TNA is taking the stance that the cease and desist letter from Justin “Krimson” Carnes last week wouldn’t hold up in court. PWInsider.com reports that the company’s response including citing wrestling wearing facepaint dating back to the 1980’s with the Road Warriors, and various wrestling with clown-esque paint. The company also made a point to mention that wrestlers with painted faces are often placed together in stables.
PWInsider says that more than one independent wrestling promoter told them they feel it’s silly for Carnes to claim a copyright on his character, since he’s allegedly written them looking for bookings describing his character as being based off “The Joker” from DC Comics.
The cease & desist alleged that Crazzy Steve and TNA ripped off his likeness, including mannerisms, costumes, face paint and the red mist. TNA reportedly has no plans to pull Crazzy Steve, who currently holds the tag team titles with Abyss, from TV.
– The topic of Hulk Hogan’s $140 million verdict against Gawker came up at Sunday’s night’s MTV Movie Awards, co-hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart. Johnson poked fun at Hogan’s sex tape lawsuit earning more than Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice did at the box office.
“The only movie to take more money than that in one day was Hulk Hogan’s sex tape,” Hart said. “He hit her with the Hulkamania from the back!”
“He put that 24-inch python to work,” Johnson added.
As noted earlier, there were several wrestling mentions on the award show when Chris Pratt won ‘Best Action Performance’ and thanked Jesse Ventura and Roddy Piper among others.
– Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows are now reportedly booked for every WWE TV taping going forward. They’ve been backstage at the last few tapings, and PWInsider.com reported on Monday that the Bullet Club are expected to be on WWE TV very soon. As noted on Sunday, Gallows and Anderson are in Los Angeles for this week’s RAW and SmackDown.
TNA Wrestling will be dramatically downscaling their corporate headquarters later this month, according to PWInsider.
The company is in the process of packing up and moving out of their longtime offices at Cummins Station in Nashville, TN. All business operations are being moved to a warehouse the company currently uses for the ShopTNA.com store. This latest cost-cutting move has reportedly been planned for some time.
TNA has been at the Cummins Station location since Dixie Carter and Panda Energy got involved in the company. Prior to running TNA, Dixie Carter’s public relations company had been based out of the Cummins Station office.
WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall spoke with Title Match Wrestling during WrestleMania 32 week about AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Shinsuke Nakamura, Undertaker, Shane McMahon, Jim Cornette, the Bullet Club, the Hulk Hogan vs Gawker lawsuit, injuries in wrestling, the Young Bucks, NJPW, Bruiser Brody, NXT, TNA and more.
– He thought The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon should have gone last at WrestleMania.
– He has a WWE DVD coming out in July. WWE came to him and asked him for input, but he told them he trusts them to handle it properly. This is unlike Bret Hart, who went to Stamford and was very hands-on with his DVD. Hall joked that the most important thing is that his royalty checks go to the right address.
– Regarding his son Cody in NJPW, he’s happy Cody is working in front of sold out arenas in Japan instead of working the indy scene in the US working in front of 50 people. Hall thanked the Young Bucks for taking Cody under their wing.
– Hall put over Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and AJ Styles. He’s really happy that his son Cody has been working around guys like the Young Bucks and AJ Styles who are at the top of their games but don’t drink or do drugs.
– He put over the Performance Center and the great things they are doing there. He loves working with the young guys.
– He’s heard great things about Nakamura. He loves Nakamura and predicts big things for him in WWE. Zayn can go too.
– When asked about Hulk Hogan’s legal battle with Gawker, Hall says he reached out to Hulk during the trail and gave him some words of encouragement. The public loves Hogan and they love a comeback.
– This year’s WWE SummerSlam event is already sold out at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, and so is RAW the night after. SummerSlam 2016 takes place on August 21st. According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, The Barclays Center was set up to accommodate 13,438 fans for last year’s SummerSlam and the following RAW.
– John Cena will be on Centerstage on the YES Network on April 12th at 11 PM, with several replays following. Cena has yet to return to RAW after his appearance at WrestleMania as he’s been doing press for his new show American Grit, debuting on FOX on April 24th. There’s no word on when Cena is next scheduled to appear on RAW, but he is expected to be cleared to wrestle by mid-May or June.
– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson co-hosted the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday with Kevin Hart. There were some wrestling mentions when Chris Pratt won ‘Best Action Performance’ and thanked Johnson, Jesse Ventura, Roddy Piper, Lou Albano, Batista, Jimmy Snuka, Brutus Beefcake and others.
Top independent wrestler Ricochet took to Twitter and put the speculation to rest — he will not be competing in this summer’s WWE Global Cruiserweight Series tournament.
Ricochet has been on WWE’s radar for several years now and had been rumored to be one of the top names for the tournament, which kicks off in July on the WWE Network. The following talents have already been confirmed by WWE’s COO Triple H:
Rich Swann
Tomasso Ciampa
Johnny Gargano
Zack Sabre Jr
Noam Dar
Ho Ho Lun
Akira Tozawa
Qualifying matches for the tournament are being held at two independent companies that Ricochet/Prince Puma currently performs regularly for: EVOLVE and Revolution Pro in the UK.
Whether Ricochet would be contractually able to perform for the WWE is another matter as he most likely has deals with both Lucha Underground and New Japan Pro Wrestling that would prevent this from happening. It it clear at this point that the buzz sounding the GCS has got more than just the internet fans talking.
– Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson are scheduled to be in Los Angeles for tomorrow’s RAW. F4WOnline.com reports that the two will be backstage at the Staples Center for the show, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be debuting. The two were also backstage in Dallas and Houston for last week’s RAW and SmackDown.
– There will be a limited crew working this Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, CA. Superstars leaving the country after RAW for WWE’s European tour include Roman Reigns, The New Day, Charlotte, Kane, The Wyatt Family, Sheamus, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, The Dudley Boyz and others. Talent available for SmackDown includes AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, The Miz, Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev, Big Show, Ryback, and Dolph Ziggler.
Kevin Kelley introduces us to the Ryogoku Sumo Arena and informs us that tonight, there are 6 titles on the line. Steve Corino says to everyone in New Japan, “Thank you for having me.”
Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. Juice Robinson and Ryusuke Taguchi
The Bullet Club is out first, followed by Juice Robinson (CJ Parker from NXT) and the “Funky Weapon” Ryusuke Taguchi. As Taguchi bends backwards to pose for the crowd, Takahachi kicks him before the bell. Takahashi with a boot to Taguchi, both men hit the ropes, Taguchi hits 3 flying hip blocks, but Takahashi gets up and catches Taguchi with a DDT. Taguchi gets up, nails an enziguri, and tags in Robinson.
Robinson run into Fale twice with shoulder blocks, but cannot knock the big man off his feet, a boot off the ropes finally staggers Fale to the corner. Robinson with strikes to Takahashi, the fans chant, “Juice!” Fale throws both Robinson and Taguchi to the outside, then throws the referee into the ropes. Takahashi throws Robinson back in the ring, Fale grabs him by the throat, tosses him in the air, and punches him in the chest, knocking Robinson to the mat, pin attempt, but Taguchi breaks it up.
3 stomps by Taguchi, 2 running hip blocks, goes for a 3rd, but Takahashi trips him and pulls him to the outside. Fale gets Robinson in a fireman’s carry, Robinson wiggles out, hits a back elbow, but Fale spears him dead in the middle of the ring. Fale picks him up for the Bad Luck Fall, as Takahashi holds back Taguchi, Fale covers Robinson for the 1-2-3.
Winners: Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) (3:43)
Kelly says, “It’s good to have you back Corino, from the longest suspension in pro wrestling history, 6 months.” Corino says, “Yeah, but now that we’re here in New Japan, I can do what I like, and that’s sitting next to you, here on commentary.”
Kazushi Sakuraba, Toru Yano and Yoshi-Hashi (Chaos) vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata (Six-man tag team match)
Corino tells us the faces have 81 years of combined experience, Liger himself is 51 years old. Liger and Yano start it off, Liger goes after Yano, but Yano ducks into the ropes and yells, comes back in, ducks back out again, and yells again to pump up the crowd. Liger off the ropes, but Yano hits an atomic drop, Liger off the ropes again, connects with the clothesline, and this thing has broken down, as all 6 men brawl on the outside.
