Former WWE Women’s Champion Mickie James has been announced as NXT Women’s Champion Asuka’s next contender. The title match is scheduled for 11/19 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. According to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE originally had big plans for another legendary women’s performer – Trish Stratus.

WWE was working on different storyline ideas for the Hall of Famer, but those got knocked off course when Trish announced she and her husband are expecting their second child. Obviously, that rules out her returning to the ring over the next several months.

As of this writing, it’s believed Mickie has only signed on for the match against Asuka. There have been rumors James could be joining the Performance Center as a trainer and her upcoming WWE return makes that even more likely.

Ken Anderson says while his time in TNA was “a blast,” there were almost constant struggles with company management. In a recent conversation with The Interactive Interview, Anderson said that every wrestler on the roster “busted their butts” and performed, and he feels TNA’s problems come solely from management.

“Any problems experienced by the company had nothing to do with the talent. There were times where things were going on behind the scenes where it was a miserable existence,” Anderson said. “Guys were late, maybe 3 months on getting paid. I remember at one time, I was owed for like 30 shows. But, the locker room — Everybody still showed up and put on their happy face. We were there to do a job.”

With TNA facing several lawsuits and the future of the company in question, it’s been reported that WWE has expressed interest in acquiring the company. Anderson says that if WWE does buy TNA, or if TNA “goes away” for any other reason, it will leave a void for fans who want something different. Anderson feels that any potential competitor against WWE should produce an edgier show to fill that void.

“I’ve said this for years and Daivari agrees with me. Everything’s PG now. If somebody comes and makes a program that is geared towards adults, I think wrestling takes off again,” Anderson said “I really do. The idea that men and women go out and fight each other and can’t curse — I’ve never been in a bar fight where there wasn’t 57 curse words slung. […] The most successful shows in the past decade have been extremely edge. Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad… Sometimes we insult people’s intelligence. We go for the lowest common denominator.”

You can listen to Anderson’s entire interview here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muF5ghYUgWM

AJ Styles says he’s unsure if he would like WWE to buy TNA. In a recent interview with The Phoenix New Times, the “face that runs the place” addressed his former place of employment TNA’s questionable future.

“I don’t know. I think that I would love for them (TNA wrestlers) to be them and us to be us,” AJ said of the possibility of WWE acquiring TNA’s roster. “Competition’s a good thing and to see some of my friends maybe losing their jobs, that’s never good. So I would love to see them continue to exist and do so.”

In an interview earlier this week, Styles said we’ll have to be patient to see him in the ring with Shinsuke Nakamura again. When the Phoenix New Times asked about the possibility of defending his World Championship against Nakamura, Styles says Nakamura has a long way to go.

“I think Shinsuke Nakamura’s going to have to work his way up to where I am. I don’t have to work myself to where he is,” Styles said. “I’m the world heavyweight champion. So if he wants a piece of AJ Styles and can find a way of getting onto the SmackDown roster, he can come and get some. It may sound cliché, but he don’t want none. But, would people like to see that matchup? Absolutely. And I would love to give it to them.”

AJ also noted that he would love to see WWE sign The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. You can read the entire interview here.

– John Cena worked last night’s WWE house show in Phoenix and finished up his current WWE run. Cena is off to film the second season of reality competition American Grit. He’s still scheduled for the Survivor Series pay-per-view next month but besides that he’s expected to be off TV until December. Besides Survivor Series on 11/20, Cena’s next scheduled date is the 12/26 Holiday house show.

– WWN Live has announced NXT GM William Regal for the 11/13 EVOLVE 73 event in Joppa, Maryland. Regal will be signing for fans and posing for pictures but may be appearing in the ring as well.

– Jim Ross recently spoke with RockinGodsHouse.com to talk about his 11/9 one-man event in Nashville, Tennessee and had praise for current WWE World Champion AJ Styles and WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. JR commented:

“Well, they got two good champions right now in Kevin Owens and AJ Style–two guys that have had really long careers to even get to the WWE, and now they have had that opportunity in their mid-thirties, and they both have made the most of their time. As I say on my podcast every week: “Maximize their time.” They are doing that, and I think both of those guys are really good.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zYEW9MVyuw

– WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair was on ESPN yesterday as a guest on College GameDay to give his picks. You can watch the full segment with Flair in the video above.

