It sounds like basketball legend Shaquille O’Neil’s WrestleMania match against the Big Show will not be taking place as expected.

In recent months, we’ve seen Big Show slim down for what many were expecting to be a battle of the big men on April 2nd. Shaq and Big Show have gone back and forth challenging each other, with both men talking about the potential showdown.

• John Cena Talks About Shaq vs. Big Show at WrestleMania

On the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the 4-time NBA Champion said it’s not his fault the match is probably off. When asked by his co-host about rumors that the match is off, Shaq replied,

“That’s probably right .. It’s not my fault, that’s all you need to know.”

When asked if that was confirmation that he won’t be wrestling big show, Shaq repeated, ”

It ain’t my fault. It has nothing to do with [Shaq] Diesel and his management. It’s not totally off yet, but it’s not looking good.”

Shaq said he’s still working out and still looks way better than Big Show.

“Just sayin, it ain’t me America,” he added.

You can listen to Shaq’s comments about WrestleMania over at PodcastOne.com. The WrestleMania talk begins around the 23:30 mark.

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

TNA tag team champions Matt and Jeff Hardy will not be re-signing with the company and are not expected to be present for this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando, FL.

Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet dropped some exclusive details regarding their TNA departure, noting that Matt and Jeff ended negotiations with TNA after feeling disrespected. Matt reached an agreement with TNA back in December to re-sign for another year. Weeks passed and Matt was given the runaround when seeking to finalize their agreement. Satin writes:

Eventually Matt and Jeff’s lawyer told Impact Wrestling officials that they wanted a creative control clause in their new deals … which was shot down immediately. One source says their lawyer told Ed Nordholm there was interest from other companies and he responded by saying, “Well, tell them to go to WWE then.”

Sounds like a great idea.

Matt Hardy’s wife Reby commented on the reports that the Hardy Family is done with TNA. She cited “negative changes & straight f*ckery” as the reason for their departure.

John Pollock of the Fight Network (owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, parent company of TNA Wrestling), confirms that Matt and Jeff Hardy are done with TNA:

I can confirm the reports from Mike Johnson & Ryan Satin – The Hardys are not going to re-sign w/ TNA and not expected at tapings this week

— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) February 27, 2017

During an interview with Sportskeeda, Matt Hardy discussed his goal of “total domination” of tag team wrestling. When asked how it was going, Hardy responded,

“WONDERFULLY. I will DELETE the Bucks of Youth on April 1st at ROH, and all of MeekMahan’s tag teams will follow.”

One more bit of related news – Matt Hardy’s online store ShopMattHardy.com is closing after nearly 5 years of being in business.

We regret to post that after nearly 5yrs & 1000s of happy customers, https://t.co/8OFhB9oGRo is closing up shop. Stay tuned for BLOWOUT SALE

— Shop Matt Hardy (@ShopMattHardy) February 26, 2017

Reby Hardy, wife of Matt and mother of King Maxel, tweeted the following on Monday afternoon regarding the reports that Matt and Jeff Hardy are leaving Impact Wrestling.

Reby speaks about TNA in the past tense (“was”) and implies that negative changes and “straight f*ckery” led the House of Hardy to pursue greener pastures.

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/836271298384912384

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/836271550693322752

There’s a lot of speculation this week that Matt and Jeff Hardy are done with TNA and headed to WWE. Reby Sky’s comment above corroborates Dave Meltzer saying that TNA’s new ownership and management threw a wrench in Matt’s TNA negotiations.

Earlier today, Matt Hardy tweeted:

It shall be an INTRIGUING week for the professional wrestling industry. pic.twitter.com/8pDkzwJu3y

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) February 27, 2017

Here are the results from PROGRESS’ Chapter 44 event ‘Old Man Yells At Cloud.’ The show took place at a sold out Electric Ballroom in Camden, UK.

James Drake b. Damon Moser – This was a relatively shot match that saw WWE UK Tournament competitor James Drake won with the Mr Mayhem DDT. There are reports that Moser was injured during the bout thus the quick conclusion.

Dahlia Black (w/TK Cooper) b. Martina the Session Moth – This was a 1st round match in the Natural Progression Series to crown the first ever PROGRESS Women’s Champion as well as being Martina’s debut match for the company. Black took the win when TK Cooper interfered and cost Martina the bout

Travis Banks b. Jordan Devlin – Another PROGRESS debut here as WWE Tournament Competitor Jordan Devlin looked to beat tag team specialist Banks. Travis took the win after hitting a Buzzsaw Kick.

Pastor William Eaver b. Sebastian – Eaver took the win here after hitting the ‘Clothesline From Heaven’ in what was an extremely violent bout, definitely one worth watching on PROGRESS’ On Demand service.