Yano takes off the turnbuckle, Irish whips Liger into the exposed turnbuckle, clubbing forearms to the back, tags in Sakuraba, submission attempt, but Kojima in to break it up. Yano tags in Yoshi-Hashi, knife edge chop, picks him up, drapes him across the ropes while Yano holds on, Yoshi-Hashi hits the ropes, and delivers a dropkick to the back of Liger. Yoshi-Hashi climbs to the top turnbuckle, Liger throws him off, punch to the gut, Liger goes for the tag, but Yano comes in to stop it. Finally, Liger takes them all out and gets the hot tag to Kojima. Sakuraba goes for a kick, gets caught, enziguri by Kojima. Kojima delivers about 25 chops to Sakuraba, throws him to the corner, Sakuraba puts on the brakes, but Nagata hits him with the running elbow, the crowd is behind Kojima.
Front facelock, Yoshi-Hashi tags in Nagata, they exchange forearms, Nagata hits a Texas neckbreaker, 3 kicks to the chest of Yoshi-Hashi, sends him into the corner, boot to the face, Yano comes in and hits him in the back, but gets met with an enziguri. Sakuraba comes in and then Nagata leaps over the ropes and takes out all the 3 men. Nagata comes off the ropes, misses into a clothesline, Yano gets out of the way and points to his head “smart move”, but receives an enziguri by Nagata to the back of the head.
Yoshi-Hashi with a reversal, Nagata in the corner, Yoshi-shots to Nagata, and then a swinging neckbreaker, pin attempt, kickout. Nagata hits a backdrop suplex on Yoshi-Hashi, 1-2-3, and this one is over.
Winners: Jushin Thunder Liger, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata (7:06)
The faces celebrate and make their way to the back.
Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii (Chaos) vs. Bushi and Evil (Los Ingobernables de Japón)
Los Ingobernables are out first, then Chaos. Goto and Bushi circle to start, but Evil comes in and smashes Goto from behind, Bushi and Evil tag team Ishii until Goto comes in to assist. Goto and Evil exchange blows, now Ishii in the ring, whips him in, dropkick to the back of the head, Ishii gets up, forearms, trying to fight out but can’t, Evil tags in Bushi. Bushi exchanges chops with Ishii, Ishii knocks Bushi down, Goto connects with a senton, Evil misses with a senton, Ishii crawls for the tag, but Evil cuts off the ring. MW3 says, “I’m surprised to see the crowd is behind Evil.”
Evil send him into the corner, back elbow, but Ishii hits a Saito suplex, and tags in Goto. Goto delivers about 10 forearms to Evil, kick, throws him through the middle rope to the outside, and follows him to the floor. Goto whips Evil into a steel railing, then another steel railing, Bushi comes over with blows to the back, but Goto knocks him out with the forearm, and throws Evil back into the ring. Goto kicks Evil in the upper back, hits a Saito suplex, cover, but Evil kicks out at 2. Evil catches him in a fisherman’s suplex brainbuster. Evil picks him up on the shoulders, and delivers a powerbomb to Goto, Evil with about 10 kicks to the head, but Goto gets up and welcomes them. They trade lariats, then a double clothesline, but Evil got the worst of it.
Tag on both sides, Ishii with a power slam, whips Bushi in the corner, Ishii with a shoulder block, vertical suplex, and near fall. Ishii picks him up for a powerbomb, Bushi fights out of it, Bushi with a kick to the back of the head, a kick to the chest, Irish whip, reversal, Ishii goes in strong, but Bushi flips around the ropes, kick, missile dropkick from the top rope, and does a spin-a-rooni. Bushi with a kick to the leg, a kick to the chest, 1-2, kick out. Whip into the corner, Evil smashes him, then Bushi drops him, whips him into the boot, 1-2, cover, but Ishii kicks out.
Bushi goes for the suplex, Ishii blocks, hits a clothesline, and growls. Ishii hits a powerbomb, stacks him up, but Bushi kicks out at 2. Goto and Evil fight on the outside, Ishii picks him up for a suplex, Bushi gets out, but Ishii hits a clothesline, then Goto comes in and hits a headbutt to Bushi. Evil goes to pick up Bushi into a fireman’s carry, Bushi fights out with a kick, misses, but connects with a kick on the rebound, clothesline, fireman’s carry, back body drop, running lariat by Ishii, stacks him for the pin, 1-2-3.
