TNA taped Impact Wrestling TV taping on Sunday in Birmingham, GB at the Birmingham Barclaycard Arena. They taped content for multiple weeks worth of Impact, including Kurt Angle’s final match under TNA contract. Here’s what happened at the taping:

– Joker’s Wild: Drew Galloway and Mike Bennett defeated Jimmy Havoc and Big Damo.

– There was a promo segment between Gail Kim and Maria Kanellis. Gail wanted to fight Maria, but Maria refused because she was a lady. This led to Gail going after Maria, but she was taken out by Jade before she could get to Maria.

– EC3 defeated Rockstar Spud in a street fight.

– TNA President Dixie Carter walked out for Kurt Angle’s retirement ceremony. She thanked him for everything he has done for TNA. Angle cut a promo about his time in TNA.

– King of the Mountain: Eric Young © defeated Bram, Will Ospreay, Jimmy Havoc and Big Damo.

– Gail Kim defeated Jade.

– Beer Money defeated The Wolves to capture the TNA tag team titles.

– Grado cut a promo about his firing from TNA and how it was fishy. Eli Drake cut him off with a promo.

– Lashley defeated Kurt Angle. Post-match, Lashley continued beating on Angle until Drew Galloway, Eddie Edwards and EC3 made the save.

– Drew Galloway won the Joker’s Wild Battle Royal.

– Kurt Angle’s TNA farewell tour almost ended prematurely on the first night of the tour. Angle appeared to be in bad shape after his match with Drew Galloway, and there was a fear that he had suffered a concussion while in the ring with Galloway. Angle began feeling better about 35 minutes after the match, and he was officially cleared by a doctor before wrestling Bobby Roode on Saturday.

Angle is scheduled to have the final match on his TNA contract at the Impact Wrestling tapings tonight against Bobby Lashley in Birmingham. We will have a spoiler report from the taping later tonight.

Related: Kurt Angle Says He Won’t Fight Someone In Their Prime, But Would Consider Fighting MMA Legend

– Mark Andrews was also banged up yesterday after he took a stiff shot to the heads during his tag match. There was fear he may have been seriously hurt, but like Angle, Andrews recovered and has been cleared by a doctor to compete again.

– Rafael Morfi, who was a WWE executive on the live touring side, served as the tour manager for TNA’s events in the UK.

Related: 5 Incredible Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Kurt Angle

Fans can expect to see Matt Hardy’s wife Reby (a/k/a Reby Sky and Reby Hardy) on Impact Wrestling on a regular basis going forward as she has signed a contract with TNA Wrestling, Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reports.

As has been reported, there was an incident between Reby and Awesome Kong on Friday prior to an Impact Wrestling taping at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, United Kingdom. To add to the multiple versions of the story going around, Johnson says Kong did indeed get physical with Reby. Various TNA performers at the show told Johnson she was could see marks around her throat and around the back of her neck if she lifted her hair.

Sky alluded to the incident Friday night on Twitter, stating, “No time for high school drama. I REFUSE to play this bullying game. FOH…”

https://twitter.com/RebySky/status/693298970714599424

John Gaburick, Executive Vice President of TNA Wrestling, issued this statement yesterday on the incident via Twitter.

Prior to the Impact Wrestling TV taping at the Manchester Arena, Kia Stevens was involved in an incident involving Rebecca Hardy. Subsequently, Kia was removed from the tour and returned to the United States. The matter is being reviewed to determine if any additional disciplinary action will be taken.

• New Wrestler Debuts At WWE NXT Live Event On Saturday (Photo)

– The latest WWE Fastlane betting odds have been released by 5Dimes. Roman Reigns is still the favorite to win the triple threat main event (now at -505) while Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar have odds of +335. Fastlane takes place on February 21st in Cleveland, OH.

– 5Dimes also has odds for WrestleMania 32 on April 3rd from Alrington, TX.  Roman Reigns as the favorite to walk out as WWE World Heavyweight champion (-350) and Triple H is now at +250 to retain the title.