Mark Andrews b. Shane Strickland – An absolutely fantastic match that saw Andrews win with the Shooting Star Press, after the match PROGRESS Co-Owner Jim Smallman asked Strickland to appear at the Orlando shows over Wrestlemania Weekend.

El Ligero b. Nathan Cruz – A hotly contested bout between two former Origin members saw Ligero take the win after reversing a Figure Four into an Inside Cradle. After the match Cruz removed Ligero’s mask.

Zack Gibson b. Jack Sexsmith – This match was all about Sexsmith proving himself as a viable championship  contender for the company and it certainly felt like his ‘coming out party.’ Gibson hit the Helter Skelter for the pinfall win.

Jimmy Havoc, Mark Haskins & Morgan Webster b. British Strong Style (Pete Dunne, Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) – The stakes for this match were extremely high. If Havoc, Haskins or Webster got a pinfall or submission victory then they would receive a title shot, however if one of them took a pinfall, countout or submission loss then they would ineligible to ANY title shot for 6 months. Havoc ended up taking the victory and title shot following an Acid Rainmaker on PROGRESS Champion Pete Dunne.

https://twitter.com/JimmyHavoc/status/835973069021802499

16-time World Champion John Cena was recently interviewed by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard blog. John Cena’s record-setting 16th title reign was short lived, lasting only a matter of weeks. After winning the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble and losing it to Bray Wyatt at Elimination Chamber, Cena points out that Ric Flair had some short title reigns as well.

“To rebut the two-week, 16th title reign, if I’m correct, Ric Flair’s 16th title reign was only 24 hours,” said Cena. “They can’t all be these massive statements in the annals of history.”

It’s no secret that John Cena is rumored to be teaming with girlfriend Nikki Bella at WrestleMania in a mixed tag match against The Miz and Maryse.

“As far as WrestleMania is concerned, whatever I’m supposed to do I’m going to do to the best of my ability. I can reference last year as a great example. I was ready, healthy, and one-hundred percent activated by early March, and I was told that I would be assisting The Rock in WrestleMania. Quite honestly, if it weren’t for The Rock’s involvement in WrestleMania, I would have been told that I would have been sitting out WrestleMania.

[People ask] why don’t I just go in there and say, ‘I want to do this’? Last year, I should have said, ‘I want to do this,’ but that’s just not what I do. This is why I love what I do. You sometimes get an off-the-beaten path request, and it’s your job, as a professional, to make it interesting and make it the best you can.”

You can check out the full interview over at SI.com.

Speaking of John Cena, the “face that runs the place” is on the cover of the latest issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine.

.@WWE is on the road to @WrestleMania. Use every minute possible. Put your head down & #EarnTheDay. See the hustle in @muscle_fitness. pic.twitter.com/ELhYg1DGDG

— John Cena (@JohnCena) February 27, 2017

Honor Rising 2017 Night 2
Korakuen Hall
Tokyo, Japan
February 27th 2017

That's a wrap on Honor Rising Night 2! Goodbye and goodnight! #HonorRising pic.twitter.com/ekhqeam5rB

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) February 27, 2017

Silas Young and Jado vs. Kushida and David Finlay

Jado and Silas came out with “Real Man” shirts on again for this show. Silas cut a promo before the match again, just saying that the audience should give Jado and him a standing ovation cause they are real men. Jado and Young attacked Finlay and Kushida before the bell.

After a back and forth match, Silas Young hit Misery on Finlay and pinned him.

Not bad for Silas Young, picking up the pin at one of the Korakuen Hall shows. Not even kidding, there was a “thank you Silas” chant after the match. They like him in Tokyo! Silas might be making a case for him to get invited back to further NJPW shows.

Winners: Silas Young and Jado (Young pinned Finlay)

Dalton Castle, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger and Delirious vs. SANADA, Bushi, EVIL, Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)

Dalton and Taguchi combined comedy acts here. Two NJPW young boys served as the boys tonight, unlike last night when Castle’s tag partners filled that role.

Delirious did his normal thing where he goes crazy after the bell rings to start the match.

At one point Naito tied Delirious’ tassels to the barricade on the outside, though he was eventually able to get free. Finish came when Evil pinned Delirious with an STO.

Naito ripped off Tiger Mask’s mask and threw it in the crowd, but they covered his head as he went to the back.
Taguchi tried to get at Takahashi after the bell, but the jr heavyweight champ ran from him. Kevin Kelly mentioned that he thinks Takahashi knows Taguchi has his number, as that builds towards their eventual title match continues.

Naito then attacked the referee for a little bit as he is one to do.

Winners: Los Ingobernables (Evil pinned Delirious)

Guerrillas of Destiny (Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga)(Bullet Club) vs. War Machine (Ray Rowe and Hanson)

War Machine beat the Young Bucks last night which should put them in line for an ROH tag championship match somewhere down the line in ROH.