Winners: Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto (10:36)
After the bell, Evil and Goto get into a slugfest on the floor, and have to be separated by NJPW officials. Ishii and Goto get in the ring to celebrate, but Evil comes back in and goes after both of them, and officials have to separate them again. MW3 points out that David Finley and Jay White are amongst the crowd that is in there to break it up.
Matt Sydal and Ricochet (c) vs. Roppongi Vice (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match)
Baretta and Rocky Romero are out first, then Sydal and Ricochet. Code of Honor is exchanged and they all shake hands. Ricochet and Baretta start it off, collar-and-elbow tie up, Baretta backs him into the corner, does not make the clean break, grabs him into a headlock. They hit the ropes, Baretta with a shoulder block, but Ricochet springs back to his feet, and then meet a forearm from Baretta. Baretta backs him to the corner again, Irish whip, reversal, Baretta goes upside down into the turnbuckle, and then gets an elbow from Ricochet. Ricochet hits the ropes, rolls over the back, and then hits him with the headscissors, dropkick, runs the ropes, back handspring, back flip and poses like Prince Puma and smiles. Baretta up, Sydal knocks him to the outside, goes for a baseball slide, but misses, Baretta and Sydal exchange pin attempts and kickouts.
Tag to Romero, punch, elbow to the gut takes him down, tries to hook a Boston crab but Sydal reaches the ropes. Tags in Baretta, RPGV throws him off the ropes, but Sydal hits a double underhook combo slam on both of them. Sydal tags in Ricochet, full nelson by Baretta, kick to Romero, hooks Baretta, picks up Romero plant him on his face back shoulder block, catches him, flips them, and drops him on his knee. Ricochet hits the ropes with a suicide dive onto Romero, Romero kicks out. Baretta in, gets taken down, Baretta kicks out. Ricochet tags in Sydal, standing moonsaults on Baretta, Sydal with the clubbing forearm to the back, Romero comes in, strike to Sydal, takes out Ricochet, Romero gets kicked by both, runs the ropes, ducks under, double dropkick to both, but they catch Sydal with a running knee, Romero runs to the top, jumps over the rope, and then a running knee to Ricochet, then Baretta turns him inside out, drapes him across the top rope, and Romero comes off the ropes for the double foot to the back of the head. Romero with a baseball slide kick to the head, pin attempt, but Sydal kicks out.
Ricochet tags in, Romero runs into the corner, and then running arm blows to both men in opposite corners, and then Sydal and Ricochet with kicks to Romero, Sydal sunset flip, hooks him, but Romero kicks out. Sydal sets him up, Romero counters, backslide, pin attempt, and Baretta tags in. Ricochet with a suplex, modified vertical drop backbreaker, and then Romero with the DDT on Ricochet. Sydal in, kicks Baretta hard, takes out Romero, Ricochet drives him down for the End of Times, but Baretta kicks out. Romero comes in, Sydal sends him to the ropes, Romero catches himself, then nails the dude buster, but Romero kicks out. Ricochet comes in, trading elbows, European uppercut by Ricochet, kick to the face of Romero, another kick, picks him up in the fireman’s carry, but Romero gets out, and then hit a clothesline that turns Ricochet inside out.
Romero puts Ricochet on the top turnbuckle, delivers open hand palm strikes to the face, goes for the hurricanrana, but Ricochet catches him, pulls him up, Romero connects with the hurricanrana this time, but Ricochet lands on the feet and superkicks him. Baretta comes in, double knee by RPGV, suicide dive by Romero to the outside, almost into the crowd. Roppongi Vice sets him up and connect the Strong Zero on Ricochet, cover, 1-2-3, Romero pins Ricochet.
Winners and 46th NEW IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions: Roppongi Vice (15:48)
Roppongi Vice celebrate in the ring with the belts.
Kushida (c) vs. Will Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Kushida is sporting a mohawk tonight. The bell rings and we’re off. Kushida runs the ropes, they exchanges mat maneuvers, kick, 2 elbows to the back of the head, whips Kushida into the ropes, atomic drop on Ospreay, down low for the drop kick, but Ospreay springboards to his feet and kicks Kushida in the face. Kelly says, “The pressure must be tough when the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada personally endorse as you, brings you into the company, and says oh yeah, by the way, I got you a title match.” European uppercut by Ospreay, throws Kushida, but he holds onto the ropes, Ospreay with the forearm, taking his time.
