On Sunday, f4wonline broke the news that Chris Hero is returning to WWE soon, “barring any last minute changes.” We recently heard Hero was undergoing his WWE medical exams and Ryan Satin followed up with a report stating he’d most likely be returning to NXT using his previous Kassius Ohno moniker. Hero has since responded to the reports with this tweet:
I can't help but to be disappointed by irresponsible journalism.
WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s Monday Night RAW from Philadelphia, PA at the Wells Fargo Center:
– The New Day looks to make history and become the longest reigning tag team champions in WWE history. They’ll put the gold on the line against Gallows & Anderson and Cesaro & Sheamus in a triple threat match.
– Emma returns to WWE TV under a new persona, Emmalina.
– The road continues for Sasha Banks and Charlotte ahead of their 30-minute Iron Man match for the RAW Women’s Championship at Roadblock.
– Is the Bromance over for Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens?
– How will Enzo Amore and Big Cass react to the setup and beatdown last week by Rusev and Lana?
– Sami Zayn continues to campaign for a match against Braun Stroman.
– Final hype for Sunday’s WWE Roadblock PPV.
Join us here later tonight for our weekly WWE RAW Results & Live Coverage.
This past weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC saw strong viewership with WWE Superstar John Cena as host. Deadlinereports SNL featuring John Cena drew a 4.8 live plus same-day rating and 2.3 in the 18-49 demo.
This was the best viewership for SNL since the post-Presidential election show back on November 12th, hosted by Dave Chappelle and featuring musical guests A Tribe Called Quest. That episode did a 6.2 live plus same-day and a 3.9 in the 18-49 demo.
Cena’s episode was up from the previous week (4.4, 2.1) and up from the episode that aired exactly one year ago (3.8, 1.8).
The latest drama in the life of Alberto El Patron is some pretty serious business, in the form of a locker room fight that’s led to him being public enemy number one tonight in the lucha libre-oriented circles of social media. The Twitter account of Luchablog was the first English-speaking reporter to cover what happened in a post using the Twitlonger extended tweet service.
Alberto and Paige were at tonight’s IWRG card at Mexico’s Arena Naucalpan, where his brother was wrestling in the main event. In the locker room, Alberto encountered IWRG wrestler Rafy (as in Raphael of the Ninja Turtles, formerly Alan Xtreme). Alberto thought Rafy either touched him or touched Paige in some form, and they immediately started exchanging punches. It got so wild that they brawled into the hallway adjacent to the fan entrance to the building, with plenty of fans witnessing the fight. It was readily apparent that the much smaller Rafy’s face was badly marked up, though whether Alberto got out unscathed is unknown at this moment.
According to Alfredo Esparza of LuchaWorld, Alan is in “bad shape, but stable condition.” LuchaBlog’s proper blog post covering the fight added the detail that Alberto and Paige were drinking during the card while watching from the owner’s box.
The fight is the talk of “Lucha Facebook” right now. Notably, one screen grab going around Twitter right now (original post here) shows the wrestler better known as AK-47 of the Los Oficiales trio, who has a behind the scenes role in IWRG, threatening legal action while blasting Alberto for “nearly killing” another wrestler:
Update: Ninja Turtle Rafy posted an update on his Facebook page confirming that he and Alberto were involved in a fight, punches were thrown but he’s ok.
Tortuga Ninja Rafy update from his facebook page. He said Alberto & him had a fight, threw punches, he's okay. Move on. @luchablogpic.twitter.com/DVcOPobU6k
Chris Hero will be returning to WWE soon, according to Dave Meltzer of f4wonline.com.
Hero has been a standout performer on the independent scene since his release from NXT back in late 2013, where he worked as Kassius Ohno. He wrestled for Evolve and Beyond Wrestling this weekend and gave somewhat of a ‘farewell’ speech at Saturday night’s Evolve show.
The 36-year-old is rumored to be returning to the NXT brand.
Ahead of Thursday’s big Total Nonstop Deletion special, Broken Matt Hardy promises “real change” is coming to Impact Wrestling – and a major battle in the “Great War” has already been won. Hardy also took a few digs at WWE over the weekend, referencing 3-hour shows being a chore to watch and the company not allowing teams like The New Day compete in the big tag team Apocalypto match.
TNA is about to be without a television home in the United Kingdom, with tonight’s show being the last regularly scheduled edition of Impact Wrestling on Challenge TV. With Total Non-Stop Deletion airing this week, that sounds like a cause for concern for U.K. fans, but it’s not quite as bad as it sounds. Total Non-Stop Deletion will be airing, but on a few week delay, according to a post on Challenge’s website. Here’s how the end of TNA on Challenge has been laid out:
December 11th at 9:00 p.m. GMT (already in progress as of this writing) is the show that aired on December 8th in the U.S.