– WWE announced on Sunday that Stephanie McMahon will be a guest on ABC’s Good Morning America. Stephanie is scheduled to appear during the 8AM hour on Monday, February 1st. WWE sent out the following email to promote her appearance:

Tomorrow, Stephanie McMahon will appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” during the 8 a.m. hour. Tune in to see WWE’s Chief Brand Officer’s interview with Stephanie McMahon with Amy Robach as the two discuss such topics as female leadership, growing up in WWE and philanthropy.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/693856339093753856

WWE will be releasing Eric Bischoff – Sports Entertainment’s Most Controversial Figure on DVD & Blu-Ray on June 7th in the U.S. and June 13th in the U.K. The new DVD set follows Bischoff filming over two hours of separate content for the WWE Network in 2015.

Here’s the synopsis for the documentary:

Arguably the most controversial figure to ever step foot in the industry, Eric Bischoff is responsible for some of the most revolutionary moments in sports-entertainment history.

From creating the nWo to battling WWE as the figurehead of WCW during The Monday Night War to being one of the most-hated personalities in both WCW and WWE, Eric Bischoff knew how to get under his rival’s skin while creating his own in your face brand of controversy.

Relive all of Eric Bischoff’s greatest moments and hear stories from the man himself and see why he was appropriately named “The King of Controversy”.

There’s no word on what matches, if any, will be included.

Lucha Underground will be returning for Season 3. The news was announced to the Lucha Underground performers and crew at Sunday’s Season 2 Ultimo Lucha tapings, according to Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com.

No word yet on when the third season will be filming, but El Rey showing their support of the show in a big way, despite the high cost of production and the brand not yet producing much in the way of revenue.

Lucha Underground is also coming to the iTunes store soon, which will allow fans currently without the El Ray Network to experience Lucha Underground for the first time.

Related: Strong Viewership For Lucha Underground Season 2 Premiere

WWE management was not happy with The Rock going off the script during his segment on RAW last week. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, some WWE staffers were reportedly “freaking out” backstage when The Rock decided to interrupt his promo to talk to fans in the front row dressed as WWE Hall of Famers.

According to reports, for anyone other than The Rock or Cena, the stunt would have gotten them fired. The Rock is able to go off the script as there is nothing WWE can really do to him at this point.

Ha well at @WWE events, going "off script" is what I live for. So much fun for the fans. Nightmare for Vince. ? https://t.co/NeBxm8yMHI

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) January 31, 2016

For those who didn’t watch the show, the fan dressed as Randy Savage prompted several “Macho Man” chants during RAW by standing on his chair. Security told the fans to calm down, and they were eventually removed and given different seats.

Related: Update On The Rock’s Status For WrestleMania 32 & If He’ll Wrestle

Tye Dillinger was injured at Saturday night’s NXT live event from Detroit, Michigan. During his match against Sami Zayn, Dillinger was suplex and landed badly on his left foot. The referee called an audible and Dillinger rolled to the outside and was counted out. He was helped to the back by officials and Sami cut a promo after the match putting over the crowd.

The following are results from the show and video of Dillinger’s injury:

• Enzo & Big Cass beat The Vaudevillians.
• Carmella defeated Alexa Bliss via submission.
• Elias Sampson defeated Johnny Gargano.
• The Sami Zayn beat Tye Dillinger by count-out after Dillinger injured his foot.
• Women’s Champion Bayley beat Nia Jax with the Bayley To Belly suplex.
• American Alpha beat NXT tag champs Dash and Dawson via DQ.
• NXT Champion Finn retained in a 4-way match against Baron Corbin, Samoa Joa and Apollo Crews. Joe had Corbin in rear naked choke when Apollo hit standing moonsault and covered both guys for a 2-count. Balor delivered a double stomp Corbin and pinned him for the win.

https://twitter.com/JimmyDeeb/status/693612403402088448

TNA taped Impact Wrestling on Saturday, January 30th in London at The SSE Arena Wembley. The taping was for the March 1st, 2016 episode of Impact Wrestling. Here’s what happened at the taping:

– The Wolves © defeated Mandrews and Will Ospreay.