– It looks like former WWE CEO Linda McMahon is rooting for Donald Trump in this year’s United States Presidential election. According to The Washington Post, Linda donated $6 million in August and September to a super PAC supporting Trump’s Presidential campaign. She made five contributions, with the latest being for $1 million on 9/22.

– Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy recently signed a new record deal with Century Media. The former WWE Undisputed Champion announced the signing on Twitter over the weekend.

Proud to announce that we just signed a new record deal with @centurymedia! Get ready for @FOZZYROCK 2017!!

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) October 15, 2016

Emma made her in ring return to WWE at a Smackdown live event this evening, she joined Nikki Bella and Naomi to face Carmella, Alexa Bliss and Natayla. This comes as a surprise since on Raw they have been teasing her return as a new version of herself known as “Emmalina”

No word yet if WWE had a change of heart with her role and which show she would be on or if she is possibly just filling in for Becky Lynch who is out for several weeks due to an undisclosed health issue.

https://twitter.com/crotchstomp/status/787510965604495361

Alberto El Patron is currently in Puerto Rico for a WWC show and tweeted what appears to be details of girlfriend Paige’s neck injury.

Paige, who is currently serving a 60 day suspension from WWE, has been at odds with the company over whether or not she needs neck surgery. Earlier this week, the Wrestling Observer reported that WWE does not feel her injury requires surgery and they’re unwilling to pay for the procedure.

On Saturday, Alberto tweeted the following, noting “they say she’s not hurt.” Based on the Observer report, WWE isn’t denying Paige is dealing with an injury, but their doctors have determined surgery is not required.  As more details of Paige’s rift with WWE are made public by her and Alberto, it becomes increasingly less likely a resolution will be reached any time soon.

Hmm ?interesting and they say she's not hurt… pic.twitter.com/6rr7e5Ob6r

— Alberto El Patron (@PrideOfMexico) October 15, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7endf6T_iHA

It was extensively reported this week by David Bixenspan that TNA currently owes money to several different parties. Billy Corgan, Audience of One Productions, Aroluxe Media, Anthem Sports, and MCC Acquisitions all say TNA owes them substantial amounts of money.

According to a report from Nate Rau of the Tennessean newspaper, the total amount TNA officially owes to Aroluxe, Anthem, and MCC is listed at $3.4 million. That doesn’t include any money owed to Billy Corgan, Audience of One Productions, or the state of Tennessee.

News hit the web this week that Corgan and Audience of One Productions both filed lawsuits against the company. David Bixenpsan exclusively reported on Thursday that Dixie Carter also personally owes money to Billy Corgan, and on Friday reported that TNA is facing a tax lien in Tennessee.

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

Former WWE performer and trainer Bill DeMott recently took part in an interview with PlanetaWrestling where he names his time working with Triple H in NXT as the greatest time in his career. DeMott feels that working with the talent in NXT was his greatest accomplishment.

“There is no denying what [Triple H] and NXT are doing is successful,” DeMott said

Demott was a trainer for the third season of WWE’s Tough Enough reality show back in 2002, and ended up landing head trainer positions at several developmental territories. DeMott was a trainer on Tough Enough during the seasons that brought us John Morrison, The Miz, and Ryback.

“I was so grateful for the first opportunity to coach on Tough Enough, it turned into the biggest part of my career and I was part of the most successful shows WWE ever did,” DeMott said. “I am truly proud of everyone that competed, because win or lose I spent every day with them and know what they went through.”

DeMott was the head coach of NXT while Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Neville were all there, and says they are changing the face of the industry now on the WWE roster. He says he’s particularly proud of those three, and gets a “nervous energy” when he sees how well they’re doing on TV.

DeMott resigned from WWE in March of 2015 following accusations of misconduct and abuse by several ex-trainees. DeMott denies the allegations.

• Bill DeMott Breaks His Silence Regarding WWE Resignation, Rants About Entitled Millennials

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mQkNSXF37c

A number of lawsuits against TNA came to light this week including one filed by Billy Corgan, as was extensively covered by David Bixenspan. Corgan had funded some television tapings this year under the belief that he would be buying the company, but Dixie ended up not selling to him. The lawsuit was filed after Corgan asked for his money back since Dixie wouldn’t sell to him, and they didn’t pay.

In an update on this from Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reports that “there’s fraud involved in the lawsuit,” in addition to the money owed.

“[Billy Corgan] not being told of certain financial things and information withheld by Dixie Carter to Corgan that he should have known,” Meltzer said.