Rowe ended up pinning Tama Tonga after Fallout. That’s twice in two nights War Machine has beaten an established tag team.

After the match Rowe cut a promo saying they want to win the IWGP heavyweight tag team championships.

Good “War Machine” chant after the match as well.

Winners: War Machine (Rowe pinned Tonga)

Juice Robinson, Jay Lethal, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)

Finish of this match came when Page countered the Lethal Injection with an inside out clothesline ad pinned him. Kelly played up that Page defeated a former ROH champion. After the match Takahashi attacked Juice Robinson, perhaps building a future match there.

Kelly and Romero also mentioned that Page will be back for the New Japan Cup in March.

Winners: Bullet Club (Page pinned Lethal)

Never Openweight Championship
Hirooki Goto (c) (CHAOS) vs. Punishment Martinez

It seemed like this was going to be a nothing match, seeing as Martinez is barely on ROH television. Martinez got a lot of nice looking offence in however, including a few near falls.

Goto eventually won with a GTR. Kelly played it up as if Goto “survived” with his title.

Winner: Goto (2x title defence)

ROH Championship
Adam Cole (c)(Bullet Club) vs. Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)

Last night Cole and Kenny Omega ended the night by teasing dissension amongst the two of them. If there is a storyline building there it could mean a split in the Bullet Club or one of Omega or Cole leaving the group.

Much like the match that came before it, this match involved a lot of the challenger getting offence and near falls. Eventually Cole hit the Last Shot for the win.

Winner: Adam Cole

Kenny Omega, Cody (Rhodes), and the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoe Brothers, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay (CHAOS)

Crowd LOVES Omega for the second night in a row. This will be the first time Okada and Omega will be in the ring with each other again since their WrestleKingdom main event match on January 4th.

To start the match Okada didn’t want to take on Omega and instead pointed at Cody. Omega wouldn’t tag in Cody so Okada tagged Briscoe, then Omega tagged Cody.

The match went some time before the 2 of them were in the ring together. When it was finally Omega and Okada in the ring they each countered the other’s finisher until the Young Bucks came in to help Omega. They eventually had to tag out as everyone else had hit the ring.

Finish came with Cody hitting the Crossroads on Ospreay and getting the pin.

After the match Omega cut a promo asking the fans “what is a good guy? bad guy? heel? babyface?” and then basically says it doesn’t matter because they are the elite. He again said that 2017 would be his year. Nothing further on the potential split with Adam Cole, though Kelly and Romero mentioned that Cole wasn’t out there to celebrate with Omega, Cody and the Bucks (though neither was Fale, Takahashi, or the Guerrillas of Destiny..).

Winners: Bullet Club (Cody pinned Ospreay)

Beth Phoenix will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 33 weekend. The news was first reported by USA Today and later confirmed by WWE.

Phoenix worked for WWE from 2004-2012 and is a 3-time WWE Women’s Champion and a former Divas Champion. She’s only the second female competitor to compete in the Royal Rumble (2010).

Beth Phoenix is married to WWE Hall of Famer Edge (Adam Copeland), making them the first Hall of Fame married couple. They have two children together.

Congratulations to Beth Phoenix, who joins Kurt Angle, Diamond Dallas Page, the Rock ‘N Roll Express and Teddy Long as members of the Class of 2017.

BREAKING: As first reported by @USATODAY, @TheBethPhoenix will be inducted into the #WWEHOF Class of 2017! https://t.co/MUer4SoWsC pic.twitter.com/gvlf3sqdu1

— WWE (@WWE) February 27, 2017

WWE COO Triple H will be lacing up the boots in a matter of weeks for a series of matches at live events leading up to WrestleMania.

The Game’s in-ring return takes place at WWE’s live event from Buffalo, NY on Friday, March 10th at the KeyBank Center. The following night, Triple H will take part in a 6-man tag match at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto.

BREAKING NEWS! See TRIPLE H live at KeyBank Center on Friday, March 10th when WWE LIVE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA comes to Buffalo!! #WWEBUFFALO pic.twitter.com/HCWMLD7uBm

— KeyBank Center (@KeyBankCtr) February 26, 2017

https://twitter.com/MLSELIVE/status/835957670309933056

It’s worth noting that Finn Balor is scheduled for the Toronto show.

Triple H is rumored to be facing Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 33. Whether or not Seth Rollins is medically cleared in time for the big show, Triple H has been training (see below) and will be ready to throw down on April 2nd.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ8vnKmFrK6/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vczscadp3s

The Broken Brilliance of Matt and Jeff Hardy might be too volatile for the confines of Impact Wrestling.