Post-match, the medical team, came rushing out for Mandrews. The Wolves checked on him as well and helped Mandrews to the back.

– Monster’s Ball: Abyss (Crazzy Steve, Goth Girl) beat Jimmy Havoc. The finish happened when Abyss hit a Black Hole Slam on Havoc through the barbed wire board.

– Mike Bennett (w/Maria) defeated Drew Galloway with a roll up.

– Eric Young issued an open challenge for his King of the Mountain Title.

– King of the Mountain: Eric Young © defeated Damo O’Connor. Young won via piledriver…

– Kurt Angle beat Bobby Roode with the ankle lock.

Post-match, Roode cut a promo about Angle and how good he is. James Storm came out and said that Angle is a TNA legend. Beer Money opened beers and Kurt said no, so they pulled some milk out. Angle drank it and they celebrated. The Wolves came out to celebrate as well to end the taping.

Related: Spoilers for the February 2nd, 2016 Impact Wrestling

Earlier this week, Dave Meltzer reported that there was more heat on Lana within WWE stemming from another incident. Meltzer didn’t go into details, but Konnan did on his podcast. Konnan said on MLW Radio that he was told about an incident at an airport recently where Rusev got heat from some of his fellow wrestlers. Konnan claimed that Lana yelled at Rusev in an airport and he didn’t stand up for himself, which reportedly reflected badly on both of them. This was what Meltzer referred to as something that “has added to her legacy, so to speak.”

Rusev went on Twitter and addressed the rumors with some sarcastic remarks. “Podcasts are soooooooo cool bro,” Rusev said of Konnan’s MLW Radio claims, “you can make up all kinds of stories and it’s like world news.” Here are his tweets referencing the issue:

This just in breaking news @LanaWWE injured Del Rio. Reasons are unknown. I don't know what "heat" is but she has so much of it.

— Miro (@ToBeMiro) January 30, 2016

Before you hear it on a some guy podcast. @LanaWWE did not break @WWESheamus arm. But I'm sure it's going to be her fault anyways!

— Miro (@ToBeMiro) January 28, 2016

Podcasts are soooooooo cool bro. You can make up all kinds of stories and it's like world news. Great reporters. #Murica #believe #sheep

— Miro (@ToBeMiro) January 28, 2016

Rusev mentioned Meltzer’s report earlier as well:

Reading lies posted by @davemeltzerWON #MilkIsForBabies https://t.co/hhDE8djO7l

— Miro (@ToBeMiro) January 27, 2016

Related: Konnan Says Airport Incident Is The Real Reason For Lana’s Backstage Heat

John Gaburick, Executive Vice President of TNA Wrestling, issued a statement Saturday on his Twitter account regarding an incident that took place Friday at the Manchester Arena involving Awesome Kong (Kia Stevens) and Reby Sky (Rebecca Hardy).

Prior to the Impact Wrestling TV taping at the Manchester Arena, Kia Stevens was involved in an incident involving Rebecca Hardy. Subsequently, Kia was removed from the tour and returned to the United States. The matter is being reviewed to determine if any additional disciplinary action will be taken.

The incident was originally reported by Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, who said that Kong took issue with Sky attempting to dress in the women’s locker room and tossed her bag into the hallway. Although Sky is a performer for the company, she had not changed in the women’s locker room before.

Kong’s actions prompted Sky to leave the locker room. When she returned to retrieve her things, Kong went after her for “not apologizing.”

There are two stories on the incident circulating among TNA workers. One story is that Kong attempted to assault Sky, but was quickly restrained from doing so. The second story, which Johnson heard from ‘far’ more people, is that Kong throttled Sky around the neck before being restrained by security guards and producer Pat Kenney.

Johnson added that Sky’s infant son was in the vicinity of the ordeal.

• The Undertaker to face Braun Strowman at WrestleMania?