There’s a preliminary hearing scheduled for next week in Nashville and the lawsuit may be unsealed. Impact was almost pulled from Pop TV this week due to a music clearance issue, and the show was their least-viewed episode since the company’s early days on Fox Sports 1.

Seth Rollins did a live Q&A on Facebook on Thursday night and talked about using the move Triple H made famous for his finisher. Rollins said that he started using The Pedigree as a tribute to Triple H, but now his character uses it to spite The Game. Rollins (in-character) also took the opportunity to take a few personal shots at the 14-time World Champion.

“He thinks he can stick it to me by anointing Kevin Owens as the new guy? There is no replacement for Seth Rollins,” he said. “So, every single pedigree from now until I drop Triple H on his big, stupid nose, that’s gonna mean something, that’s gonna mean something. That’s me sticking it to the man, sticking it to Triple H. So no, no new finisher, not until I’m done with Triple H.”

On his plans for the future, Rollins says he’d like to face Samoa Joe at some point. Rollins says that he and Joe have grown as performers since their matches prior to joining WWE, and thinks they would “tear the house down” now.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the ring with Joe,” he said. “I think we’ve both grown a lot as performers, and I think we’d actually tear the house down. Hopefully once Joe’s done with his stuff in NXT he can come make his way up here and we can have a good fight.”

You can watch Rollins’ entire Facebook Q&A session here.

Former WWE World Champion Sheamus recently sat down with The Mirror in the UK to promote the RAW brand, and revealed his two favorite opponents so far in WWE since his 2009 debut. Sheamus says that he loved his best-of-seven series with Cesaro, and the only other person who was “as physical” as Cesaro was current SmackDown personality Daniel Bryan.

“We wrestled a ton of times, on TV and off TV,” Sheamus said of Cesaro. “I love wrestling him. The competition between me and him is great. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks since Mick Foley put us together as a team. We’ve had a lot of fun.”

Regarding the WWE World Championship or Universal Championship, Sheamus says he’s “done all that sort of stuff,” and is now exploring his character more in the tag team division. Sheamus said his run in the League of Nations didn’t give him a chance to delve into his character or bounce off each other, which he feels he’s doing with Cesaro now.

Sheamus’ last WWE World Title run lasted 22 days, and he lost the belt to Roman Reigns. Sheamus feels that he was doing a good job as a heel by getting the fans to stop booing Reigns, and at the time thought he had more life in his World Title run.

“Do I feel like I could have gone a lot longer with this? Absolutely, I kind of felt like my legs were cut from underneath me,” he told the Mirror. “To be honest. I felt like I was really starting to get some steam, to get some momentum. But ultimately my job was to get Roman back to where he needed to be with the fans behind him and as a heel I was able to do that. Which was for me I guess a special moment.”

You can read his entire interview on Mirror.co.uk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79WRihHZRP0

It’s been a week full of bad news for TNA, and it’s not over yet. This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling was watched by 284,000 viewers, which makes it the least-watched show since moving to Pop TV. In fact, this may be the least-watch episode since the company’s early days on Fox Sports 1.

Thursday nights episode placed at #146 on the Cable Top 150 rankings for the night on ShowbuzzDaily.

Impact Wrestling switched from Tuesday nights to Thursday nights on Pop TV in an effort to avoid head-to-head competition with SmackDown, and regain some of their old Thursday night viewership.

• Exclusive: Who Funded TNA’s Latest Tapings, Dixie Owes Corgan Money

WWE star Mark Henry is currently making the rounds to promote their upcoming video game WWE 2K17. In one recent promotional interview for the game, Henry addressed the issue of his television time being diminished. Henry says that he’s happy in his current role in the company, and seems optimistic about his future there.

“My role is, a lot of times, behind the camera,” Henry said. “We’ll be seeing what happens here in a little bit, I think everybody will be pleasantly surprised.”

As far as retirement goes, he says he hopes to go out with an “honorable death,” but isn’t sure who he would want his final opponent to be. One of the most memorable career highlights for Henry was his fake retirement segment with John Cena in the Summer of 2013. Henry says that angle is so popular that he still hears people referring to fake retirements as “a Mark Henry.”