December 11th at 11:00 p.m. GMT is the latest One Night Only special.
December 18th at 9:00 p.m. GMT is TNA’s Best of 2016 special.
December 31st at 9:00 a.m. GMT will be two episodes of Xplosion back to back.
January 1st at 9:00 p.m. GMT will be the debut of what Challenge calls “TNA Hardy Brothers special” but is presumably the U.K. premier of Total Non-Stop Deletion, which airs this Thursday (December 15th) in the United States.
Since the announcement of Challenge cancelling TNA, there has been zero buzz about a new deal. Along with the promotion’s TV deals in Canada, India, and South Africa, Challenge was one of just a few networks paying TNA significant rights fees.
Here are the results from EVOLVE 74, the show took place in New York City’s La Boom venue:
Drew Gulak defeated Jaka via the submission (Dragon Sleeper).
DUSTIN b. Chris Dickinson via pinfall.
Brian Cage defeated Darby Allen via countout when Cage threw Allen out into the crowd.
Cody Rhodes beat Ethan via pitfall after hitting his Crossrhodes finisher.
Jeff Cobb defeated Matt Riddle. After the match, Stokely Hathaway invited Cobb to be a part of the Dream Team but Cobb refused, rather opting for a shot at the Evolve Championship instead which is held by Timothy Thatcher.
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Catch Point (Fred Yehi & Tracy Williams) defeated Peter Kaasa & Ricochet via crossface submission.
Dick Togo def. Chris Hero by pinfall with the diving senton.
Here are the results from New Japan’s World Tag League final that took place in the Sekisui Haim Super Arena in Miyagi:
Ryusuke Taguchi & David Finlay b. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV – Finlay took the pinfall victory over Tiger Mask
Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi b. Manabu Nakanishi & Henare – Yujiro hit the Pimp Juice on Henare to secure the victory for his team
Yoshitatsu & Billy Gunn b. Chase Owens & BONE SOLDIER – Billy Gunn hit the Fameasser on BONE SOLIDER to take the win in just over 5 minutes
War Machine b. Brian Breaker & Leland Race – Rowe hit the Fallout on Leland Race to secure the win
SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI b. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata – EVIL took the pinfall victory over Kojima after hitting his namesake finisher
Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI b. Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson – Goto hit the GTR on Shibata to take the pinfall victory for his team
Tetsuya Naito & Rush b. Hiroshi Tanahashi & KUSHIDA – Rush hit the Rush Driver on KUSHIDA to take the win, after the match Hiromu Takahashi came out to the ring and laid out KUSHIDA before accepting Naito’s offer to join Los Ingobernables
Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii b. Kenny Omega & Hangman Page – Okada hit the Rainmaker on Page to take the win
World Tag League Final – Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma b. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa – Makabe hit the King Kong Knee Drop on Tanga Loa to secure the win and make Honma/Makabe the first team in New Japan history to win the tournament in consecutive years
15-time world champion John Cena is receiving rave reviews for his first ever hosting gig on NBC’s Saturday Night Live this weekend.
Cena did a monologue segment with Bobby Moynihan and Leslie Jones, then appeared in several segments throughout the night as Donald Trump, Rob Gronkowski, Fabio and more.
Discussion: What did you think of John Cena hosting SNL?
Jerry “The King” Lawler was recently removed from WWE’s RAW pre-show panel, along with Lita. Lawler called in to Memphis radio show Cerrito Live over the weekend to address his departure from the WWE Network-exclusive shows, citing budget cuts as the reason for the change. Lawler said while age was a factor in being replaced by Corey Graves on the USA Network, that wasn’t the case in this change.
Lawler says he was paid the same amount when he switched from SmackDown to the WWE Network pre-shows, and his salary made the pre-shows too expensive to produce. The King noted that his contract is still good until mid-January, and that he expects his next WWE contract to be worth less due to his decreased work schedule.
He told listeners of Cerrito Live that he received a call from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon right after the decision was made to pull him from the pre-show panel. McMahon reportedly told Lawler that he will always have a job in WWE, including hosting duties for the Hall of Fame ceremonies.
Lawler noted that he expects to pick up more WWE Network duties and work on more projects about the history of Memphis wrestling.
TNA’s highly-anticipated Total Nonstop Deletion show featuring “tag teams from all over space and time” airs on Thursday, and Josh Matthews took to Twitter this week to make a very bold statement about the show.
The former WWE and current TNA announcer says that after seeing only 30 seconds of the Total Nonstop Deletion show, he already ranks it above WWE’s biggest annual pay-per-view.
