TNA President Billy Corgan announced on last night’s Impact that an eight-man tournament will be held to crown the first Impact Grand Champion. You can see video of the new Impact Grand Championship below. The King of the Mountain Championship is now officially retired.
Tournament participants include Drew Galloway, Aron Rex, Eli Drake, Jessie Godderz, Eddie Edwards, Mahabali Shera, Braxton Sutter and Trevor Lee. The finals will take place at the 10/2 Bound For Glory PPV from Orlando.
Matches will feature 3 rounds that go 3 minutes each. Three ringside judges will score the match under a 10-point must system. Matches end by pinfall or submission but if they go the distance, judges will choose the winner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLRNF9Dt6k
Following last night’s Impact on Pop, here are the brackets:
MMA insisder FrontRowBrian, who has broken several WWE stories in the past, says Paige has quit WWE. FRB also confirms the report from Mr. Saint Laurant of MLW that Paige has hired legal representation.
We reported earlier that there was a lot of speculation on Paige not returning to WWE once her 30 day Wellness Policy suspension is over, despite her being under contract until 2019.
Earlier today, WWE announced the release of Paige’s boyfriend, Alberto Del Rio.
Here are the tweets from FrontRowBrian on the Paige situation:
Here are the results for New Japan’s Road to Destruction event in Niigata:
Henare b Hirai Kawato – Henare took the submission win with a Boston Crab
Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima b. Juice Robinson & Teruaki Kanemitsu – Kojima took the win for his team after hitting a Lariat on Kanemitsu
Katsuyori Shibata, Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi & Tiger Mask IV b. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yoshitatsu & Captain New Japan – Nagata hit the Exploder of Justice on Captain New Japan to take the pinfall victory for his team
Kenny Omega, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa b. YOSHI-HASHI, Rocky Romero & Barreta – Tama Tonga hit the Guerrilla Warfare on Romero to take the win
Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI b. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay – Naito took the win after hitting the Destino on Young Lion Finlay
Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii b. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens – Goto hit the GTR on Chase Owens for the victory
Deadline reports that Eva Marie and Nicky Whelan will co-star alongside Nicolas Cage and Faye Dunaway in a new thriller titled Inconceivable.
Inconceivable will be directed by Jonathan Baker with Chloe King writing the script. It does not appear to be a WWE Studios project.
The film focuses on Katie (Whelan), who moves to town with her young daughter to start a new life after enduring abuse in the past. Katie befriends another mother, Angela (apparently played by Eva), and her husband Brian (Cage). Angela notices odd behavior from Katie and begins to question whether Katie’s intentions are as innocent as she makes them out to be, or if something dark is lurking beneath the surface.
Eva is due back from her WWE Wellness suspension on 9/18. Filming for this movie begins next month.
Alberto Del Rio is officially gone from WWE. The company website posted a message on Friday stating that WWE and Jose Rodriguez (Alberto Del Rio) have mutually agreed upon the terms of his release as of today, September 9, 2016.
While the terms of his release were “mutually agreed upon” as of today, Del Rio’s legal representatives reportedly informed WWE several months ago that he would be exercising a clause in his contract allowing him to opt-out after a year.
Alberto Del Rio will be holding a press conference in Mexico City later today to address his WWE wellness policy violation and departure from the company.
The former WWE Champion tweeted the following about the situation:
My business relationship with @WWE has come to an end in good terms…thanks for the opportunities they gave me. Termine mi relación con WWE
Former WWE writer Andrew Goldstein points out that Alberto Del Rio is just the latest in a long line of big name stars who have recently departed the company.
Another disgruntled talent, at the top of their game gone from #WWE. Cody, Wade, Sandow, Drew, Ryback, now ADR. Alarming trend.
With Dixie Carter now reportedly out of the picture, new TNA president and shareholder Billy Corgan says he wants to buy the company outright. Corgan says he wants to run the entire company from top to bottom and improve the culture of the company.
Corgan went on Facebook on Thursday to promote the Delete or Decay segment. He was quick to give full credit to the Hardy brothers and Jeremy Borash for their work on the Final Deletion sequel, Delete or Decay.