“I didn’t think it would be to that degree,” Henry said of the reaction to his 2013 fake retirement. “I had professional athletes and wrestlers that I had never met before call, I don’t know how people go my number, but I guess they felt it was safe for that person to call me and say ‘hey man, you had a great career, and an even better jacket.’ I guess the The Big Show was probably the best. He left me a voice message saying that he was gonna kill me, that he was sitting on the couch with his wife crying, and ‘that’s how you do me. You used me and that’s how you use my feeling’ and I was like ‘ahh, my bad’.”

Mark Henry also talks about his favorite wrestlers to come from NXT in the full interview, which you can watch here.

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Ric Flair says that his daughter Charlotte has moves we’ve never seen before to debut in her upcoming Hell In A Cell match against Sasha Banks. The 16-time World Champion says Charlotte isn’t afraid of anything and plans on making a statement at the pay-per-view.

“There is no talking her out of it. You didn’t see me do any moonsaults off the top of a cage, but she has something really special in mind for the cage,” Flair said.

The Nature Boy also indicates that he feels Charlotte’s performances have improved since she fired him on-air. Another change since Flair left TV is that SmackDown now airs live, which he says makes the show better.

“The pressure of being on live TV is good for you,” said Flair. “It takes you a while to get used to it, but she’s got it down now. The fact that both shows are live makes the product better because the people have got to be on top of it. There is no margin for error, and she’s responded to that pressure. No one gets it on day one, but ever since she’s fired ‘The Man,’ she’s had it going on.”

You can read Flair’s entire interview at SI.com. Hell In A Cell 2016 takes place on October 30th at the TD Garden in Boston, MA, with live coverage & discussion here on SEScoops.com at 7:30 PM ET.

TNA’s financial issues are even more dire than previously thought, as unlikely as that may sound. We already knew that there are multiple lawsuits pending, a restraining order believed to be designed to stop the company from selling shares again, a dispute over music rights, and debt owed to various entities who funded the recent tapings. Yet there is still plenty of room for more.

On Friday morning, I confirmed with the Davidson County Register of Deeds that the State of Tennessee issued a tax lien against TNA Entertainment LLC about five weeks ago on September 8th. While the listing for the lien in some online databases has the debt recorded as “$0,” that is because some public record search companies misread the Register of Deeds not recording the amount of the lien.

Essentially, what this means is that TNA owes a lot of taxes to the state of Tennessee, to the point that the state now has the right to seize TNA property if the debt is not repaid. While the wrestling company is now operating under the newer Impact Ventures LLC company that was formed this year, Tennessee tax law covers successor companies. If someone actually buys the company, potential scenarios include TNA/majority owner Dixie Carter having to take a lower sale price so as to pay off the lien, or the new owners risking the scenario where Tennessee goes after them for the tax liability.

It’s up to the state whether or not to assert its rights and start seizing assets from TNA. While the restructuring as Impact Ventures LLC increases the distance from the original debt and thus requires more work by the state to collect, it can still do so. Tennessee would just have to assess a lien against Impact Ventures and, if it got that far, a buyer as well. However, the state cannot go after a successor for more than the purchase price.

In addition to this coming Monday’s WWE RAW from Denver, CO, Bill Goldberg is being advertised for several more upcoming WWE live events. Hartford, CT’s XL Center is advertising Goldberg will be “step into a WWE ring” on Monday, October 31st for the post-Hell in a Cell edition of WWE RAW.

https://twitter.com/xlcenter/status/786928981782167552

Goldberg is also advertised for the November 14th episode of WWE RAW from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY. This is the final episode before the 11/20 Survivor Series pay-per-view in Toronto, where Goldberg is expected to face Brock Lesnar.

It’s possible that contracted TNA talents will become free agents next week due to a breach of contract, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. The story is that TNA may not have received enough funding to pay talents and pay for the recent Impact Wrestling tapings in Orlando. If they don’t have enough to pay talents this weekend, which is supposed to be a pay period, then that would force a breach of contract and essentially create a bunch of free agents. Meltzer reports that some talents are prepared to declare themselves free agents next week if they aren’t paid.

In other negative news for TNA, last night’s Impact on POP was almost pulled due to a music rights issue. There was a point earlier in the day where POP almost had to pull the show but the issue was settled and they ended up nixing the theme songs for Mike Bennett and DJZ. PWInsider reports that this was not related to the Corgan lawsuit.

Source: Wrestling Observer Radio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q33CPtWmqNw

After just one fight, it looks like CM Punk’s UFC career is over.