For months it’s been known that the TNA contracts of the Brothers Hardy expire in February. TNA is holding their next round of Impact Wrestling tapings later this week. According to sources in TNA, their absence all but confirm they’re done with the company.

Early Monday morning, Matt Hardy tweeted the following:

It shall be an INTRIGUING week for the professional wrestling industry. pic.twitter.com/8pDkzwJu3y

— MATT HARDY (@MATTHARDYBRAND) February 27, 2017

Matt and Jeff have told independent event promoters that they can’t commit to dates after April, another indication that they are WWE bound. Matt and Jeff had a lot of creative control over their characters in TNA, but the recent change in ownership & management have curtailed that power. The other big plus about working for TNA was the flexibility of their schedules.

If they do start negotiating with WWE, you can be sure that their schedules will be a big issue to hammer out. Matt’s wife Reby is currently pregnant with their second child, and Jeff also has two young kids. That said, WWE has become more flexible with select talent working part time and the Hardy Boyz might have the legacy and drawing power to warrant such agreements.

Discussion: If Matt & Jeff Hardy did return to WWE, would they keep the “Broken” characters that revitalized their careers?

Alberto el Patrón, formerly WWE’s Alberto Del Rio, recently appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast where he discussed his 2014 firing from WWE after a racist backstage incident, and why his second run in WWE was a failure.

Alberto said that during his first WWE run, the company pushed him and other new stars because their old stars were either retiring or going into acting. Del Rio says he became one of the most relevant wrestlers in WWE within a period of ten months, and then a backstage “incident” caused him to leave the company for the first time.

The story goes that a WWE production worker made a racist remark to Alberto backstage, so Alberto allegedly smacked him for it. The former WWE Champion says he doesn’t understand why he was the only one in the situation who lost his job, but that the time away from WWE proved he could stay in-demand on his own. Del Rio says he turned down two offers from WWE to return, including one just a few months after his firing to come back at WrestleMania in California.

“I’m not going to lie, the first two or three days I was really worried about being fired, but after the second or third day, I had people calling me from everywhere and I did amazingly,” Del Rio said of his 2014 firing. “I was making the same amount of money that I was doing in WWE, working once or twice a week. So I was like, ‘oh my God! This is fantastic! Why was I there for so many years?'”

Del Rio returned to WWE in 2015, but he says that confusing writing killed the momentum of his comeback. He feels the storyline WWE came up with for him was “pretty stupid.”

“The MexAmerica storyline was so stupid because nobody understood what we were trying to do,” Del Rio said of his program with Zeb Colter. “I didn’t understand what we were trying to do, so, the people — it didn’t click with the people because it was just really confusing.”

Continuing on the subject of his second WWE run, Del Rio says he did everything in his power to make things work out, but says the storylines “weren’t there” and he was unhappy. He credited the younger talent in the WWE locker room as being “great, great guys,” but says they’re from different generations and he didn’t fit in.

“All my friends were gone, Rey, Edge, Chavo,” Alberto recalled. “I remember Vince saying this to me, ‘why don’t you try to blend [in] with the guys?’ I said, ‘because we’re so different.’ I read books. They play video games and they read comic books. They’re 19, 20 years old. I’m 38, 39 years old, so we have nothing in common.”

Del Rio says WWE did everything they could to keep him there, but his unhappiness with his direction in the company was ultimately why he decided to quit. You can listen to the entire interview with Alberto Del Rio on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast.

Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway has announced that he’s leaving Impact Wrestling effective immediately. Galloway took to Twitter to notify his fans, and publicly thank TNA.

Galloway joined TNA two years ago and won their World Heavyweight Title in March of last year. Galloway has been a hot commodity on the independent circuit, and his next booking is on March 6th where he defends the WCPW Championship against Will Ospreay in Newcastle.

Galloway worked for WWE under the name Drew McIntyre until 2014.

https://twitter.com/GallowaySpeaks/status/836025462249893888

On Sunday night WWE claimed that Seth Rollins likely wouldn’t be able to compete at WrestleMania in April due to a knee injury, but one industry insider says that’s not the case. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that Rollins is going to be cleared to wrestle in time for WrestleMania, and says WWE’s claim was just a storyline element. Rollins is recovering from a torn MCL, which WWE is attributing to Samoa Joe’s attack on him earlier this month.

The most-likely WrestleMania opponent for Rollins is currently Triple H. Triple H is advertised to compete in a six-man tag match at the March 11 house show in Toronto, which could be a sign that he’ll be warming up for the April 2nd pay-per-view.

SEScoops.com is your WrestleMania 33 central, with live results and chat on the night of the 2nd, and all of the latest backstage news leading up to the event!

The February 27th edition of WWE RAW airs live on the USA Network from the Resch Center in Green Bay, WI, and is the last RAW before Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view.