Note: All translations in this article are from E. Key Oide on Twitter. A must-follow for English-speaking NJPW fans.

While officially just part of the Road to New Beginning tour, tonight’s (Japan time) New Japan Pro Wrestling card at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo took on significance as Shinsuke Nakamura’s final match in the company before starting with WWE. While the card easily could have done big business, there was no time to schedule anything too big or fancy with Nakamura giving notice on January 4th and being done with his obligations on February 1st. So they just packed the ~2,000 seat combat sports mecca in the Tokyo Dome City complex instead.

In the main event, Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, and Tomohiro Ishii (representing CHAOS) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, and Katsuyori Shibata (representing the NJPW Regular Army) when Ishii pinned Shibata after a vertical drop brainbuster. After the match, Kenny Omega came out to cut a promo on Nakamura, calling him a coward for leaving and vacating the IWGP Intercontinental Championship instead of giving him a title shot. Tanahashi then interrupted Omega (who was slated to face “X,” as NJPW refers to mystery opponents), saying  “Listen. I’ll explain it to you. It might be sad, but this is Nakamura’s last match today. I’m the only one who can face [you]for the [Intercontinental title]! I. AM. X.”

https://twitter.com/chiba3min/status/693412944701329408

From there, Nakamura, in tears, was left alone in the ring with the microphone (again, make sure to follow E. Key Oide on Twitter for great translations like these):

Should I say something? Hmm, what should I do? New Japan! To all the wrestlers, my comrades who I’ve faced, and to the fans: Thank you. I’ll show an unsuspecting world the Nakamura that was born and raised here! Until I can come back stronger, I won’t say goodbye. Just…thank you.

That’s all…

PSYCH!

You all know what I wanna say!

The answer, the only answer…is YEAOH!

[Nakamura is joined in the ring by the rest of CHAOS]

The greatest…the greatest sport in the world is PRO WRESTLING!

Later, at the press conference, Nakamura made some additional comments, which E. Key Oide compiled into this image post on Twitter:

Chose to put 'em all in one big thing this time. #njnbg pic.twitter.com/4kQbC8pDTi

— E. Key Oide (@e_key_oide) January 30, 2016

Here are the full results for the card:

1. David Finlay Jr. defeated Hirai Kawato in 4:38 with the Boston Crab.
2. YOSHI-HASHI defeated Jay White in 6:20 with a power bomb into a jackknife cradle.
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, & Juhsin Thunder Liger defeated Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, & Tiger Mask IV in 10:34 when Kojima pinned Nakanishi after a lariat.
4. Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi of The Bullet Club defeated Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba when Fale pinned Yano after hitting The Grenade in 6:55..
5. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL & BUSHI of Los Ingobernables defeated KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & Captain New Japan in 8:57 after EVIL hit his EVIL finisher on Captain New Japan. BUSHI and KUSHIDA got into a skirmish afterwards to push their match for KUSHIDA’s IWGP Junior Heayyweight Championship on Valentine’s Day.
6. Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, & Cody Hall of The Bullet Club defeated Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin, & Juice Robinson when Omega pinned Robinson after a running knee in 11:43.
7. Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata in 21:48 when Ishii pinned Shibata after a vertical drop brainbuster.

On Friday, Mike Tyson posted a link on his Facebook page to the trailer for a new film he’s involved with about pro wrestling. The film is called Nine Legends, and also features Bill Goldberg, Chris Jericho, and Bret Hart. The film can be streamed at www.ninelegendsfilm.com for $5.

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

In the year 2050 a young wrestling fan is less than thrilled to be spending the night at his Grandfather’s house. That is until he learns that his Grandfather once traveled the world interviewing some of the biggest wrestling stars of all time. Featuring exclusive interviews with Bill Goldberg, Bret Hart, Mike Tyson, Chris Jericho, Dynamite Kid, Amy Dumas, Rob Van Dam, Ted DiBiase and Randy Couture, Nine Legends profiles one of the greatest ensembles of wrestling talent ever put together. Through their own words, relive the defining moments of the heroes you grew up with.

