully leading to a push where he goes after the Intercontinental Championship now that it appears Daniel Bryan will be on the shelf for a while.

Winner: Dean Ambrose by pinfall

Daniel Bryan (Intercontinental Champion) vs. Bad News Barrett

Bryan is injured and will not be competing on Sunday. That’s basically a guarantee. WWE is essentially engaging in false advertising by not announcing that this match will no longer take place. Expect some sort of backstage segment during the show where Bryan is attacked to write him out of the storyline.

Winner: Match will not take place

Famous talk show host Jerry Springer recently spoke to the folks at Business Insider about his new “WWE Too Hot For TV” show, which is scheduled to premiere on the WWE Network this Monday night.

Springer mentioned during the interview that his show will be like The Soup for pro wrestling and will feature him showcasing and talking about outrageous and classic clips from WWE’s vast archives.

“The best parallel I can draw is that show ‘Talk Soup,’ which has been on for years,” said Springer. “I guess the only question I had is: why did it take us so long to think about that because it’s so obvious? It’s been so much entertainment for so many years. It’s a natural fit.”

Springer concluded, “Truth is, our audiences overlap. They’re the same demographic. So yeah, it was easy to say ‘yes’ to.”

Check out the complete interview at BusinessInsider.com.

• Ric Flair Talks About His Daughter Charlotte FIGHTING Ronda Rousey!

WWE Hall Of Famer George “The Animal” Steele recently appeared on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast to talk about his legendary career. Below are some highlights.

On the origins of the infamous green tongue: “Today the WWE sits down and come up with all these ideas and different gimmicks and they didn’t do that back then. I had a couple of drinks at a TV taping and I didn’t want the promoter to know it, so I put some Clorets in my mouth and went on television. Now back in the late 60s – early 70s, color TV had just come out, so here I come out there looking like a clown with a green tongue and I didn’t even know it was green, I was just trying to get rid of the breath and about 3 months later I said I wanted to try the green tongue thing again but just for my own laughs. When I did it again, the place went nuts and the next day had signs all over the place with green tongues hanging out so from then on I had the very best breath in wrestling.”

On how the turnbuckle biting originated: “In Pittsburg back in 1967, they would give away different gifts to get fans to come to the TV shows and on this one particular time they gave away these small little couch pillows. They had probably given away about 250 of them. One of the ladies in the crowed had gotten mad at me and threw her pillow at me. So I get the pillow in the ring and what am I going to do with it? I can throw it back and then have 250 pillows then coming back at me or I can take a bite out of it. So I take a bite out of it and it tore and popped because it was so packed with the stuffing, it just exploded so I started throwing the stuffing in the air and it was sticking in my hair like an abominable snowman, then I took the pillow wrapped it around my opponents head and started choking him. It was Bruno’s (Sammartino) wrestling “cousin” Tony Marino that said maybe you should start tearing the turnbuckles and everybody laughed. Two or three weeks later I go and fight (Chief Jay) Strongbow and even though it’s hard to have a boring match with Strongbow the people just weren’t reacting to this match. I looked at the turnbuckle pad and I went over took a bite out of it and it tore really easy and started rubbing his eyes with that and for a very flat match, we had a riot. So the two things that I am known for the green tongue and the turnbuckles and they both happened by accident.”

On working with Bruno Sammartino: “The whole WWWF promotion was about Bruno Sammartino, everything else was secondary. Bruno was such a different kind of talent because he was over so strong. I’ve worked on shows with Hulk Hogan who was over pretty strong worldwide but nothing like what Bruno was in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and the whole Northeast. I was the heel so I would go to the ring first so the people would go crazy and he would wait and start to come down and he was watching. Just about every time he was ready to come down, the crowd would calm down and they would start to make his announcement, so I would start to work the crowd again. Bruno was in such great shape and worked so hard that you had to be in shape to keep up with him.”

On the feeling of the crowd during a match with Bruno: Fans in Madison Square Garden would rush the aisles and try to kill you because they loved him so much. I still have a picture of 15-20 of New York’s finest Police surrounding me just to get me to and from the ring. They just loved him so much. People in New York were trying to kill me. Wrestling back then was always pre-determined and we always knew who was going to win but we didn’t know how we were going to get there. None of this dance stuff like they have now where everything is so choreographed. We actually wrestled until we felt like it was time for the finish and our matches would last anywhere between 30-45 minutes with an hour time limit. Everything was real so when you are going that long and tough and you are actually doing wrestling it’s very believable.”

Check out the complete interview at TMPTOW.Podomatic.cmo.

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WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley taped his “Cheap Pops” special for the WWE Network at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on Friday night. Below are some notes from the show.

– NXT host Greg Hamilton was the host for the event.

– Foley’s family was in attendance, as his daughter Noelle did an introduction for him and one of his sons also participated during the show.

– JBL was advertised to appear but never showed up and was never mentioned. Some NXT stars were in attendance for the taping, but also weren’t included as part of the actual show.

– While no air date for the special was announced, Foley did announce that he would be doing more shows in Florida this July.

– WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross opened the show with about 30 minutes of stories and a brief Q&A segment.

– Mick Foley followed with about an hour of stories and a longer Q&A.

– A planned meet and greet ended up not happening due to issues with the venue.

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Earlier today, NXT performers Brian Reid (a/k/a Tony Briggs) and C Denzel Freeman announced on Twitter that they had parted ways with WWE. According to PWInsider.com, WWE has released three additional developmental talents from their respective contracts: Dustin Mueller, Laszlo Vandracsek and Leyvonna Zakari. All three never wrestled before a live crowd.

Mueller is a bodybuilder from Chicago, Illinois who WWE signed last year. He had no wrestling experience prior to joining WWE. He made a few live event appearances as a security guard.

Zakari, a model and actress from California, joined WWE last April. Though she never wrestled, she handled ring announcing duties at a few non-televised NXT events.

Hungarian-born Vandracsek was a member of U.S. National Bobsled Team who WWE recruited late last year.

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WWE has come to terms on the release of NXT performers Brian Reid (a/k/a Tony Briggs) and C Denzel Freeman. Both individuals announced Friday on Twitter that they were parting ways with the sports-entertainment organization.

Freeman, an amateur wrestler from the University of the Cumberlands, began training at the WWE Performance Center late last year. He never competed in a match before a live crowd. He stated:

I didn't make it. WWE contract, terminated. Thanks for the fun, but it's time to move on. One, final #Blaze

— C Denzel Freeman (@OmegaBatman52) April 24, 2015

Briggs, a 6-foot-2, 275-pound wrestler from California, signed with WWE in late 2013. He infrequently wrestled at NXT live events, and was squashed the two times he competed on television.

I would to thank #WWE and #NXT for my wonderful experience with the company. I learned nothing but amazing and priceless lessons and…

— Tony Briggs (@BriggsWWE) April 24, 2015

Knowledge from the best talent and trainers in the world. This is a tough day but I must keep moving forward.

— Tony Briggs (@BriggsWWE) April 24, 2015

Thank you to the Coaches, medical staff, and talent for giving me the best year and a half of my life!

— Tony Briggs (@BriggsWWE) April 24, 2015

But make no mistake…I'll be back! Time to move forward, make progress, and keep poppin' the boys where ever I can! #Cannonball

— Tony Briggs (@BriggsWWE) April 24, 2015

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