WWE.com’s RAW preview mentions that Seth Rollins will address his knee injury making it “unlikely” that he’ll compete at WrestleMania, and also that there will be an appearance by Goldberg. As the go-home show before Fastlane, expect to see an encounter between Goldberg and Kevin Owens to promote Owens’ Universal Title defense against the former WCW Champion at Fastlane.

Here’s what WWE.com is promoting in their five-point RAW preview for tonight:

– Seth Rollins addresses his injury
– Goldberg returns before WWE Fastlane
– Is Roman Reigns fighting a losing battle against Braun Strowman?
– Enzo Amore & Big Cass close in on “Big Gal” and “Andy”
– What scheme does Charlotte Flair have in store for Bayley?

We’ll have live RAW play-by-play coverage and discussion tonight at 8 PM ET, and live Fastlane results and chat on Sunday evening.

Honor Rising 2017 Night 1
Korakuen Hall, 
Tokyo, Japan
February 26th 2017

Full results from Honor Rising 2017 Night 1 https://t.co/uL1mnIJaUR pic.twitter.com/rqkBmhDAUe

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) February 26, 2017

Juice Robinson, Kushida, and David Finlay vs. Silas Young, Gedo and Jado 
Kelly and Romero talked a lot about how fast Juice Robinson has moved up the rankings. They also noted that David Finlay is returning from a torn labrum.
Silas, Gedo and Jado came out with shirts that read “Real Man”.
It looked like Juice got his nose broken by a kick by Gedo (or a cutter by Silas) late in the match.
Juice pinned Gedo after “Pulp Friction”. After the match Juice celebrated in the crowd.
Winners: Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Kushida

Never 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match
Sanada, Bushi and Evil (Los Ingobernables) vs. Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask and Delirious
These titles change hands frequently in this division. No team has defended the titles more than twice in a row. Los Ingobernables get their first successful title defence here.
Delerious got some near falls, but then Evil hit him with a chair and Sanada made him tap out to the “Skull End”.
After the match Sanada attacked one of the young boys at ringside and taunted a member of the Japanese announce team (Akihito Sawafuji) as there is something building between Los Ingobernables and him. Sawafuji, 40, was forced to retire in 2010 due to an eye injury.
Winner: Los Ingobernables (1x title defence)

Takahashi, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga) and Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay, Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)
Yoshi-Hashi will be challenging Adam Cole for the ROH championship tomorrow so he got the win and looked good here. Goto will also be defending his Never Openweight championship tomorrow against Punishment Martinez.
Hashi pinned Takahashi to get the win for his team. 
Winners: CHAOS (Yoshi-Hashi pinned Takahashi)

War Machine vs. the Young Bucks
The Bucks do so much it’s hard to keep up with. A lot of really creative spots in this match, as there are in most Young Bucks matches. The Bucks let Kelly and Romero know they had sold 500 t-shirts that night.
Finish of the match was Hanson pinning Matt Jackson after War Machine landed “Fallout”.
Considering the Young Bucks are the ROH tag team champions, this should mean War Machine get a title shot soon. After the match War Machine bowed to the crowed.
Winners: War Machine (Hanson pinned Matt Jackson)

Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Punishment Martinez, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi (Los Ingobernables)
Tanahashi and Taguchi were dressed up as “the boys” and went through with Dalton’s entire entrance,  even fanning him down. Dalton was very over in this match. There were several “Dalton Castle” chants.
Takahashi defends his junior heavyweight title against Taguchi next, so they were together a lot in this match. Dalton did a lot of comedy, with Taguchi and Tanahashi fanning him and pretending to be his boys.
Martinez pinned Dalton with a choke slam. Punishment Martinez had been Kevin Sullivan’s protege on ROH awhile back, but we have seen much of him since Whitmer and Corino’s feud ended. He was staring down Naito and Takahashi after the match and Naito flipped him off.
Martinez looked good here, which makes sense considering he is challenging for a title on the next show, against Goto for the Never Openweight belt.
Winners: Punishment Martinez, Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi (Martinez pinned Castle)

Katsuyori Shibata and Jay Lethal vs. Cody (Rhodes) and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
The early part of this match was Lethal wanting to get at Cody but Cody avoiding him. Then Bullet Club beat down Lethal for much of the match. Finish came when Shibata took out Cody with his Penalty Kick and Lethal hit the Lethal Combination on Page for the win.
Shibata and Cody brawled on the outside after the match and had to be separated.
Winners: Shibata and Lethal (Lethal pinned Page)

Main Event
Adam Cole and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe)
This was Kenny Omega’s first match back since his loss to Okada at WrestleKingdom. Crowd LOVED Omega. 
The finish came when Cole pinned Mark Briscoe with the the Last Shot.
Omega started to cut a promo after the match, but Cole stole the microphone from him after just a few moments. Cole talked about how 2017 was his year and Omega looked insulted standing next to him.
Omega and Cole argued for a bit in the ring but then shook hands. I’m sure those two will work things out and we’ll never hear anything else about it again….
They are definitely teasing a split between Omega and Cole, which could make things in Bullet Club interesting for a bit.
Winners: Cole and Omega (Cole pinned Mark Briscoe)

WWE producer “Road Dogg” Brian James recently took to Twitter to comment on the love/hate relationship between Roman Reigns and the WWE fans.