On Reddit, the film’s creator revealed that one of the stars of the film with do a Q & A session on Reddit next week.

Awesome Kong was sent home Friday from TNA’s tour of the United Kingdom following a backstage altercation with Matt Hardy’s wife Reby Sky at the Manchester Arena, Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com reports.

Multiple TNA sources tell Johnson that Kong took issue with Sky attempting to dress in the women’s locker room and threw her belongings outside. Although Sky is a performer for the company, she had not changed in the women’s locker room before. At TNA’s recent television events in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Sky dressed elsewhere backstage.

The incident likely stems from some derogatory remarks the two made about each other in 2013.

During an uncensored interview with the YouShoot DVD series, Kong referred to Sky as a ‘ho’ for her outspoken nature. When asked on ASKfm (a social networking site where users create profiles and can send each other questions) about Kong knocking her, Sky responded, “Not aware of this, if it is true. Doesn’t make much sense, as I don’t know her on a really personal level & we have been nothing but nice to each other in passing at shows. We’ve actually texted back & forth a few times, so if she now has a problem with me, I can only attribute it to one thing/person. Fake as fuck to be nice to my face & talk shit to a camera if its true, but no shocker there. That’s 99% of the women in this business anyway. Next.”

Sky later implied Kong as a drug addict, stating on ASKfm, “Broke wrestlers doing “shoot” interviews for a couple hundred bucks to support their drug habits can KEEP mentioning me. Everyone knows I’m in an AMAZING committed relationship & love a good name drop :).”

After a fan asked Sky on the site if she was referring to Kong in her statement, she remarked, “And for the record, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying, and for damn good reason. No use in continuing to play nice or protect anyone who is sweet to my face & a cunt to me & my close friends behind my back.”

According to Johnson, Sky left the locker room after Kong threw her belongings outside. When she returned near the room to retrieve her things, Kong went after her for “not apologizing.” Johnson believes Sky’s past remarks are what led to Kong’s outburst and demand for an apology.

There are two stories on the incident circulating among TNA workers. One story is that Kong attempted to assault Sky, but was quickly restrained from doing so. The second story, which Johnson heard from ‘far’ more people, is that Kong throttled Sky around the neck before being restrained by security guards and producer Pat Kenney.

Johnson added that Sky’s infant son was in the vicinity of the ordeal.

Kong parted ways with TNA in 2010 after assaulting Bubba the Love Sponge backstage at a television event for remarks he made on Twitter that were disparaging of Haiti’s struggle to recover from a recent earthquake (he was appearing as a backstage interviewer for the company at the time through his connection to then-talent Hulk Hogan).

• WWE Diva Signs A New Three-Year Contract

https://youtu.be/dZbiyZW4RUw

A topic that’s gotten some attention this past week on wrestling websites and social media has been the continuing discussion of WWE’s treatment of women both behind the scenes and in terms of their storytelling. While this has been brewing for a while because of the whole NXT Women’s Division vs. WWE Divas’ Division dynamic, it came to a head this past week because of two moments on WWE programming:

1. Ric Flair forcibly kissing Becky Lynch as a distraction spot and the announcers laughing it off as a comedy spot.
2. The Rock’s entire interaction with Lana, who was returning to TV after a noticeable absence, being about the idea that she cheated on Rusev with him when he last appeared on Monday Night Raw.

Today, the topic was explored in an article at Vocative by Alex Groot titled “WWE’s Looming Sexism Problem.” When asked for comment on the piece, WWE issued the following statement:

WWE programming, which features fictional characters that cover a range of personalities similar to movies and television shows, tells stories of good versus evil. In addition, as our on-going storylines develop, we will continue to position women as both strong competitors and compelling individuals.

Of course, as mentioned by Groot, even if you can argue that at least Flair was an evil villain doing evil things, The Rock was the babyface and Lana was the heel.