Corgan explained that things behind-the-scenes in the company have been very complicated, and he hopes to make the company run smoother and be more successful. Corgan confirmed that he’s currently in charge of the creative team, which consists of Dave Lagana, John Gaburick and Matt Conway.
TNA’s shareholders are currently believed to consist of Corgan, Dixie Carter, and Aroluxe Productions.
ESPN has published an article looking at CM Punk’s upcoming UFC debut. The feature includes quotes from several pro wrestling personalities, including Seth Rollins, Ryback, Paul Heyman and more. Here are some highlights of what they said:
Seth Rollins: “He’s a guy who led the charge for a long time. He’s one of the first indie guys in a long, long time to really shake [up] the main roster in WWE and he paved the way for Daniel Bryan, for myself, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, and those guys…Say what you will about his attitude and his relationship with the company right now, but I wish him the best and I hope that he is successful — win, lose or draw.”
Ryback: “From a basic human being standpoint, he is showing courage doing something the majority of people on this planet will never do and that is step in a cage and fight in front of millions of people. I respect he wants to test himself and has the courage to do so. For that reason alone, while I don’t condone him saying the things he said about me, I want to him do well. Any man can beat another man on any given night, so I just hope he achieves what he is looking for in this and I will leave it at that.”
Paul Heyman: “Any conversation that I had with CM Punk dating back, even when he was still in WWE and was dreaming of getting involved in mixed martial arts, is that he was doing a switchover of careers from becoming a sports entertainer to becoming a full-time, career-oriented mixed martial artist.
Punk will face Mickey Gall (2-0) this Saturday night at UFC 203 from Cleveland, Ohio.
Both men were at Thursday’s UFC 203 media event from Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Here’s footage of their first official stare down:
A lot of people on social media have been commenting on Punk’s appearance. The weight cut has not been very forgiving to Punk and Gall looks a lot healthier at this weight than the former WWE Champion. The weigh-ins take place tomorrow from the Quicken Loans Arena.
WWE has announced the signing of signed seven new recruits from China to developmental contracts. Big Boa, Gu Guangming, Gao Lei, Zhao Xia, Wang Xiaolong, Yifeng and Cheng Yuxiang were all discovered earlier this year during a four-day tryout held in Shanghai and will begin training at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida in January 2017.
The seven new recruits will all attend WWE Live China at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai, Saturday, 10 September and witness history as Bin Wang, from Anhui, makes his WWE in-ring debut against Bo Dallas.
“WWE is dedicated to finding the most talented athletes and entertainers from around the world,” said Triple H, WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “The seven athletes identified at WWE’s first-ever tryout in China will be given the opportunity to train at the WWE Performance Center, in the hopes of becoming the next big WWE Superstar, while also helping to inspire future WWE Superstars and continue the global success of WWE.”
– Big Boa (192cm and 100kg) is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was named the 2016 Brazilian jiu-jitsu China Open Gi/No-Gi champion and represented China at the 2013 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.
– Gu Guangming (203cm and 130kg) is an amateur boxer from Mudanjiang, ranking among the top amateurs in his weight class since 2012. He won the National Men’s Championship in his weight class in 2014.
– Gao Lei (178cm and 145kg) is a champion in various Beijing traditional wrestling promotions and was the team leader of Mongolian University’s wrestling team.
– Zhao Xia (162cm and 62kg) has trained in martial arts and is the co-founder of her own fitness studio. Zhao has multiple first place finishes in various martial arts and fitness competitions including, the Second World Traditional Chinese Wushu Championship, Nike Challenge Competition and First China Throw Down: Battle on the Bund.
– Wang Xiaolong (190cm and 110kg) of Beijing, studied at the Shandong University of Technology and the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy for music production.
– Yifeng (188cm and 108kg) is an actor from Shanghai, and a graduate of the Shanghai Theater Company. Yifeng was most recently featured in the movie Lady and Tiger in 2014.