Ospreay handstands off the ropes, but Kushida kicks the left wrist, Kushida climbs to the top turnbuckle, and then a front flip dive onto Ospreay on the floor. Kushida throws Ospreay back into the ring, goes to work on Ospreay’s left arm, puts his hand to the mat, stands on his elbow, and then steps hard on it, picks up Ospreay, twists the wrist, slams him to the mat, and then locks in an arm lock submission. Ospreay tries to flip out but can’t, Kushida still has the arm lock in, Ospreay tries to kick out again, but Kushida keeps the arm lock synched in. Ospreay almost gets out, connects with the head scissors, but Kushida goes right back into the arm lock, hooks both arms, but Ospreay reaches the ropes.
Ospreay fights out with shots to the ribs, drops Kushida on his chin, handstands off the ropes, but his left-arm collapses and he winces in pain. Kushida goes back to work on the left arm, but Ospreay connects with an enziguri, Ospreay gets kicked in the arm, then flies to the outside, knocking down Kushida. Ospreay with knees to the midsection, standing corkscrew splash, cover, but Kushida kicks out. Ospreay catches the leg, jumping knee, goes to the second rope, corkscrew spinning splash, hooks the leg, but Kushida kicks out.
Ospreay climbs to the top rope, but Kushida catches him with a handstand back kick, climbs the ropes, hooks him for a suplex, and then catches him with a cross armbreaker, into an armbar off the top rope. Kushida has the armbar locked in solid, but Ospreay gets his leg under the bottom rope. Kushida with a running dropkick to Ospreay’s left wrist, Kushida goes for pump handle, but Ospreay gets out, hits the ropes gets a kick, Kushida with the forearm, Ospreay with a kick, Kushida with a 3 forearms, Kushida with an open right hand, Kushida with 5 kicks to Ospreay’s head, Ospreay starts to Hulk up, the two men exchange forearms, and Kelly says “It’s a hockey fight.” Kushida goes for a punch to the head, Ospreay moves out of the way but collapses anyway in a fake-looking spot, the fans boo. Ospreay connects with Kushida, cover, kick out.
Ospreay climbs to the top rope, perched on top, Kelly says, “22-years old and he could win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in his New Japan Pro Wrestling debut”, but Kushida catches him, climbs up top, Ospreay gets out, Kushida is hung on the second rope, and Ospreay kicks him in the head, Ospreay now climbs to the top, and goes for a 450 Corkscrew, because Kushida gets the knees up, pin attempt, kick out. Kushida again with kicks on the left arm, goes for a tilt-a-whirl, up and over, Ospreay kick, spinning kick, climbs to the second rope, but Kushida catches him in mid-air for the armbar. Ospreay picks him up while Kushida holds the arm bar, fireman’s carry, Kushida fights out, transitions into the hoverboard lock, Ospreay goes for the ropes, Kushida rolls back through to the hoverboard lock again, and Ospreay taps out.
Winner and STILL IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion: Kushida (15:07)
Kushida spit shines the belt with his elbow pad, poses on the turnbuckle, Jushin Thunder Liger comes out, and ask for the microphone. He congratulates the champion, offers a handshake. Liger challenges Kushida and says he wants to be a 12 time Junior Heavyweight Champion. Kushida says he has a lot of respect for Liger and accepts the challenge.
Kushida comes over to commentary, Kelly offers a headset and Kushida says he wants to challenge for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. Corino says, “We will take that message back to Jay Lethal.”
– Dr. Phil tweeted on Sunday about his appearance on Monday’s RAW in Los Angeles. Phil said he’ll be “behind the scenes,” which means he may not come out in front of the live crowd at the Staples Center.