UFC President Dana White appeared on FS1 this week and commented on Punk’s future in the company.

“Is CM Punk going to be a guy who is going to stay in the UFC and continue to fight? Probably not, but he wanted to try it. I like the guy. I respect the guy. He wanted to fight in the UFC. He wanted to do it. He trained for two years, and he did it.”

Punk made his MMA debut back on 9/23 at UFC 203 and lost to Mickey Gall in the first round. He stated then that he was hoping to fight again.

For the latest MMA news and details on Ronda Rousey’s return to UFC on December 30th, make sure to check out our partner site, MMANews.com.

Chris Jericho has revealed “The List” this week via Facebook post. The gimmick has been a big hit with WWE fans since it was debuted last month.

The List includes Seth Rollins, RAW GM Mick Foley, RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day and others. Are you on THE LIST ?

THE LIST OF JERICHO

– MICK FOLEY >>> SCREWING OVER Y2J, Y2JS BEST FRIEND KEVIN OWENS AND THE ENTIRE SHOW, TERRIBLE FASHION SENSE

– WWE FAN IN MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

“LIST OF STUPID IDIOTS”

* ENZO AMORE AND BIG CASS
* THE SHINING STARS
* THE NEW DAY
* THE CLUB (GALLOWS AND ANDERSON)

– THE CAMERAMAN DURING HIGHLIGHT REEL WITH KO >>> WRONG SIDE TO SHOOT

– ENZO AMORE AND BIG CASS (END TIME) >>> INTERRUPTING Y2J AND KO

– SETH ROLLINS >>> INJURED AGAIN

– KOFI KINGSTON >>> QUESTIONING Y2J AND KO’S FRIENDSHIP

– BIG E >>> NOT ALLOWING Y2J TO THE CHAMPION’S HUDDLE

– XAVIER WOODS >>> LAUGHING

– XAVIER WOODS – MAKING JOKE OF Y2J’S BEST FRIEND KEVIN OWENS

– ASHTON KUTCHER & DANNY MASTERSON – SHOWING UP IN LOS ANGELES

Following last night’s NXT TV tapings from Full Sail University, below is the updated card for the 11/19 TakeOver: Toronto event:

* Shinsuke Nakamura defends the NXT Championship against Samoa Joe

* Asuka defends the NXT Women’s Championship against Mickie James

* The finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

* Bobby Roode vs. Tye Dillinger

As noted, former ROH Champion Roderick Strong made his NXT debut last night.

In the video above, Strong talks to Charly Caruso and says the real question is how excited is everyone else for him to be here. Strong says Roddy vs. The World starts now and that every NXT Superstar can expect to fall one by one. Strong is wished good luck but he says luck is for losers.

WWE also issued this announcement on Strong’s arrival:

Roderick Strong debuts in NXT

ORLANDO, Fla. — Roderick Strong has arrived in NXT, and he’s ready to break some backs.

The independent wrestling scene standout and former world champion, known as “The Messiah of the Backbreaker,” made his debut between the yellow ropes Thursday at a taping of the WWE Network show at Full Sail University.

Strong’s surprise arrival continues to show that NXT is the premier destination for the hottest free agents in sports-entertainment.

For more on Strong’s debut in NXT, stick with WWE.com and tune into WWE NXT every Wednesday at 8/7 C on WWE Network.

Former WWE star Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne) was arrested in Japan for possession of liquid marijuana for an e-cigarette back on 9/23 while entering the country via Kansai Airport in Osaka Bay, according to Nikkan Sports. He was convicted on 10/13 but there are no details on his punishment yet.

This likely means the end of Sydal’s career in Japan, which has extremely tough laws on marijuana.

Sydal missed New Japan dates last month and noted online that he had an issue at the border, and would have to stay in Hawaii. The arrest indicates that Sydal never left Japan.