There are a few things to talk about with WWE Network today, one of which is huge news for users of one of the United States’ “big four” mobile phone service providers. That one pertains to T-Mobile and their “Binge On” feature. Under CEO John Legere, T-Mobile has been trying to increase its market share with aggressive pricing as well as a number of innovative promotions. First, T-Mobile added unlimited music streaming (as in it doesn’t count against your monthly data) music streaming with a number of services. More recently, they’ve started doing the same for video in the “Binge On” program, with one caveat: The video maxes out at 480p resolution. If you want HD, you have to use your data allowance. Anyway, Android Police and a number of other sites reported yesterday that WWE Network has been added to Binge On.

In addition, WWE announced in the video at the top of this article that WWE Network gift subscription cards are now available at GameStop stores. Previously, the cards were only available at Wal-Mart, which made it a bit more difficult for fans without credit cards to subscribe to the service. In the past, WWE had reported surprisingly high numbers of rejected payments, so maybe the increased availability of the cards could help with that problem.

Finally, in a programming note, more and more WCW Monday Nitro episodes are being uploaded to WWE Network’s on demand library each day. Make sure to follow WWE Network Updates on Twitter (it’s a robot that tweets when something is added to the library) to keep up with all of latest uploads to the service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFaUo2oPcA

James Storm has had a strange last several months of his career: He left TNA, made a few appearances on WWE television doing guest spots on NXT, never left TNA television because they taped the World Title Series before he left, and then returned to TNA in lieu of signing with WWE. One of TNA’s signature stars, he’s been promoting TNA’s upcoming tour of the United Kingdom, and one of his stops was an interview with RealSport. Here are some of the highlights:

Making the decision to return to TNA:

I’ve been with TNA since the very beginning and I want to see them succeed, I feel like I have a lot to give not just to TNA but the wrestling business as a whole, I just felt that right now I can help TNA out a lot.

Was teaching younger wrestlers something that excited him about NXT?

Oh yeah, it kind of reminded me of when TNA was first starting out, all the guys are hungry and had a chip on their shoulders looking to prove they have what it takes.

His thoughts on if Triple H winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble was too predictable and/or stale:

Yeah, a lot of people have asked me this question, and I always say wait to see how the story plays out, because it can help to build a bigger star. Especially now that you want to see Triple H get beat. Its genuine, real heat, you’re there thinking this SOB, I really want this guy to get beat now.

Make sure to check out the full interview for more on his return to TNA, including the Beer Money reunion.

This is getting ridiculous, as yet another top WWE Superstar is injured. League of Nations member Alberto Del Rio is dealing with pain in his lower back, according to a report at PWInsider.com.

Del Rio dropped the United States Championship to Kalisto at the Royal Rumble but did not wrestle at at this week’s RAW or SmackDown tapings. He is still advertised for this weekend’s live events from Chattanooga, Tennessee and Tupelo, Mississippi, but those cards are subject to change.

It’s unknown this time if he’ll miss any ring time beyond taking a few days off this week, but we’ll know Saturday night if he wrestled at his next scheduled date.

NXT Women’s Champion Bayley spoke with WZYZ.com this week to promote NXT’s first-ever live event from Detroit, Michigan this Saturday at the Royal Oak Music Center. Here are the highlights of what she said:

Winning NXT’s Female Competitor Of The Year & MOTY [Iron Man vs. Sasha Banks at Takeover: Respect]

“Female Competitor of the Year, I was really surprised because of the other girls that were in it,” Bayley said.  “The match of the year , I always get emotional when someone brings it up or talks about it. It was really cool. I’m glad to have something like that to share with her forever.”

Getting Called Up To The Main Roster:

“Getting to WWE is always on my mind because it’s what I’ve wanted to be since I was 10,” she said. “That’s my ultimate goal as much as I love NXT; I want to be on the big stage.”

• Bayley Explains Why She Wants To Get Called Up To The Main Roster Despite Loving NXT

WWE is advertising Brock Lesnar for Monday’s episode of RAW on the USA Network. Lesnar and Heyman will be appearing to hype the Fastlane PPV. Last week on RAW, although he didn’t appear on the episode, Lesnar was booked in the main event for Fastlane against Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.