– WWE.com is teasing an appearance by Shane McMahon at Monday’s RAW, while Triple H, Vince & Stephanie McMahon have all been pulled from their listing for the event. Shane originally wasn’t advertised for any shows after WrestleMania 32. Here’s the teaser they posted involving Shane:
Even though he failed to defeat The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania, Shane McMahon was still granted a temporary reign as Raw’s showrunner — by Mr. McMahon, of all people. His first night at the helm of Monday night’s hottest show brought us a new Intercontinental Champion, several new Superstar debuts and the return of the fan-favorite Cesaro.
It’s clear that WWE’s Prodigal Son didn’t fall on his face as The Chairman had hoped, and it’s equally clear that the WWE Universe likes the way Shane runs things. Will the risk-taking Shane-O-Mac have the opportunity to give us another crowd-pleasing edition of Raw? What might Shane’s success last week mean for The Authority?
We’ll have live results from RAW at the Staples Center in Los Angeles right here on Monday night.
Jim Ross says Bobby Roode and Eric Young would both be good additions to NXT to help teach the younger talent just starting in the wrestling business. In a new blog entry on his website, the WWE Hall of Famer said Roode is one of the best ring hands in wrestling right now.
“WWE is smart to be looking to sign Bobby Roode who I feel is one of the best in ring hands in the biz. Hiring Eric Young would be a nice ‘get’ too. Both can perform with any talent no matter that talent’s skill set,” Ross said of the two former TNA stars possible joining WWE/NXT. “Young talents cannot improve working regularly with people of the same skill set or less than them.”
The former WWE VP of Talent Relations also commented on Maryse returning to help her husband The Miz on RAW. Ross says their current storyline reminds him of Marc Mero and Sable in the Attitude era.
“Smart booking by WWE at first glance of placing Maryse with her husband The Miz on WWE TV after Wrestlemania,” Ross said. “Miz needed a bit of new, sizzle and his lovely wife looks like she may well be the answer. Reminds me somewhat of Marc Mero and his then wife Sable.”
Paige was at Wizard World Madison on Sunday and took part in a Q&A panel. Here are some highlights, courtesy of Reddit user @Lukeazade11134:
– She has no idea what WWE is doing with her character. She doesn’t know if she’s a heel or a face and doesn’t know if she’ll be used at RAW tomorrow.
– If she could wrestle an intergender match against any man on the WWE roster, it would be Seth Rollins. She also said she’d like to work with Dean Ambrose and the Wyatt Family.
– She loves the new Women’s Championship belt.
– If she could change anything about the Women’s Division, she said she’d have more storytelling behind the matches. She let fans know that this will be changing soon and “there are storylines coming that you guys will see.”
– Her favorite women to work with are Sasha Banks, Nikki Bella, Emma and AJ Lee.
– She thinks Roman Reigns would be better off as a heel champion:
Chris Jericho talked to veteran WWE referee Charles Robinson on episode 233 of his podcast Talk Is Jericho. Before getting to his favorite WrestleMania moments, Robinson flashed back to WCW in 1999 when took an elbow drop from the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage that took him two weeks to recover from.
“In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I believe it was, Flair and I teamed up [and] took on Savage and Medusa.” Robinson added, “we had a tag match and it finished with the elbow drop onto me, Savage elbow drop, which I didn’t know how to position myself, whether to hold my chest or breathe. I just laid there and took it. And he landed in on me and put me in the hospital for two weeks. Yeah, collapsed lung.”
Robinson was hired by WWE after their purchase of WCW, and went on to referee several major WrestleMania matches. Robinson revealed his three favorites so far, and they all involved Shawn Michaels: Flair vs. Michaels at WrestleMania 24; The Undertaker vs. Michaels from WrestleMania 26; and, Jericho vs. Michaels at WrestleMania 19.
“Well, WrestleMania 19 was pretty good. It was Shawn Michaels against some Canadian [Jericho]. Yeah, I had my haircut real short. I’ll never do that again. That was the worst haircut ever. [Michaels’] hair was pretty bad too. [Jericho] had the best hair. But that was a great match. But that, [and] WrestleMania 24, Flair and Shawn Michaels when Flair retired. [It was] certainly the biggest honor, but who else could they’ve used though? Right? It was very nice of them to let me do it. I think we were crying about a minute into the match.” Robinson continued, “but the last one, the last match that was big was Shawn Michaels against The Undertaker [at] WrestleMania 26, I believe. That’s where Shawn retired. So it’s Flair and Shawn, Undertaker and Shawn, and [Jericho] and Shawn. Huh, it’s Shawn. What a coincidence, so it means a lot that Shawn was in all three matches.”