James saw a clip of Reigns hitting a spear at an untelevised live event and noted the crowd’s reaction. James referred to Reigns’ detractors as an “anti-establishment minority,” and says they don’t want the other fans to know that Reigns actually gets cheered when they aren’t there.

When a fan replied to James that he felt the crowd was mostly compiled of kids, James wrote “Their parents bought tickets too…. get it?!”

What. A. Spear. #WWERegensburg https://t.co/FKaqWMp89M

— PWStream (@PWStream) February 26, 2017

@RyanCooper_96 look at the crowd when it happens. The antiestablishment minority doesn't want you to know that reaction!

— Brian G. James (@BrianRDJames) February 26, 2017

heck yea there are! Their parents bought tickets too…. get it?!

— Brian G. James (@BrianRDJames) February 26, 2017

Do you think James is right with his estimation that fans who boo Reigns are the minority? Join the discussion in the comments below!

Former WWE Champion Seth Rollins is scheduled for Monday’s edition of RAW to address his injured knee. WWE claims Rollins sustained the injury when Samoa Joe beat him down on RAW a few weeks back, and in their preview for Monday’s show they say it’s “unlikely” he’ll compete at WrestleMania. Earlier this month it was confirme that Rollins suffered a torn MCL in his right knee.

If Rollins does miss WrestleMania in April, it would be his second year in a row absent from WWE’s biggest event. Here’s what WWE.com wrote about Rollins in their preview for Monday’s RAW:

Save for posting a series of “Fight Club” quotes on Instagram for the past few Monday nights, Seth Rollins has been relatively quiet concerning his condition following Samoa Joe’s ambush that tore The Architect’s right MCL.

At this point, it seems unlikely that Rollins will be able to compete at this year’s WrestleMania. That would mean that the former WWE Champion will miss his second consecutive Show of Shows, this time thanks to Triple H’s “Destroyer.” Will Rollins confirm this unfortunate news, or will he have another message entirely for The Cerebral Assassin and The Samoan Submission Specialist?

Rollins’ originally planned match against Samoa Joe at next Sunday’s Fastlane pay-per-view has been called off.

Squared Circle Sirens is reporting that WWE has signed Canadian olympic weightlifter Isabel Lahela. Lahela is 22 years old and won the 48kg weightlifting Junior Ontario Championship in 2014.

In addition to weight lifting, Lahela is also a professional model, personal trainer and dancer.

She’s been training at Superkick’d Wrestling in Toronto, Canada since August and took part in tryout at the WWE Performance Center back in September 2016. This was the combine that also included Kimber Lee, Heidi Lovelace and Jessica James.

Isabel Lahela reports to the WWE Performance Center in April.

Here are some photos and videos from her Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPBnNMCDmGO/?taken-by=isabel.lahela

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ6kIWbj9L_/?taken-by=isabel.lahela

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNLPFCCDC0k/?taken-by=isabel.lahela

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQg1r4Kjndb/?taken-by=isabel.lahela

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKXGZ6SjK5U/?taken-by=isabel.lahela

– We reported earlier this week that Chris Jericho resurfaced at a WWE live event from Germany. It was Jericho’s first public appearance since Owens betrayed him at the Festival of Friendship. Jericho came out on crutches wearing a neck brace and once again felt the wrath of WWE’s Universal Champion. WWE posted this footage of the latest attack:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ8qEV3At68/

– Bill Goldberg has taken notice of NXT Women’s Champion Asuka’s impressive winning streak.

Congratulations @WWEAsuka on your 149th win in a row! #whosnext ????????

— Bill Goldberg (@Goldberg) February 25, 2017

The honor is more than I deserve.
I'm looking for sacrifice… #QueenOfDeathMetalStyle #Assassin #??????? https://t.co/2jwZfn5ZF7

— ASUKA / ??? (@WWEAsuka) February 25, 2017

– Cody Rhodes was asked by a transgender fan if he thinks they could make it in the wrestling business.

100% yes.

Pro-Wrestling is for everybody. Always has been. https://t.co/85gRnbCJyT

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) February 24, 2017

– TNA booker Dutch Mantell (formerly Zeb Colter) is working with Viceland on an “interesting wrestling project.”