Back in 2012, Sydal was involved in a car wreck that completely mangled his foot. Friends have said he lives in a constant state of pain and it’s amazing he can walk, let alone perform his high-flying in-ring style.

https://twitter.com/findevan/status/780190057265192961
https://twitter.com/findevan/status/780191231137624064
https://twitter.com/findevan/status/781561750852214789

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mQkNSXF37c

In the new lawsuit filed by Audience of One Productions against TNA, there’s a note about how the debt that TNA (technically the Impact Ventures parent company) owes Aroluxe Media is on file with the Tennessee Secretary of State. If you look up Impact Ventures in the relevant database, you get three debts registered by the company:

• Both the previous TNA Entertainment and the newer Impact Ventures owing Aroluxe Media as of March 14th, the debut noted above.
• Impact Ventures owing Anthem Sports and Entertainment Corp., one of the parent companies of The Fight Network, as of August 22nd, which had been previously reported.
• Impact Ventures owing MCC Acquisition Corp. (shares the same address, down to the suite, as Anthem and numerous other related companies) as of September 30th, the Friday before Bound For Glory and the latest batch of TV tapings. This is the new one, and it sure looks like they funded the latest batch of shows.

It’s been difficult to find any information on MCC Acquisition Corp, but everything else at their address (171 East Liberty Street, Suite 230 in Toronto) is related to Anthem/The Fight Network in some form. There are a couple companies involved that “MCC” could stand for, though it could just be a new shell created for this transaction.  Why the latest round of funding wouldn’t have gone through Anthem again is unclear, and if it was for secrecy, they didn’t do the best job of covering their tracks.

However, this gets a LOT more interesting.

When you search for Dixie Carter (who is legally Dixie Carter Salinas, her married name), you get this, which was filed Tuesday morning (October 11th):

Yes, as of Tuesday, Dixie Carter officially owes Billy Corgan money personally.

The address given for Corgan appears to be that of the offices of Smashing Pumpkins Machine, his company. A day later, on Wednesday, as reported earlier today (Thursday), Corgan sued Impact Ventures, TNA Entertainment, TNA COO and CFO Dean Broadhead, Dixie Carter Salinas, and her husband Serg Salinas. Being that everything filed so far in the lawsuit is sealed from public view, we can’t be 100% sure what this is about yet, but the two issues sure look like they’re related.

I have reached out to Dixie Carter’s known email addresses as well as TNA proper for comment, and will update this article if she replies.

Kris Zellner also contributed to this report.

Below are spoilers from tonight’s NXT tapings at Full Sail:

10/19 Episode:

* Rich Swann and No Way Jose defeated Tony Nese and Drew Gulak in a first round Dusty Classic match. After the match, Swann & Jose cut a promo on The Authors of Pain

* Bobby Roode defeated Sean Maluta. After the match, Roode cuts a promo saying he and Tye Dillinger have a match at Takeover. Dillinger comes out and they brawl

* Backstage promo with Liv Morgan. She gets jumped and laid out by Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, who put the division on notice

* Austin Aries and Roderick Strong defeated Tucker Knight and Otis Bogojevic in a first round Dusty Classic match. Strong got a big pop for his debut

* Nikki Cross w/ Sanity defeated Danielle Kamella. Nikki beats on Danielle after the match and they announce the referee has reversed his decision due to excessive violence

* Shinsuke Nakamura is out for a promo on Samoa Joe but is interrupted by Patrick Clark. Nakamura destroys him and Samoa Joe runs out but retreats. Nakamura leaves Patrick laying

10/26 Episode:

* Ciampa and Gargano defeated Tian Bing and HoHo Lun in a first round Dusty Classic match

* Aliyah defeated Billie Kay. Billie and Peyton attack Liv until Aliyah makes the save but the faces still get beat down

* TJ Perkins and Kota Ibushi defeated Lince Dorado and Mustafa Ali in the final first round Dusty Classic match

* Tye Dillinger defeated Noah Potjes. Roode lays Tye out after the match

10/2 Episode:

* Ember Moon defeated Rachael Evers in a quick match

* Before DIY vs. The Revival in a Dusty Classic match, Scott Dawson comes out on crutches and says he’s suffered a severe knee injury. DIY will be advancing in the tournament due to the injury. The Authors of Pain show up and attack DIY but end up retreating

* Elias Samson sings a song as he returns to huge heat. He then squashes Nathan Cruz

10/9 Episode:

* Liv Morgan defeated Peyton Royce by DQ when Billie jumped Liv. Aliyah hits the ring for the save but the faces are overpowered again. Ember Moon comes out for the save and celebrates with Liv and Aliyah

* Almas defeated Cedric Alexander

* Regal introduces Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe for the contract signing It ends with both men refusing to sign the contract and arguing with Regal. Nakamura attacks security and puts one of them through a table, powerbombs another and then signs the contract

* Sanity defeated Kota Ibushi and TJP in the quarterfinals of the Dusty Classic