You can listen to the full podcast here, where Robinson also reveals that Vince McMahon never gives him any instructions through his ear piece.
After reports that WWE was interested in signing Bobby Roode, the former TNA Champion showed up at NXT Takeover: Dallas and was shown on camera. Roode had been with TNA since 2004, until he quit last month after being turned down for a raise. Roode recently spoke with The Peterborough Examiner about where he stands with WWE:
“I’m not officially signed yet,” Roode said. “The Internet has blown up over it, and I mean I’m close, but I don’t want to spoil anything or ruin anything. I want to wait until it’s official. I don’t want to jinx anything either.”
If WWE were to sign Roode they may also bring in Eric Young, who quit TNA on the same day as Roode. They would work in NXT with the younger talent.
Sexy Star is the new Lucha Underground Champion after winning Aztec Warfare 3 at Saturday’s tapings from Boyle Heights, California. The episode will air sometime in early 2017.
Matanza Cueto, who had been undefeated up until this point, was pinned by Rey Mysterio mid-way through the match after a Canadian destroyer. Pentagon was taken out by four Asian women (believed to be Angela Fong, Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani and Kaiji Hojo)
The two final competitors were Sexy Star and Mil Muertes. The finish came when Star blocked a top-rope flatliner, shoved Muertes off the top rope through a table and nailed her top rope stomp to get the pinfall victory.
– This week’s post-WrestleMania 32 episode of SmackDown drew a 1.75 rating with 2.44 million viewers. This is up from the previous week’s show, which featured some matches and cut-ins from WrestleMania AXXESS.
– WWE.com is running a poll asking fans which former NXT Champion will have the most successful WWE career when all is said and done. Seth Rollins is way in the lead with 62% of the vote, followed by Sami Zayn (18%), Kevin Owens (15%) and Big E (5%).
– The latest “UpUpDownDown” show features Xavier Woods, AJ Styles and Tyler Breeze playing the UFC 2 video game on the big screen at AT&T Stadium during WrestleMania 32 Week:
New Japan Pro Wrestling aired their “Invasion Attack 2016” event on the New Japan World service on Saturday night from Tokyo, Japan. Here are the results:
– Bullet Club’s Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi beat Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson.
– Kojima & Jushin Liger & Yuji Nagata beat Sakuraba & YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano in a six-man tag match.
– RPG Vice (Rocky Romero & Baretta) beat IWGP Jr. Hvt. tag champions Matt Sydal & Ricochet to capture the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Titles.
– IWGP Jr. Hvt. champion KUSHIDA beat Will Ospreay to retain the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Title.
– Tanahashi & Yoshi Tatsu & Michael Elgin beat NEVER Openweight six-man tag champions Bullet Club (Kenny Omega & Young Bucks) to capture the NEVER Openweight Six-man Tag Titles.
– NEVER Openweight champion Shibata beat Tenzan to retain the NEVER Openweight Title.
– Bullet Club’s Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa beat IWGP World tag champions Honma & Togi Makabe to capture the IWGP World Tag Titles.
– New Japan Cup winner Naito beat IWGP World Hvt. champion Kazuchika Okada to capture the IWGP World Hvt. Title.
Paul Heyman was interviewed by Jan Murphy from “The Kingston Whig Standard” during WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, Texas. Heyman declared Lesnar to be the greatest box office attraction in WWE history and touted some of his accomplishments.
Heyman has worked closely with the biggest names in wrestling history, but none of them are on Brock Lesnar’s level. He agreed with the interviewer that Lesnar does not get the respect he deserves.
Of course Heyman believes Brock Lesnar is due a rematch for the WWE World Heavyweight championship and said WWE has a hard time finding opponents for The Beast – because no one wants to be beaten, victimized and conquered.
Virtually anybody who became a fan of Tyler Breeze in NXT is disappointed with how he’s been booked since making his main roster debut. He loses most of his matches in two minutes and it’s clear that WWE’s decision makers do not see him as a priority.