“I’ve seen :30 of #TotalNonstopDELETION and… OH. MY. GOD,” Matthews wrote. “For perspective… It’s better than any wrestlemania I’ve been to or witnessed.”
The episode, airing on December 15th on Pop TV, will feature a “Tag Team Apocalypse” match that Jeremy Borash claims teams under contract to other companies will show up for. The episode is being promoted by Pop TV as the “biggest Impact event of all time,” and will also feature the “in-ring debut” of Matt Hardy’s infant son Maxel.
Booker T has officially announced his plans to run for Mayor of Houston in 2020. The WWE Hall of Famer made the announcement on Saturday night on his Sports Radio 610 show.
“You heard it, 2020 I’m preparing,” he said. “I’m preparing myself to run for mayor of the city.”
Booker discussed his decision on the air with Rhyno, who recently ran for a seat in the Michigan House Of Representatives. Rhyno believes that Booker would be a great Mayor, and thinks the WWE Hall of Famer is “over qualified for the job.”
“Wrestling not only prepares you for life, but it prepares you for positions like that,” Rhyno said. “You feel the emotion from the people, you know what they want. You’ve built yourself from where you were to where you’re at now.”
If successful, Booker T will join Jesse Ventura on the very short list of pro wrestlers who have transitioned to public office.
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair recently opened up about how he wants to be remembered in the wrestling business. During a recent interview with Alex Marvez of SportingNews.com, The Nature Boy said that he hopes the thing will define his legacy the most is his work ethic. Flair felt comfortable saying that he wrked harder than anybody in the wrestling business, and sometimes doing so “under the worst conditions.”
“I never wanted to ever leave the crowd thinking they haven’t gotten their money’s worth,” he said. “Fans still enjoy me and I enjoy them. I am thankful.”
The Nature Boy says he’s fine with his upcoming ESPN 30 For 30 special showing fans his previous personal issues, including domestic and financial problems. He accepts responsibility for his mistakes, and says he doesn’t run away from his past. Flair added that thanks to the WWE Network and YouTube, he’s “doing financially better now than when [he] was wrestling.”
You can read The Nature Boy’s full interview here.
WWE recently released lead managing writer Tom Casiello, who oversaw the RAW and SmackDown writing teams and was a proponent of the Women’s Division overhaul. Casiello took to his Twitter account on Saturday night to address the circumstances of his release, saying that while he was sad to leave the company there was no drama surrounding his release. According to Casiello, the company eliminated the position that he was filling.
“I think the McMahons, despite all their eccentricities and quirks, are AWESOME,” he wrote. “I loved working with them.”
As far as the Women’s Divison goes, Casiello says that while he worked closely with them it was a team effort to revitalize the division. He also credited Vince McMahon for pushing the division, adding that if Vince only does things he wants to.
Casiello noted that he’s lost 12 jobs in his 20 year writing career, and that the release from WWE was business as usual for a writer.
I'm sure there will now be lots of stupidity floating around. So here's my only statement on this, and you can print it, and then I'm…
There have been several reports this year on the backstage tension in WWE between Shane McMahon, and both his sister Stephanie and her husband Triple H. Bret Hart said on his podcast that even he picked up on the tension between them during a backstage visit in May. Hart noted that he feels Vince “loves” the real-life drama between his children.
A new article by Vice has shed some more light on what originally sparked the backstage tension between Shane and Stephanie. Vice claims WWE confirmed to them that there was a “surprise meeting” prior to the launch of NXT when Vince was “on edge” about declining ratings. The 2012 meeting was held at a WWE production office away from the corporate headquarters, and Shane McMahon showed up with his friend, writer James Frey. During the meeting, Shane proposed that he take over the creative team and writers’ meetings, with Frey and his team joining as consultants.
According to the article, when Stephanie found out about the meeting “she went white in the face.” Vice’s source also said that “[Triple H] freaked out” at the news. Vice’s source says at that time, Stephanie and Triple H felt that the company was “theirs” and that Shane was threatening them.
Vice’s article also mentions WWE Executive VP Kevin Dunn, who is one person Stephanie and Triple H don’t have authority over. Dunn is close with Shane, and the article speculates that Dunn would likely push for Shane taking the creative reigns. Dunn is the second highest-paid person in WWE behind Vince, with a 2016 base salary of $909,560.
Vince ended up declining Shane’s offer. A source told Vice that the WWE Chairman still makes the final say on everything that happens in the company, saying that it’s “an insular company run by Vince McMahon.”
– There was a shakeup with WWE creative this week. Dave Meltzer reports that Tom Casiello, the managing lead writer who oversaw both the RAW and SmackDown teams, was let go. Casiello was a strong proponent of women’s wrestling.