Hello. Does anybody watch @VICELAND? Contacted about a special appearance taping in March. Interesting wrestling project.

— ??. ????? (@DirtyDMantell) February 25, 2017

WWE announcer Tom Phillips found himself in some hot water this weekend when social media lit up with screenshots of a vulgar conversation he allegedly had with a woman. When the woman Phillips was flirting with found out he was engaged to another woman, she outed him on Instagram for trying to cheat on his fiancé.

• Woman Accuses Tom Phillips Of Sending Her Inappropriate Messages On Instagram

Twitter has been having a field day at the expense of the WWE announcer’s embarrassing situation, with several fans poking fun at Phillips for allegedly getting “busted.”

Here are some of the reactions making the rounds on Twitter:

Tom Phillips…… yikes pic.twitter.com/jxjhl5qGb4

— Ari (@_xoArixo_) February 24, 2017

https://twitter.com/jamespulsecom/status/835284865209749508

https://twitter.com/RyFacts_of_Life/status/835545246683566080

https://twitter.com/EnViRy_/status/835275853474967552

When you see why Tom Phillips is trending…. #WWE #TomPhillips #SDLive pic.twitter.com/UeUQuYzzLN

— Rock Bottom Radio (@RockBottomRadio) February 25, 2017

Seems as though "Tom Phillips" and "future endeavors" will be a popular search on here shortly. #rarewrestlingtweet

— Mike Ashmore (@mashmore98) February 25, 2017

Roses are red
the sky is blue pic.twitter.com/n74iqZTAdT

— . (@AngleHero_TV14) February 25, 2017

https://twitter.com/CleanKennyClean/status/835256356840042497

Join the discussion in the comments section below.

2-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair is celebrating his 68th birthday today. He was born February 25, 1949.

To acknowledge Flair’s big day, WWE uploaded a video of the Nature Boy’s wildest outbursts.

Here are some happy birthday messages from the wrestling world.

Happy Birthday to my parent-in-crime @RicFlairNatrBoy love you as big as the sky dad ?? -winky pic.twitter.com/oM9KYmQkS9

— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) February 25, 2017

Whether in front or behind the camera, in the ring or on the microphone, @RicFlairNatrBoy will always be THE MAN. Happy Birthday, Naitch! pic.twitter.com/hJZtrFcDwk

— Triple H (@TripleH) February 25, 2017

https://twitter.com/therealxpac/status/835536930662014976

https://twitter.com/lancestorm/status/835531432856428544

Happy birthday to one of my favorite supporters, @RicFlairNatrBoy ?

Hi @MsCharlotteWWE ?? pic.twitter.com/VKUJMX4Ai6

— Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) February 25, 2017

ric flair – Google Search "Happy Birthday to the dirtiest player in the game, The GOAT..my friend @RicFlairNatrBoy https://t.co/fc87IIX9x2:

— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle) February 25, 2017

– WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk recently did an interview with SI.com‘s Extra Mustard blog where he discussed several topics including former WWE Champion AJ Styles. During his interview Funk praised Styles for being a “wonderful part of wrestling,” and gave him credit for paying his dues before making it big.

“I don’t know if everybody would agree with me, but I like the way that he’s risen to stardom,” Funk told SI.com. “AJ Styles is of a different genre, and he’s a wonderful part of wrestling, doing things that a lot of guys can’t do. No one can do what he does unless they’re in the ring with him. AJ Styles is an excellent in-ring performer, and he’s as good of a guy that they’ve got up there right now. He’s busted his a–. He busted his a– and made it.”

– WWE Champion Kevin Owens and Goldberg have continued to take shots at each other on Twitter over the past few weeks to promote their upcoming match at Fastlane on March 5th. In their most recent exchange, Owens called out Goldberg for being a part-timer while Owens is on the road with WWE.

Approximately 9 days, 5 hours and 4 minutes until @FightOwensFight loses his Universal Championship. #WWEFastlane #OwensIsNEXT

— Bill Goldberg (@Goldberg) February 24, 2017

https://twitter.com/FightOwensFight/status/835288686078091266

WWE broadcaster Tom Phillips has set his social media accounts to “private” after allegedly sending some racy messages to Instagram user @Missythetattooedgirl.

The woman was later informed that Tom Phillips is engaged and called him out for the lewd behavior.

This is why I don’t trust people. Without my friends I never would’ve known that a high profile WWE commentator who was talking to me and wanted to get together, is engaged. I had zero idea and I couldn’t be more sorry to the girl involved. You deserve better than this. Apparently nobody is faithful anymore. @tvs_tom #wwe #smackdown #tomphillips #nxt #wrestling

Below you can see some of the messages Tom apparently sent her.

Here's Tom Phillips being a total douche pic.twitter.com/dHSACOvxkZ

— Kyle (@TRKG12) February 24, 2017

This week’s TNA Impact on POP TV drew 275,000 viewers, down from last week’s 325,000 viewers.

The show featured the wedding of Laurel Van Ness and Braxton Sutter as the main event.

Impact ranked #133 on the cable top 150 this week, down from last week’s #122 spot.

For the second year in a row Ring of Honor is holding two shows in two nights at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall. The shows last year played an important part in ROH angles for several months afterwards.

Last year’s shows involved 2 titles changing hands. Tomohiro Ishii defeated Roderick Strong for the ROH TV Championship in the main event of night 1 last year. The next night Omega and the Young Bucks defeated the Briscoes and Yano for the 6-Man Tag Team Championships.

ROH and NJPW present Honor Rising. https://t.co/0vHEBc9s6O See it on @njpwworld Be sure to sign up now! https://t.co/kt8cXhJivp pic.twitter.com/bNDjXfEJGG

— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) February 24, 2017

Honor Rising 2017 Night 1 (Feb. 26th 6:30pm Tokyo time, 4:30AM est.)

David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Kushida vs. Gedo, Jado (CHAOS) and Silas Young
Finlay and Robinson have both been moving up in the rankings as of late, but Juice more than Finlay. In the short time that the former CJ Parker has been in NJPW he has gone from the bottom of the ranks to a solid mid-carder. He now regularly tags with Hiroshi Tanahashi and other big name NJPW guys.

Never Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Bushi, Evil and Sanada (Los Ingobernables)(c) vs. Delirious, Justin Liger and Tiger Mask
ROH booker, Delirious, likes to get involved in these shows. In previous years he had wrestled Gedo, who just so happens to be NJPW’s booker.
The 6-man championships change hands frequently. No team has held onto the belts for more than 2 title defences. Los Ingobernables won the belts on February 11th after defeating Tanahashi, Nakanishi and Taguchi. 

Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa and Takahashi (Bullet Club) vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS)
A good old fashioned CHAOS vs Bullet Club match. There isn’t really any upcoming NJPW or ROH match this is setting up for down the line. It’s just a match.

War Machine vs. the Young Bucks
The Young Bucks are the ROH Tag Team Champions, but this match appears to be non-title. If War Machine wins they’ll get a title shot down the road however, ROH rarely fails to follow through on such things. The live reaction to this match should be interesting, as NJPW fans don’t see heavyweight tag teams take on jr heavyweight tag teams too often.

Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Taguchi vs. Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito (Los Ingobernables) and Punisher Martinez
Kevin Sullivan’s protege, Punisher Martinez, joins forces with Naito’s Los Ingobernables. We’ve seen Naito be less than receptive to ROH wrestlers trying to join forces with his faction in the past however. Jay Lethal seemed to want to align with the group, but Naito turned on him in the end.
Dalton Castle and Taguchi will probably do a lot of comedy here.

Cody (Rhodes) and Hangman Page (Bullet Club) vs. Jay Lethal and Katsuyori Shibata
Cody still hasn’t done much in Japan, so it’ll be interesting to see what the reaction to him is like. Shibata is preparing for an eventual match with Minoru Suzuki, which was played up recently on the Togi Makabe anniversary show.
Hangman Page sure has moved up the rankings in ROH and NJPW this last year. He even beat Jay Briscoe clean on a PPV.

Adam Cole and Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) vs. the Briscoe Brothers
Adam Cole, leader of ROH’s Bullet Club, tags with the leader of NJPW’s Bullet Club, Kenny Omega. Neither guy really refers to themselves as the leader, but they are clearly the top guy from the faction in their respective organizations. Omega lives in Japan and is a full-time NJPW guy, and Cole lives in the states and is a full time ROH guy. This match will most likely be played up as ROH vs. Bullet Club, seeing as the Briscoes are ROH originals.

NJPW continues to attract english speaking fans, and they are now offering more ways for such fans to follow the product. In addition to having an english announce team at most major events, they are now transcribing Japanese promos and posting them on their english website: njpw1972.com.

21 Feb Togi Makabe 20th anniversary, Result updated with Wrestler's comments! Check it out!https://t.co/N736weYaoQ pic.twitter.com/p472BWSFAz

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) February 24, 2017

NJPW English Promos

The translated promos aren’t offered right a way unfortunately. For the Togi Makabe anniversary show which took place on February 21st it took the promotion until the 24th to post the translations.

Each match has comments by the wrestlers involved. The quotes are pulled from the post-event press conference. To find the english translations select “Match Report Column” when viewing the results page for the event. At the bottom of the page there will be english comments from the wrestlers involved. Honma and Makabe talking about how all their fans are males is particularly interesting…

Ever since their re-designed english site launched earlier this month, NJPW has been taking a lot of steps to attract english speaking fans.