Cheng Yuxiang (188cm and102.5kg) is an expert level fitness trainer from Beijing, certified by Beijing Zhuo Zhonghua International Fitness Academy. Cheng also participates in various Chinese boxing competitions across the country.
Alberto Del Rio will be holding a press conference on Friday from Mexico City, as first reported by Super Luchas. The former WWE Champion has invited several members of the Mexican to attend.
Del Rio’s legal representatives “gave notice” to WWE on his behalf several months ago that he’ll be opting out of his contract after the first year. With reports circulating that WWE will announce Del Rio’s departure any day now, it seems like we will get the official word tomorrow.
Alberto Del Rio is currently serving a 30-day suspension for his first violation of the talent wellness policy. The deterioration of his relationship with WWE has been well documented in recent months.
There has been a lot of speculation regarding what’s next for Alberto Del Rio after he leaves WWE. Whether it’s a run in TNA, a return to Mexico or elsewhere, El Patron will have no problem keeping his schedule full.
– WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens was Michael Cole’s guest for this week’s WWE.com sit down interview. Owens said he’s not worried about defending his title against Seth Rollins at Clash of Champions because Seth has been a failure since returning from knee surgery. It also doesn’t matter if Roman Reigns is added to the match. Regarding Triple H essentially handing him the Universal Championship by interfering in the Fatal 4 Way match last week, Owens says he had no idea what Triple H had planned, but he made the right decision.
– Bobby Roode vs. No Way Jose has been announced for next week’s NXT episode.
– The Rock has posted his first YouTube Q&A video, seen below. The Great One does not answer any WWE questions but responds to a few trolls.
– JBL arranged for the European Rugby Champions Cup winners, the Saracens Rugby Club, to receive a custom WWE Championship replica at Wednesday’s WWE house show in London. Below are photos of the team:
– After premiering back on 7/16, “The Josh Mathews Show” has already been dropped by ESPN Radio. The one-hour daily sports radio program aired on 1025 The Game in Nashville.
– Billy Corgan is now running TNA, but creative is largely being done by John Gaburick with writers Matt Conway and David Lagana. The current storyline with The Hardys is being booked by Matt.
– It appears Ethan Carter III has signed a new TNA contract. Indy promoters that have worked with Carter were recently told by him that they need to go through the TNA offices from now on. The company has been trying to get Ethan and other top stars to sign a new deal that would allow the company to book outside indy dates. He will face Lashley for the World Heavyweight Championship on 10/2 at Bound for Glory in Orlando.
Information from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter was used in this report. Visit f4wonline.com for subscription information.
– The 9/6 edition of SmackDown Live drew 2,454,000 viewers, down from last week’s 2,835,000 viewers. This was the least-watched episode of SmackDown since the show went live and moved to Tuesday nights back in July.
– As noted yesterday, the main event of last night’s WWE live event from London saw Kevin Owens retain the Universal Championship against Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn in a triple threat match. The following video has surfaced of a nasty bump Seth Rollins took during the match. Rollins overshot a dive to the outside and landed on the ringside guard rail. You can see the referee immediately go to check on Seth, who jumped up and showed that he was just fine. He probably could have sold the crazy bump a little more, but thankfully it was just a close call.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKEsLJBDBcx/
– Finn Balor has checked as he begins his long road to recovery from shoulder surgery. The former WWE Universal Champion will be out of action until early 2017.
The quarterfinals of the WWE Cruiserweight Classic wrapped on last night’s episode with TJ Perkins beating Rich Swann and Zack Sabre Jr. beating Noam Dar.
Sabre will go up against Gran Metalik and Perkins will face Kota Ibushi in the semi-finals on next Wednesday’s live two-hour WWE Network special from Full Sail.
Here’s a preview for next week’s live finale and post-match backstage videos from this week’s episode:
Another Attitude Era star is returning to WWE in a behind-the-scenes role. Former WWE Tag Champion Scotty 2 Hotty, real name Scott Garland, has officially signed on to coach trainees at the WWE Performance Center. Garland first began working at the Performance Center on a part-time basis as a guest coach, and has now graduated to a full-time position.