– For those keeping score, the championship held by AJ Styles is once again listed as the “WWE Championship” at WWE.com. In recent months it’s been referred to as the WWE World Championship and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
– Lana competed at Friday night’s NXT live event from Winter Haven, FL, defeating Sarah Bridges (Crazy Mary Dobson). Lana worked as a babyface, had new entrance music, danced a lot and was wearing ring gear similar to when she was paired with Dolph Ziggler on WWE TV. According to a correspondent who was at the show, Lana looked good but her inexperience did show at times. Here’s a look at Lana’s match from #NXTWinterHaven:
The Ring of Honor World Championship will once again be defended at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual January 4th Tokyo Dome show.
At Wrestle Kingdom’s 11th iteration, it will be Kyle O’Reilly will be defending his newly won title against the man that he defeated at ROH’s Final Battle: Adam Cole.
Wrestle Kingdom will be available to watch on New Japan’s World Service here.
Cody Rhode’s was officially revealed as the newest member of the Bullet Club at today’s World Tag League finals.
New Japan have already given Cody the moniker of ‘American Nightmare’ and the video package below indicates we’all be seeing him next month at the Wrestle Kingdom Tokyo Dome show.
Since his WWE departure Cody has been in high demand having appeared for number of high profile Independent companies across the world, including TNA Bound For Glory, PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles & ROH’s Final Battle.
This week’s TNA Impact on POP TV drew 303,000 viewers, down from last week’s 338,000 viewers.
The show featured Eddie Edwards defending the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event against Ethan Carter III, Broken Matt Hardy officially declaring Total Nonstop Deletion and more.
Impact ranked #131 on the Cable Top 150 list last night, down from last week’s #128 ranking.
Ricochet makes his long awaited return to the EVOLVE promotion this weekend and to celebrate FloSlam have released his incredible match from EVOLVE 59 against NJPW star Will Ospreay for free on Youtube.
Ricochet/Ospreay had arguably one of the most divisive matches of 2016 when they faced off at New Japan’s Best of The Super Juniors tournament and this match features much of the same spectacular high-flying style.
Did you enjoy the match? Let us know in the comments section below.
The final two EVOLVE shows of 2016 will taking place this weekend. Both shows will be available to watch on the FloSlam.tv network and the cards are as follows:
EVOLVE 74
EVOLVE Tag Team Championship Match
Catch Point of Tracy Williams & Fred Yehi (c) vs. Ricochet & Peter Kaasa
Special Challenge Match
Cody vs. Ethan Page w/ The Gatekeepers
Special Attraction Match
Chris Hero vs. Dick Togo
Matt Riddle vs. Jeff Cobb
Drew Gulak vs. Jaka
Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage
DUSTIN vs. Chris Dickinson
What Culture Pro Wrestling will be hosting ‘True Destiny’ in Milton Keynes on February 12th and the main event for the show has already been announced.
Kurt Angle will be returning to the company to face former WWE & Lucha Underground star Alberto El Patron.
The event will also be host to the second ever WCPW convention and tickets for the event are available to purchase here.
WWE RAW General manager Mick Foley announced on Facebook that he’s working with Chyna’s mother to gain control of her daughter’s estate, or at least what’s left of it. Chyna passed away back in April of this year.
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley wrote on Facebook how he’s helping Joanie “Chyna” Laurer’s mother gain control of her estate. The two had been estranged but became close before Chyna passed away on April 20 of this year.
Foley said funds are limited but provided a link to where fans can help. Below is his full post:
PEACE FOR CHYNA
I had a nice talk with Joanie Laurer’s mom yesterday. While Joanie had been estranged from her mother for much of her adult life, including the entirety of her WWE run, the two eventually made peace and had become quite close by the end of Joanie’s life. Joanie’s mom is attempting to gain control of her daughter’s estate – but is trying to do it on a very limited budget, and the legal costs are more than she can handle. Don’t be fooled by the word “estate” – there is not a lot of money left, if any. But Chyna’s mom is attempting to do the right thing by allowing whatever personal effects she did leave behind to stay with the family and not with her manager, so that her family may finally be at peace with her loss. Whatever help you can give will be much appreciated. https://www.gofundme.com/discover/other-fundraiser
Several weeks ago, Summer Rae posted a message on Instagram revealing that she’s been dealing with an injury that has kept her off WWE television for months. She did not discuss the nature of the injury, but said, “Im lucky to be surrounded by an amazing team of doctors & physical therapists. Its a lot harder than I thought it would be to fix things but you only have one body so taking care of mine is a top priority right now. ”
On Friday, she provided another update discussing her road to recovery. While she still did not explain exactly what she’s been recovering from, she said she’s been undergoing intense physical therapy. She had a breakthrough with her recovery this week and was finally able to lift light weights without being in pain for days afterwards.