WWE confirmed on Thursday’s episode of SmackDown that Lesnar would be in the house on Monday, and updated WWE.com‘s RAW preview to hype The Beast’s appearance. Here’s an excerpt from WWE.com’s updated preview:

The Beast is back. Since The Wyatt Family utilized the no disqualification environment of the Royal Rumble Match to eliminate Brock Lesnar from the bout, The Anomaly has yet to be seen in a WWE ring. With his return imminent, the entire WWE locker room braces for impact. Who will feel the wrath of this raging behemoth? WWE.com has some ideas

One night after The Wyatt Family eliminated Brock Lesnar from the Royal Rumble Match — essentially robbing The Beast of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship — The Authority announced that Lesnar will battle Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in a Triple Threat Match at WWE Fastlane. The winner of that bout will then go on to WrestleMania to challenge Triple H for the grandest prize in sports-entertainment.

Lesnar can’t be in a good mood in the wake of his Royal Rumble Match defeat, and will be anxious to transform Birmingham, Ala., into Suplex City. But which Superstars will suffer his wrath: Bray Wyatt and his followers, The Beast’s WWE Fastlane opponents or both? No matter who crosses his path, Lesnar is bringing the pain to Raw.

Monday’s RAW airs live from Birmingham, AL at the Legacy Arena. We will have live results & discussion right here on SEScoops.com on Monday night.

The always-outspoken Jim Cornette gave his thoughts on Wednesday’s Lucha Underground Season 2 premiere and well .. he’s not a fan. The following is a transcript (typed up by @GolazoDan) from the latest episode of the Jim Cornette Experience podcast at MLWRadio.com (click the text below to enlarge):

We’ve got an updated preview for the upcoming “March To WrestleMania: Live From Toronto” special that airs live on the WWE Network.

Courtesy of the The Ricoh Coliseum website, the following items are being advertised for the show. Their preview does not explicitly state that Brock Lesnar will be facing Luke Harper, but some sites are reporting that and it does make sense considering the assumption that it will be Lesnar vs. one of the Wyatts at WrestleMania.

Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus
Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman
Luke Harper w/ Bray Wyatt
Chris Jericho hosts the Highlight Reel
AJ Styles makes his WWE Debut in Toronto!

Plus more of your favorite WWE Superstars including:

The New Day
The Miz
The Usos
Paige
Brie Bella
And Many More!

WWE March to WrestleMania: Live from Toronto takes place Saturday, March 12th at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Canada.

There’s nothing else quite like CHIKARA, the Pennsylvania-based indie that’s been running over a decade with weird storylines (like time travel) and wacky characters inspired by comics books, science fiction, and so on. Longtime independent wrestler turned CHIKARA trainer and promoter Mike Quackenbush was the latest guest on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, during which he talked about the promotion’s fiercely loyal fanbase and much more. Here are some key quotes from the interview:

The growth of CHIKARA over the years:

It’s like a blur. I can relate to this now as a father and it’s kind of like, one day you turn around and you think and look at your kids and say when did they grow up? I feel a little bit about that with CHIKARA. In the early years you don’t have time to sit down and reflect about it and realize well these three years have gone quick or these six years have gone quick you are just trying to stay alive and you are trying to keep your head above water. But every once and again you do have cause to kind of sit back and look over your shoulder and say man the years have really gone here. Maybe that is fresh on my mind right now sensing that our training facility The Wrestle Factory and knowing how many Wrestle Factory graduates are about to in this calendar year before 2016 is over are about to ascend onto the roster.

There is going to be this inevitable changing of the guard and that’s one of those touchstones that really started when one of the longest standing CHIKARA guys Ultra Mantis Black had a career ending injury after a crazy, dumb accident in the ring that some of these guys that have been with me since day one are really in that position where some of them are getting past that age where the WWE wouldn’t even look at them but that was their aspiration, they wouldn’t even pass the cut off in terms of their age and that inevitability that life is going to creep up on you. But I sense this changing of the guard and this really has made me look back on it and say what a crazy trip it has been thus far.

Building the loyal CHIKARA fanbase:

It never ceases to amaze me. For example, two of our fans named their daughter CHIKARA or every time I hear a weird story like that or some fan comes up and shows me they’ve got a sleeve on their arm of all the CHIKARA characters tattooed on them or that we ship an order out to Guam. It boggles my mind and part of it is as you guys know, when I was coming up, the internet was scarce or a handful of people that had access to the internet regularly and the kind of explosion of AOL chat rooms and people that had home computers and weren’t paying by the minute for access to where we are now and the ubiquity of the internet that someone could lift up their phone right now and be live and Periscope an entire CHIKARA event to the world. It boggles my mind.

How CHIKARA started…and was almost named Impact Wrestling:

It’s strange to think about this now but we started talking about it in the Summer of 2000. This precedes the creation of NWA-TNA. We were talking about it and Tom (Carter AKA Reckless Youth) and I as well as Don Montoya who was one of our traveling mates. We decided after Tom came back from his WWF Developmental deal and I feel like when Tom came back they had beaten a lot of his passion for the craft out of him and I think that is a reoccurring struggle for everyone, self-included that I go through this like once a year where you are utterly burned out by what we do and you must be able to find the joy for your craft again. We kind of just decided that all we do is moan about how awful things are, shouldn’t we SHUT UP and do something and we decided yes, we are going to change things.

We are going to do it by training people in a certain kind of way, we want a more cosmopolitan style that involves all of these international things and we originally wanted to call it Impact Wrestling and for quite a while maybe about four or five months it was Impact Wrestling and then when the time came and we were going to put up a fairly small sum of money, I mean it was a significant in reality for guys in their 20s and well at that point Montoya bowed out. So then it became Tom and I and when Montoya bowed out we decided we are not going to keep this name because that was for the three of us so it needs to be something else.

– The following Total Divas plot summaries have been released for the month of episodes on the E! Network:

• 2/9 – “Talk of The Town” – Nikki aims to be the next Maria Shriver of motivational speaking but Brie mocks her; Alicia finds out her new boyfriend has been lying to her; Mandy questions her choices.
• 2/16 – “The Truth About Cats and Divas” – Eva Marie returns and shakes up the Divas; Nattie throws a surprise party for TJ to cheer him up; the Bellas fight over an endorsement.
• 2/23 – “Come Reign or Shine” – Brie challenges Nikki on whether it is worth risking an injury for the chance to become the longest reigning Divas Champion; Alicia and Rosa argue over their visions for Rosa’s baby shower; Nattie questions whether Mandy has her priorities straight.
• 2/26 – “End of A Friendship?” – Brie pushes her sister away when she refuses to enable Nikki’s fear of being alone; Rosa stresses out about her religious mother meeting her atheist boyfriend; Alicia Fox thinks about ending her friendship with Paige

– Nikki Bella tweeted the following update on Friday after undergoing neck fusion surgery earlier this week.

Mornin! Feelin better everyday! Can't wait 2 train again! Even if it's basic trainin,I'm in! Just call me Superwoman pic.twitter.com/EWhXWDgOiH

— Nikki & Brie (@NikkiAndBrie) January 29, 2016

Bo Dallas spoke with AL.com this week to promote Monday’s WWE RAW in Birmingham, Alabama.

Wanting to become tag team champions with his brother Bray Wyatt:

“Oh, absolutely. Anything is possible We grew up as brothers dreaming about the day we would become tag team champions. Who knows? Who knows what’s going to happen?”

What it’s like getting in the ring with Brock Lesnar:

“There’s no controlling Brock Lesnar. You have no idea what he’s going to do. At any moment, he could rip your head off. He’s Brock Lesnar. He’s a beast, and he does what he wants. It was intense, awesome and terrifying all at the same time.”

He also spoke about NXT’s growth since he got called up to the main roster and how being from the south has influenced his wrestling career.