He made several one-off returns in the last 10 years for WWE, including on 2014’s Old School RAW and again that year on NXT Arrival. Garland stayed in shape and worked as a firefighter during his time away from WWE.
Not only Cody Rhodes working for TNA and ROH this year, he’s headed to Japan to work at least one date – a match with NJPW star Katsuyori Shibata. Cody has also received indy offers to work with TNA star Aron Rex (Damien Sandow) due to their past in WWE, but he’s currently focused on working with wrestlers he’s never worked with before. Cody is still looking to work with names on “The List” he published several months back but he is not looking to sign with any promotion.
There’s still no word on when Cody will start with TNA but he starts working multiple ROH dates in December. As noted, Rhodes is planning on working for both promotions without a contract for either. He would be the first wrestler to pull that off. In ROH, he’s hoping to work with Adam Cole while he’s interested in working a program with wife Brandi against Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis in TNA. Rhodes and Bennett recently worked together for Northeast Wrestling in New York.
Cody is also focused on trying to make it as a TV actor. He told Dave Meltzer at PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles last weekend that he hopes the recent “Arrow” role he filmed will turn into a recurring role.
While Cody is planning on working both ROH and TNA TV, he will not be able to use the Rhodes name at this point. He continues to have talks with WWE, so that could change. The situation is that Cody has worked for WWE since the start of his career and never used the name anywhere else before that. On the other hand, the Rhodes name goes back 50 years in pro wrestling, long before WWE ever used it.
Paige’s WWE future is said to be up in the air right now, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. While also dealing with injuries, she is still serving a 30-day suspension for her first violation of the WWE Wellness Policy and is under contract for a few more years. However, the circumstances surrounding her relationship with Alberto Del Rio (and his departure from the company) are fueling she won’t be coming back.
We noted last week via MLW Radio’s “MSL & Sullivan” podcast that WWE’s Mark Carrano approached Paige and Del Rio individually and harassed them about the relationship. It was indicated that the office wanted them to end the relationship, which is why they were split up in the WWE Draft. It was also reported that the company threatened to fire Paige if she didn’t break up with Del Rio. WWE is denying they harassed Del Rio and Paige about their relationship. Apparently there is also a claim going around that Del Rio called Carrano to address the subject, but Carrano just went silent during the conversation.
For what it’s worth, Paige has retained legal representation ahead of potential legal action.
It’s expected WWE will be announcing Del Rio’s departure any time now.
Posted September 8th, 2016 in News, WWE. Tagged: Paige.
Jeremy Borash appeared on Wrestling Observer Live this week and said tonight’s “Delete or Decay” match with The Hardys and Reby Sky vs. Abyss, Rosemary and Crazzy Steve will not be the Final Deletion Part 2 because it will be a very different match. Borash also called it the first battle in the great war that leads to The Hardys vs. The Decay for the TNA Tag Team Championships at Bound For Glory on 10/2.
Tonight’s Impact on POP will also feature a big announcement from President Billy Corgan, Jade & Gail Kim vs. Sienna & Allie and a BFG press conference with Ethan Carter III and World Champion Lashley. Here’s a teaser for the press conference:
– Shelton Benjamin underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn rotator cuff. The injury prevented Benjamin from returning to WWE this summer and will keep him out of action for the remainder of 2016. The rotator cuff tear was discovered while he was undergoing his WWE medical evaluation.
Surgery complete. Back home. Still loopy. Happy the healing process in finally underway.
– Tough Enough star Mandy Rose may be looking to start her first feud with Ember Moon after taking a shot at the former Athena during last night’s NXT episode. Mandy tweeted after Ember defeated an enhancement talent last night:
This is who U people like??@WWEEmberMoon Some weird X-Men wannabe! Well this is what a REAL #NXT woman looks like!? pic.twitter.com/q6ruCVKEDI
Sasha Banks’ promo from Monday’s RAW where she teased “bad news” about her in ring future did not sit well with a lot of the talent backstage, according to the Wrestling Observer. It sounds like most of the heat is on the company for scripting the promo, not Sasha Banks herself.