Twitter user @Dyenistylo pointed out to Breeze that he’s lost every single one of his 49 matches so far this year. At least Prince Pretty has a good sense of humor about it:
Author’s Thoughts: I had no idea that Breeze is 0-49 since January. That is so terrible that it is actually amazing. My only hope is that the same fate happens to some of the new talents called up to the main roster this week on both Monday Night Raw and Smackdown. For example, it is easy to envision something similar to happen to the Vaudevillians down the line. They have a unique look to them obviously and if the WWE universe doesn’t respond to them quickly, it is reasonable to assume that they will be fed to more established tag teams. Having said that, the Vaudevillians did defeat Lucha Dragons on Smackdown, so maybe the WWE believes in them more. I get the premise of enhancement talent and it makes sense for wrestlers like the Brooklyn Brawler or someone ridiculously awesome like Gillberg. I don’t get why it happens to wrestlers like Breeze, who was involved in competitive matches in NXT. Maybe sometime down the line Tyler Breeze will evolve into a different character, lose the selfie-stick and start winning matches. Only time will tell.
Shawn Michaels was a guest on Vince Russo’s podcast this week and didn’t hold anything back on his opinion of the current WWE product. When asked if he misses wrestling for WWE, he responded:
“Everybody asks me, ‘Do you miss it?’ No, I don’t miss it because what’s on TV now isn’t what I used to do. So it’s easy not to miss.”
It’s an interesting quote that’s hard to disagree with. To be fair, every generation says that things were better when they were growing up. It is the old “back in my day” argument that has been had millions of times. However, Shawn Michaels was a key figure for wrestling fans who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s so it is a bit shocking to hear him give a quote like that.
Michaels also addressed fans who complain about the WWE on the internet.
“I get what those hardcore fans say and they don’t like it, but at the same time, and I’m going to get a lot of heat for this, but it is true: You do keep watching. The ratings may go down, but we’re not losing you.”
Isn’t that just the brutal truth that all of us wrestling fans hate to hear. If you are reading this right now, I’m guessing you’ve probably said to yourself “I’m never watching this again” hundreds of times. I know I certainly have. There were so many times I wondered why I was watching wrestling when it seemed like Cena was winning every match. Then, I was reminded why I watch it when I saw Edge beat him at SummerSlam 2006 live. It is the same thing now with Roman Reigns. He is not popular amongst the hardcore fans but there is no way they are going to stop watching.
MVP had announced in Dallas last week that he signed with Lucha Underground, but the relationship appears to already be over. MVP had reportedly signed on as an agent with the door open to wrestle in the future.
MVP posted a video online acknowledging he had signed with the company, but that the deal has already been terminated because he violated a term he didn’t know about. Apparently by announcing his signing he violated the non-disclosure portion of his contract, and Lucha Underground’s parent company feels he gave out a spoiler.
In his video, MVP put over Lucha Underground and owned up to his mistake.
Hulk Hogan says WrestleMania 32 was the biggest one since WrestleMania 3. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Hogan was asked about if he’ll appear at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, which he answered: “Never say never.” Hogan also put over how big WWE has become as a company.
“These big shows come off once in a while,” said Hogan. “The last one like this was WrestleMania III, and that was thirty years ago. It was amazing to see how strong the WWE is, and see the following. It is mind boggling to see a monster crowd that big. It was just a huge success, and shows you how strong and powerful the brand is when you see that building full with all that energy.”
Hogan says he reached out to Sting, who was inducted to into the WWE Hall of Fame over WrestleMania weekend. Hogan talked about how easy he found it to work with Sting.
“I’ve already sent him my thoughts, and I’m excited to see him in the Hall of Fame,” said Hogan. “When we wrestled, every time I would see him, I’d always tell him, ‘You don’t know how good you really are.’ When he was on top of the world, he was still so humble but still so great. Every time I would get in the ring with him, it was so easy it was just ridiculous. I can’t even explain how easy he was to work with, and it was so much fun working him.”
The April 7th episode of WWE SmackDown was taped at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX and averaged 2,444,000 viewers on the USA Network. This is up from last week’s 2,328,000 viewers. The show scored a 1.75 Nielsen rating, up from last week’s 1.66.
SmackDown was ranked #3 in the Top 150 cable shows for the night. The show was ranked in the same number last week.