In light of the career-ending injuries sustained by guys like Daniel Bryan, Edge and Tyson Kidd, Sasha Banks teasing that her back injury was very serious came off as tasteless. All three are very well liked, with Bryan and Edge’s retirement speeches playing off real-life emotions and their lifelong dreams coming to an end.
There were some comparisons to made to Mark Henry’s fake retirement angle, but that was not based on a life-threatening injury.
Sasha Banks returns to action at WWE Clash of Champions when she challenges Charlotte for the Women’s Championship. During RAW, Charlotte responded to Sasha’s “bad news” promo:
That's not bad news… I look forward to beating you again, but this time, I'll put you out for good ? @SashaBanksWWE #BowDown#Raw
EVOLVE announced on Wednesday that Joey Styles has joined the company and will be assuming a unique new “authority figure” role. The latest WWN Alerts states, “At this point in time, Joey wants to cement his legacy in wrestling. In order to do that, he is going to share his knowledge on EVOLVE events with the goal of making EVOLVE a better place.”
Joey Styles has been given the “go ahead” to interject himself at EVOLVE live events when he feels he can make the show better for the wrestlers and the fans. EVOLVE clarified “this isn’t a typical commissioner or GM role,” which hopefully means he won’t be turning heel any time soon.
“It’s about Joey paving a legacy of unselfishly giving back to the pro wrestling business and the fans.”
Styles’ new role with the promotion begins this Saturday at EVOLVE 68 and Sunday at EVOLVE 69.
WWE is currently overseas for a live events tour that includes stops in London, Manila on Friday and China on Saturday. The following are results from Wednesday night’s show at London’s O2 Arena, courtesy of Reddit user Wrestlie.
It’s worth noting that a few fans mentioned on social media that no merchandise was being sold for Universal Champion Kevin Owens, Sasha Banks, Sami Zayn or Chris Jericho. Lots of John Cena and Roman Reigns merchandise, although Cena wasn’t even there.
The New Day defeated Gallows and Anderson to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championships. Xavier interfered to help the New Day get the win.
Neville defeated Bo Dallas w/ Curtis Axel.
Braun Strowman beat Goldust by submission in a squash.
Big Show defeated the Shining Stars a 2-on-1 match.
Cesaro beat Sheamus in a very good match, bringing the score of their Best of 7 series to 3-1.
WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte beat Sasha Banks to retain. Charlotte reversed the Bank Statement into a pin to win.
Roman Reigns beat Chris Jericho.
WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins the triple threat main event. Check out this video from the finish, courtesy of Emma Blackery:
This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW, with Roman Reigns taking on Kevin Owens in the main event, drew 2.69 million viewers – down from last week’s 3.069M on Labor Day.
The first hour drew 2.833 million viewers, the second hour drew 2.717 million viewers and the final hour drew 2.520 million viewers.
RAW ranked sixth in viewership behind NFL airings, SportsCenter, Major Crimes, The O’Reilly Factor, and The Kelly File., and #5 in the 18-49 demographic, behind the NFL, SportsCenter and Love & Hip-Hop. The NFL drew more than 23 million viewers on Monday night.
– Dolph Ziggler is back on WWE Main Event this week, just a few weeks after his WWE Championship shot and a few days before his WWE Intercontinental Championship shot. Ziggler faced Aiden English at last night’s Main Event tapings in Lincoln while Jinder Mahal faced Jack Swagger.
– Here are the latest WWE Performance Center Combine videos with Mada benching and Jeet Rama doing chain chin-ups:
– Randy Orton’s backstage promo on Bray Wyatt at last night’s SmackDown didn’t go over well with many fans on social media. Orton had these exchanges with fans on Twitter, calling one of them an assh*le.
– Monday’s Labor Day RAW had 175,000 tweets with 31,000 unique authors on Twitter and 238,000 Facebook interactions with 151,000 unique authors. Both of these are down from the previous week. RAW still ranked #1 among series & specials for the night in Nielsen’s social media TV ratings.
– Ring of Honor star Prince Nana tweeted this photo of Wade Barrett yesterday, teasing a ROH debut for the former WWE Superstar: