“Woken” Matt Hardy recently did an interview with TMZ Sports to discuss the Ultimate Deletion. Hardy won The Great War by defeating Bray Wyatt and tossing him into the Lake Of Reincarnation. Hardy said that the feedback from fans has been tremendous and he hopes there will be more to come soon – and it will change WWE ‘forevah’:
“I have to tell you this – it has been amazing, the feedback from The Woken Warriors and the WWE Universe, and people all across the globe. It has been met with love and with adoration,” Matt said. “I say, this is something that probably wasn’t supposed to happen on the plane known as WWE.
“I don’t know if Woken Matt Hardy was supposed to get here but he did and now that I’m here, I’m being fueled by The 7 Deities, I have introduced House Hardy, my magic, my family. I’ve introduced The Hardy Compound and now that we have the foot in the door, I believe this is only the start of many, many great things. I think this is something that will change the WWE Universe… forevah!”
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley then popped into the interview and said he wonders what Vince McMahon thought of the segment. Hardy said he doesn’t know if McMahon loved or hated the segment – but the fact is his “Woken” Warriors and the WWE Universe loved it, and if McMahon has any issues with that then he will DELETE him:
“What absolutely pleasurable words from The Dude That Loves Mankind, Mick Foley, The Cactus Jackman. I’m very happy to hear from him, my friend and I know in his state of euphoria and excitement, of course he messed up the name but yes it was… The Ultimate Deletion!,” Matt said in reference to the Foley tweet.
“And that MeekMahan is a hard character to read. I do not know if he loved it or hated it but these are the facts – The Woken Warriors and the WWE Universe had much adoration for it and they loved the Woken/Broken Universe, and for that, if MeekMahan has any issues with it I certainly have a spot here at The Hardy Compound where I can delete him. Senor Benjamin would love to start digging a hole for him.”
WWE Hall Of Famer and WWE commentator Jim Ross was recently interviewed on former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness. One top of discussion for Ross was the early days of former WWE Champion The Rock. Ross discussed Rock’s unrivaled confidence and stated that “The Great One” knew what he wanted even before he signed with WWE:
“He’s a different breed of cat, as you boys know.” Ross explained, “and he’s very special in a lot of ways. I never had anybody that basically hit me right between the eyes with a statement of, ‘I’m going to be your top guy’ when he hadn’t even made his first trip to Stamford [Connecticut] I don’t think.
“So, I mean, he had ‘it’ going for him and confidence in where he wanted to go. He had a direction. He knew what road he wanted to travel and not like anyone else who is human on the road, the road is the road, but, professionally, he knew just what he wanted and nothing was going to stop him.”
He then discussed why it’s good for Superstars to have a good rapport with Vince McMahon, and those who disrespect him will be “S.O.L”:
“I think, guys, when they come to work for WWE, the best thing that they can do, on a legitimate, organic, as real as it can be basis, have some sort of rapport with Vince. You have to have a rapport built on respect.” Ross continued, “don’t confront, converse, because if you confront him, you’re S.O.L. It’s disrespectful and it’s not the place to be disrespectful unless you’re just a dumbass. That’s how that worked out, but that’s the deal.”
Ross noted that The Rock was very good at building a relationship with Vince McMahon early on in his career:
“The Rock got to that level of having a good rapport with Vince really, really quick.” Ross elaborated, “I mean, they had their grandpas, The High Chief [Peter Maivia] to talk about, or Rocky Johnson, and The Rock himself. And, of course, Vince is a smart guy – he saw what we had. He knew. He knew. When you get Secretariat, you welcome him in the barn.”
You can listen to Ross’ interview on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
The return of Hulk Hogan to the WWE in 2014 was a warm welcome to many fans. Hogan had previously worked for TNA, where he played an on-camera authority figure from 2009 through 2013. Hogan’s role as an ambassador for WWE was short-lived after his 2015 sex tape debacle which included Hogan making racist comments about African Americans.
It appears enough time has passed for WWE to consider bringing Hulk Hogan back into the fold. According to PWinsider, Hogan and WWE have been in talks over the past several weeks about a possible return, most likely as a brand ambassador.
WWE issued the following statement regarding the recent talks with Hogan:
“We have had discussions with Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan) about how he can help others learn from his mistakes, however, he is not under any contract with WWE.”
It’s been a roller coaster ride for Hogan the past few years. He’s had a lot of time to think about the behavior that cost him his job with WWE and his status as a role model to people across the world. He’s been vocal about wanting another chance, telling TMZ Sports last month, “For me, I’d love to change that last story that was told of the Hulk Hogan career. I’d love to get back in the fold, get back on the inside and correct a lot of stuff.”
Hogan added, “It has to be the perfect timing for both sides. We’re all on good sides and all working towards the same goal so hopefully, I’ll be able to be back with my wrestling family someday soon.”
Last year was a wild ride for the WWE and NXT was certainly no exception. In 2017, Bobby Roode, Drew Mcintyre, and Cien Almas emerged as the cream of the crop on the brand. We also saw Asuka continue her dominance until leaving for Monday Night Raw. A new women’s champion then emerged and her name is Ember Moon.
San Antonio, Orlando, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Houston were all the destinations for NXT’s TakeOver events last year. The WWE Network is taking a look back with its “Best of NXT 2017” special. Here’s a first look with Triple H praising NXT talent:
“The superstars of NXT scratch and claw everyday to be the best. They give it their all to be the best. But the truth is, we cannot do any of it without you. We say it all the time, “We Are NXT.” And we truly mean that. Without the NXT universe, without all of you, we are nothing. You rise us up, you make us bigger, stronger, and better. And that’s what we do. We go to the ring every night, our NXT superstars, and they leave it all out there for all of you.”
Jim Cornette Thrilled With Mark Henry’s WWE HOF Induction
Legendary wrestling manager Jim Cornette is happy to hear that Mark Henry is on his way to the WWE Hall of Fame. Henry will join the class of 2018 which includes stars such as Goldberg, Jeff Jarrett, The Dudley Boyz, and more. It’s a long time coming for Henry, who has been with the WWE since 1996.
During a recent episode of “The Jim Cornette Experience,” Cornette talked about Henry’s road to this moment:
“The Hall of Fame has gotten one right, and I don’t mean they’ve never gotten one right before but I’m saying this time the good guy wins. To a nicer guy, it couldn’t happen. Mark Henry is going in the WWE Hall of Fame and I am wholeheartedly behind that because I’ve known Mark since he showed up there for 22 years or whatever.”
Daniel Bryan has finally been cleared to return to in-ring action for WWE. He was welcomed back to physical competition by Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens on SmackDown Live, who beat Daniels down after firing them for what they did to SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon last week.
Bryan hasn’t competed in a match since April of 2015 after he had just won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31. The following year he was forced to retire in February after he took an EEG test that revealed a lesion in his brain, in addition to the slowing of brain activity. The lesion had been causing Bryan to suffer from seizures. Over the course of his career Bryan had reportedly suffered over 20 concussions and two seizures.
After further evaluation, Bryan’s doctors told him that his decision to retire was premature and his lesion was a very vague complication. Several doctors had cleared Bryan to return to wrestling, however, WWE’s doctors still hadn’t done so. Bryan went as far as to say that if he hadn’t been cleared by WWE to wrestle again before his contract expired then he’d go elsewhere to compete. WWE’s Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon sent Bryan over to several neurologists to be tested for the past two months.
Following Bryan being cleared by all of the neurologists recommended by Maroon, he cleared him this past Monday. Now it’s expected that Bryan will team up with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 34 in a Tag Team match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. There has also been some speculation that the bout could be an Unsanctioned match or No Disqualifications. Wrestling Observer Radio reports that there was a catch to WWE clearing Bryan to compete.
He now has to undergo Impact testing and a neuropsychological evaluation with WWE doctors backstage after every match until they’re comfortable that he’s fine. It should also be noted that Bryan recently made some comments on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness indicating that he doesn’t really want to work a full-time schedule. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about Bryan’s situation….
– WWE has released a 15-minute “Director’s Cut” of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak coming to an end at the hands of Brock Lesnar in New Orleans four years ago. Check it out here:
– WWE is continuing its aggressive pursuit of Mexican talents. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that both Ultimo Ninja and Garza Jr. will be undergoing WWE medical testing, and if they pass, it’s believed they will be offered developmental deals in NXT. WWE is also currently in negotiations to bring Rey Mysterio back to the company as well. Vince McMahon also met with former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio recently at WWE headquarters. We’ll keep you updated…
As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, Bray Wyatt lost his Ultimate Deletion match against “Woken” Matt Hardy at the Hardy Family Compound. Wyatt was thrown into the Lake Of Reincarnation and his body was not able to be found by Senor Benjamin. Many speculated that this could lead to a character change for Wyatt after the match. Some went as far as to speculate that Husky Harris could return, or Wyatt could come back as Sister Abigail.
Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer recently confirmed that there is, in fact, talk about making changes to Bray Wyatt’s character. There is currently no word on what that change may be, however, some feel that it’s long overdue as they believe Wyatt’s current character ran its course long ago. When Wyatt does return it’s very possible he continues his rivalry with Matt Hardy.
Matt claimed on Twitter that Wyatt won’t be seen for years to come and Vanguard 1’s Twitter account said there is still no sign of the “DELETED” Bray Wyatt:
It looks like WWE is planning on filming three separate WWE Network documentaries during WrestleMania 34. Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer reports that the first one is likely to be a WWE 24 episode on WrestleMania 34 itself. This will likely be made up of backstage footage, as is per usual for similar documentaries WWE has already produced. The second documentary will document The Undertaker’s comeback to “The Show Of Shows” for his match with John Cena.
Although the match has yet to be announced on WWE TV, it’s still expected “The Deadman” will be returning this year to challenge “The Leader Of The Cenation.” Taker was featured in the WrestleMania 33 documentary last year and it showed some out-of-character comments from him about returning to the ring and mentioning that he doesn’t want to be a shell of his former self. It’s possible the documentary focused on The Undertaker could feature a lot more of the same, and include some workout footage from the Texan’s training as well.
The third and final documentary being worked on, as some of you may have guessed, is based on Ronda Rousey’s WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania. Rousey will be teaming up with RAW General Manager Kurt Angle against the team of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team match. It will be extremely interesting to see how Rousey acts backstage before making her highly-anticipated in-ring debut on professional wrestling’s biggest show.
There was also a mention that WWE could be filming a Table For 3 special as well, and that Rousey has been pitched to appear on one of these. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more…
On this past Monday’s episode of RAW, WWE closed out the show with Matt Hardy’s Ultimate Deletion segment against Bray Wyatt from the Hardy Family Compound.
Hardy and Wyatt battled it out all over the compound before “Woken” Matt was able to pick up the pinfall victory. After the bout Hardy tossed Wyatt into the Lake Of Reincarnation, and Senor Benjamin was unable to recover his body.
After the segment was done airing, the professional wrestling world reacted to it rather positively on social media. It saw a ton of positive reviews and it looks like there’s a chance another one could take place down the road. WrestleZone’s Nick Hausman reports that Vince McMahon was concerned about how fans would receive the segment. Not all WWE fans are familiar with the initial ‘Broken Universe’ segments done by Hardy in his time with Impact Wrestling.
Now that the reviews are in from the Ultimate Deletion, however, the experiment is seen as a huge success after holding over three million viewers in RAW’s final hour. It was also the number one trending topic on Twitter for over three hours. Initially there was a struggle to get the segment on TV, but now it seems there’s a very good possibility WWE could do similar angles down the line.
As noted earlier, Matt Hardy actually spoke to TMZ Sports about Vince McMahon’s reaction to Ultimate Deletion, noting that he will DELETE the WWE Chairman if he didn’t appreciate his broken brilliance. Wonderful!
Baron Corbin recently spoke with Mike Jones of DC 101 to promote WrestleMania 34, which is slated to take place on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network. It’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history.
The sports entertainment company is set to hold an Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at this event and with Corbin not having a current feud, he will likely be competing in the match.
“My opportunity if I win this that’s another thing on my list of accomplishments, the 2 time Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, would be huge on there. I mean obviously no one has done it so rolling into 2018 it would be a good start for me for this year. Look at what happened last year with Dean Ambrose who came up short but they you got a guy like Braun Strowman who was in the Andre and now look at where he’s at. That’s one of those things that can truly elevate you so that’s what I’m gonna use it for is another launching pad and being in that battle royal you get 15-20 other targets to beat up so I’m not locked in on one person and it will be lots of fun, that’s for sure.”
The news of SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan being medically cleared to return to in-ring action under the WWE banner has met with positive feedback. Corbin is no different and believes Bryan’s first match back will be something that fans don’t want to miss.
“For him to come back, I think, is amazing. I think it’s gonna be a really cool story to hear 20 years from now, you know the story of Daniel Bryan who everything was taken away because of injury and then to come back and for it to be at Mania, I mean, who knows? I think it will be awesome and it’s such a feel good story for a guy that has so much passion for this business and for what people do. So it couldn’t happen to a better guy, this kind of opportunity and you know he’s gonna be firing on all cylinders any chance he gets to be in the ring and competes. It’s gonna be fireworks and definitely something you’re not gonna want to miss.”
Former WWE and WCW star Vader will be undergoing open heart surgery this Monday in Dallas, Texas. The 62-year-old revealed the news in a tweet on Wednesday night.
Monday morning. Dallas, TX I am now having full blown Open Heart Surgery. They say it’s tough surgery to get through. Wish me luck I am gonna need it.
Vader previously said in a tweet on Mar. 12 that he would be undergoing heart surgery the following day. It’s unclear whether the surgery got delayed until next week or if he’s undergoing a second procedure.
Monday morning. Dallas, TX I am now having full blown Open Heart Surgery. They say it’s tough surgery to get through. Wish me luck I am gonna need it.
On November 14, 2016, Vader announced that he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure due to his football and wrestling careers. He visited two heart doctors and they told him he has only two years left to live.
Told by 2.heart Drs at this time that my heart is wore out from footbal&wrestling I have 2 yrs to live , conjestive hesrt failure reality
Vader found out about the diagnosis after being involved in a roll-over car accident, which left him unconscious for 35 minutes. In December 2016, he explained to Hannibal TV:
“I was in the medical center and I was seeing my doctor, who is actually an MD, and heart specialists came into my room. They said ‘We’ve been looking at your heart’ and I said ‘Who are you?’ I didn’t recognize the guy. He said ‘You have two years to live. We’ve been looking at your heart, and that’s the deal.’
“It wasn’t much longer than that when he came back in the room — cause he left and obviously I had a bunch of questions and I’m in the process of answering those questions at this point. So for me to start talking would probably be premature at this point.
“I’ve been in the gym, I feel okay, I’ve been feeling pretty good actually. I don’t know exactly what he’s talking about or if something will show itself up in weeks to come, but right now I’m still trying to figure out exactly what’s going on.”
A few months later, Vader regretted tweeting that he only has two years left to live. He explained to Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling last March:
“I really kind of regret tweeting it out. In other words when I got diagnosed and was told, “Leon, you have a bad heart and you have congestive heart failure and we feel your time is limited and you have maybe a couple of years left… two years or less to live.
“I remember getting very angry and said this has gotta be bulls–t because I don’t feel bad and I remember getting extremely angry. Since that time and when I got the news I left the hospital and went right to the gym and rode the bike for a half hour. Hard. As hard as I could and when I got off the bike and got on the treadmill and walked for another 15 minutes pretty hard and I was exhausted but my heart felt fine so how can I do that if my heart is going to give out?
“The doctor in some of the ongoing appointments that I had with him explained to me that when you are tipping the scales at 400 and 420-25 pounds that a man that size and that heavy isn’t supposed to be able to push himself in a cardiovascular endeavor no matter what it is much past 2 or 3 minutes.”
Vader went on to say that he will continue to wrestle and that if the tests are proven to be true, he would like to die in the ring. However, in April, he passed out after a match in Japan due to a head injury. He apparently hasn’t wrestled since then.
It’s been well documented that WWE SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan was officially cleared to return to in-ring competition on Tuesday by WWE doctors.
The former WWE Champion has been an underdog for his entire career. From his days on the independent scene to when he arrived in WWE. Although the company wasn’t fully behind him at first, he has overcome the challenges that were put in front of him and became a fan favorite. Bryan, who was forced to retire last year due to his history with concussions, is now back and will likely have his first match at WrestleMania 34 next month.
WWE.com has released a Top 5 list of potential opponents for Bryan now that he’s cleared. You can see the list here:
Finn Bálor
Shinsuke Nakamura
Kurt Angle
AJ Styles
Brock Lesnar
Out of these 5 Superstars, which of these possible opponents do you want to see Daniel Bryan wrestle first?
Impact World Champion Austin Aries was recently a guest on the Wrestling Compadres podcast to talk about various topics.
Many fans were caught off guard when the news broke last year that the WWE and Aries had parted ways. The news seemed to come out of nowhere and was a shock to fans.
Aries, who signed with the company back in 2016 and last appeared on television in May on 205 Live, had been in a top position in the cruiserweight division prior to his departure from WWE. He was a big star on 205 Live on the WWE Network.
He decided to go back to Impact Wrestling and is currently their World Champion.
When ROH held their 16th Anniversary Show, the former ROH World Champion made a surprise appearance by walking out to the stage. Aries wasn’t advertised to appear, but he did challenge Kenny King for his ROH World TV Championship.
During this interview, he gave some insight into his free agent status. Here is what he had to say:
“I have an agreement in place with a certain amount of dates which would get me through a certain amount of time, which would be different than your typical contracts as we think of them. We have sat down and talked about some things about the future and what it looks like in their standpoint. There is interest for them to keep me. I have some interest too to continue to hone my skills,” he said. “I think there is a lot of positive momentum right now and I think that the things that are trying to be done with the company align philosophically with some of the same things that I believe in as far as doing business in this landscape so we will see what happens. With that being said, I definitely value my freedom. Right now, it is truly unprecedented to be an independent contractor in Professional Wrestling. To be able to go out there and make your money and travel the places that you want to go, so at the end of the day there is a lot of opportunities out there.”
John Cena was interviewed by Irish media outlet Entertainment.ie this week to promote his new movie Blockers, which opens in theaters April 6th (WrestleMania weekend).
Cena spoke about his acting career taking off and credited comedian Amy Schumer and director Judd Apatow with giving him the chance to experiment and ‘find himself’ as an actor on the set of the movie Trainwreck.
The interviewer spoke about the number of athletes who have crossed over between WWE and UFC including Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Ronda Rousey. When asked which WWE Superstars he thinks could be successful mixed martial arts fighters, Cena gave an answer that would make Vince McMahon proud.
“I don’t know why they would want to [leave WWE for UFC],” Cena said. “I guess I’m just a sucker for what we do. You look at an individual like Brock and I think he’s drawn towards what the Octagon offers.” I [prefer] what we do because we’re sitting here talking about a story. We tell stories in WWE and that’s what I like the most, so I can’t put myself in the shoes of, ‘I’d want to go do this in the Octagon'”
The host asked Cena about the possibility of Ireland’s most famous athlete, Conor McGregor, appearing for WWE one day. Cena was fully on board with that prospect, noting that McGregor understands the entertainment aspect of his sport better than anybody.
“He would do fantastic. Hell, he’d put me out of work. He gets the entertainment aspect of sport, and I think he gets it as good or better than anyone else.”
“The way he promoted the fight against Mayweather … that’s what we do, he did it as good or better than us. So, I hope one day, if you’re out there watching and you want to come to WWE, he would be a fantastic WWE Superstar.”
You can listen to John Cena’s interview with Entertainment.ie here:
WWE officials are already planning on who will be Roman Reigns’ opponent this summer.
Reigns is slated to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at WrestleMania 34. The sports entertainment company has planned this match for over a year now. The idea of Reigns winning at the biggest event of the year for the WWE is to get him over as a top babyface, which is something they have been trying to do for years now.
The current plan is Reigns to work a program with Samoa Joe after WrestleMania, according to Dave Meltzer. Joe has been out of action since suffering a knee injury back in January. It’s believed that Joe has been medically cleared to return and he was actually backstage at Monday’s RAW, but WWE will most likely wait until the RAW after WrestleMania for his television return.
Samoa Joe is scheduled to work with Roman Reigns in the main event of WWE live shows over the next few months, including the 5/7 Raw-brand show at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY.
What do you think about Roman Reigns feuding with Samoa Joe after WrestleMania?
Former WWE/WCW/TNA star Sean Waltman recently spoke about various topics on the latest edition of his podcast, X-Pac12360.
During the podcast, he talked about SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan being cleared by WWE doctors to compete as an in-ring performer once again.
Bryan, who was forced to retire two years ago due to his history with concussions, has talked about wrestling again in the past. Whether that be in WWE or in another promotion. Before the news came out, it was believed that he would be leaving WWE after his contract with the company expires in September of 2018.
“I’m just really really happy for him. All I could do was have a feel-good moment for Bryan. I totally can understand, because I deal with some of those issues. I know how scary that could be, just the prospect of what’s in store for the future and things like that. I just had to quit doing what I love doing and not on my own terms. And so I’m really happy that it turned out this way, instead of Bryan having to leave WWE to do what he wants to to be happy… Trust me, I don’t think they just ran and just jumped right into the deep end of the pool right away.
That’s just what we saw… Actually, it’s exactly the right time. Not a moment too late and not a moment too soon because they had to make really really sure and have a lot of different opinions on this, you know? And people can selfishly want to see him back in the ring and in a match but let’s make sure he can do it and not cause any permanent damage.”
It was announced earlier this week by the WWE that former WWE World Champion Mark Henry would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside Goldberg, Ivory, Jeff Jarrett, The Dudley Boyz, and HillBilly Jim in the class.
WWE holds their 2018 Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 6th in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center and will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network. “There were so many people that were congratulating Mark on Twitter and I didn’t neglect to. I purposely avoided it so people didn’t bring up me dressing up in blackface like Mark… Not that I’m afraid. I just didn’t want to insert that into the Hall of Fame conversation. He was fine with it but I’m not fine with it now. That’s all. And there was nothing bad meant by it but the things I know now I’m a little embarrassed by it.”
Impact Wrestling presents a taped show tonight from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. The company is gearing towards their next PPV on April 22nd, 2018 as well as their head-to-head show with Lucha Underground on April 6th, 2018. Impact will be heading to California this weekend as well where they will be partnering with Big Time Wrestling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOlGzRTWy4o
Matches and Segments Confirmed for Tonight’s Impact
Trevor Lee vs Fallah Bahh
Knockouts Championship
Allie (c) vs Sienna
Rohit Raju (Desi Hit Squad) vs Matt Sydal w/Josh Matthews
Matthews was revealed as Sydal’s “Spiritual Advisor” last week.
Monsters Ball Match
Abyss w/James Mitchell vs Kongo Kong w/Jimmy Jacobs
This Tuesday on Smackdown, Daniel Bryan fired Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. Last week, Shane McMahon had booked Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to face each other at WrestleMania.
There are just 17 days and two episodes of Smackdown left until WrestleMania. Both Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon will need to recover from their storyline injuries quickly in order to book another WrestleMania match or segment involving this storyline.
Daniel Bryan’s contract with WWE expires on a rather interesting date. While there have been several rumored dates his contract is up, Bryan himself confirmed the exact date recently.
Bryan was interviewed by Al Arabiya English recently. He was asked when his contract with WWE expires and confirmed the date as September 1st, 2018. The date also happens to be when Bullet Club’s “All-In” event is scheduled for Chicago.
Daniel Bryan’s WWE Contract
During the interview, Bryan was asked about rumors regarding the expiration date of his contract.
“No, no. I had somebody say that to me on my Twitter. They said, does your contract expire on September 23rd? And I was like, how do people even know that?” Bryan said.
“My contract actually runs out September 1st, which is actually the day of the All-In show, but it’s funny because that doesn’t compute. I was in the Bahrain ComicCon the last two days, and we did Q&As, and at each one, somebody asked me about that. They said, ‘are you going to be at All In’? I’m not. I don’t know what to tell you. But yeah, my contract is up September 1st.”
On the latest episode of his Dinner with the King podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler revealed that he and Jim Ross are headed to Saudi Arabia next month and will be doing commentary for the upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble WWE Network special.
Lawler teased that he might even get involved as a participant in the match, although that’s highly unlikely due to his past health issues.
He joked, “Well, that would be a surprise, but one of the things that makes it appear more possible than before is, hey, we just saw Daniel Bryan get medically cleared.”
The Greatest Royal Rumble
The Greatest Royal Rumble takes place on April 27th from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The show will feature the first-ever 50-Man Royal Rumble and 7 title matches.
In addition to airing on the WWE Network, the event will broadcast live nationwide throughout Saudi Arabia.
It is notable that neither of the women’s championships will be defended and it is likely no matches featuring female performers takes place.
Rey Mysterio will not be wrestling at the NJPW Strong Style Evolved event.
Mysterio was scheduled to take on Jushin Thunder Liger inside Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on March 25. That is no longer the case as Mysterio’s bicep injury has forced him off the card. The announcement was made during a New Japan Cup post-tournament press conference.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion Will Ospreay will take Mysterio’s place. It’ll be Ospreay vs. Liger in a non-title special singles match. The match will be contested under a 30-minute time limit.
In addition to that bit of news, the full card for Strong Style Evolved has been revealed. Check it out below:
Six-Man Tag Team Match: Sho, Yoh, & Rocky Romero vs. Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, & Scorpio Sky
Tag Team Match: Hiroki Goto & Gedo vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay
Tag Team Match: Killer Elite Squad vs. Chuckie T. & Toru Yano
Tag Team Match: Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Cody & Marty Scurll
Eight-Man Tag Team Match: Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi, & Bushi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Dragon Lee
Special Singles Match: Will Ospreay vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
Tag Team Match: Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Minoru Suzuki
IWGP United States Title Match: Jay White (C) vs. Hangman Page
Special Tag Team Match: Golden Lovers vs. The Young Bucks
Tommaso Ciampa slowly made his way down to the ring to start off this week’s episode of NXT. The crowd greeted him with “you suck!” chants as they held up their Johnny Gargano emoji signs. Ciampa paused on the steel steps and looked at the crowd with disgust. Ciampa marched into the ring and demanded a microphone.
The crowd chanted “we want Johnny!” as Ciampa stood silent in the ring. Ciampa brought the microphone to his mouth and the crowd booed. Ciampa dropped the microphone down as a few stray “Ciampa” chants broke out. They were quickly drowned out by “Johnny Wrestling!” chants as Ciampa paced around the ring.
Ciampa finally shouted “He’s gone! Newsflash, he is not walking down that damn isle! He’s gone!”. This only angered the crowd some more and they reigned down “you suck!” chants upon Ciampa. The chant transitioned to “Ciampa sucks!” and Tommaso posed in the ring and soked it all in. Ciampa dropped the microphone and exited the ring. Tommaso slapped the ring apron and took a seat for a moment. Ciampa walked around the outside of the ring and stared at the fans as they mocked him. Ciampa grabbed one of the signs and wiped his arse with it before launching it back at the fan.
Ciampa grabbed a big Gargano sign and ripped it up in front of a young girl. Ciampa started barking at an older woman and she gave him a thumbs down right in his face.
Ciampa grabbed another sign, but he didn’t realize that it was Gargano holding the sign. Johnny jumped the barricade and beat the hell out of Ciampa for a moment. Security rushed the ring and dragged Gargano backstage as Ciampa was shocked in the ring.
An irate @JohnnyGargano has a surprise for @ProjectCiampa…
Mustache Mountain Withdrew From The Dusty Rhodes Classic
Tyler Bate was interviewed backstage earlier in the day. Bate noted that he recently tweaked his knee and that WWE’s medical team advised him to sit out the next couple of weeks. Bate announced that Mustache Mountain unfortunately had to withdraw from the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Roderick Strong pleaded for NXT GM William Regal to allow him into the tournament to replace Mustache Mountain. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan will face Roderick Strong and a mystery partner tonight on NXT.
Roderick Strong & Pete Dunne Advanced To The Semifinals Of The Dusty Rhodes Classic
United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne was revealed to be Roderick Strong’s tag partner. Strong and Dunne have had issues with NXT Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly lately.
Strong and Oney Lorcan started off the match. Lorcan brought Strong to the mat and applied a Chin Lock. Strong battled to his feet and Lorcan tagged Burch in. Burch applied a Wrist Lock but Strong quickly reversed it and tagged in Pete Dunne. Dunne applied a Wrist Lock of his own and dragged Burch to the mat. Dunne bent back Danny’s fingers for a moment but Burch quickly escaped. Strong and Lorcan got into the ring and the two teams had a stare down as NXT went to a break.
When NXT returned, Pete Dunne was back in control and once again bent back the fingers of Danny Burch. Dunne slapped Burch in the face and tagged Roderick back in. Strong connected with a couple of kicks and followed it up with a Backbreaker for two. Strong brought Burch back to the corner and tagged in Dunne. They then connected with dueling chops to Burch and Dunne went for the cover but Burch kicked out at two. Dunne connected with another chop, but Burch responded with a Dropkick off the second turnbuckle.
Lorcan and Strong tagged in and Oney blasted Strong with a running kick and followed it up with an uppercut. Lorcan hit a ridiculous Clothesline and then a Blockbuster for two. Burch tagged in and Strong drove Burch into Lorcan and Danny fell out of the ring. Dunne tagged back in and stomped on Burch’s arm off the second rope. Dunne hit a Suplex and went for the cover but Lorcan broke it up. Lorgan connected with an uppercut to Strong outside the ring.
Back in the ring, Burch and Dunne traded slaps to the face and Dunne fell to the mat. Burch hit a German Suplex and then launched Strong on top of Dunne. Burch went for the cover but Dunne kicked out. Burch locked in the Crossface on Dunne and Lorcan applied a Single Legged Crap to Strong. Roderick kicked Lorcan off of him and Oney fell on top of Burch to break up his Crossface on Dunne. Strong and Lorcan then rolled back to the ring apron.
Burch punched Dunne in the face and followed it up with an Exploder Suplex. Strong tagged in and connected with a Backbreaker to Burch. Strong then hit the End of Heartache on Burch for the pinfall victory. Strong and Dunne will battle SAnitY next week in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament.
Ember Moon Defeated Aliyah As Shayna Baszler Looked On
Aliyah battled NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon tonight. Aliyah dropped Ember Moon to the mat, but Moon locked in the Head Scissors. Aliyah escaped and kipped back up to her feet. Aliyah trapped Moon in the corner and dragged her to the mat by her hair. Aliyah went for the cover as Shayna Baszler made her way to the commentary table. Baszler put her feet on the desk and casually announced that she was running the NXT women’s division.
Ember went for a roll-up but Aliyah kicked out. Moon slammed Aliyah face-first to the mat as Baszler continued to say that nobody can stop her. Ember planted Aliyah with a Samoan Drop and said “this is for you Shayna” before delivering the move. Moon followed it up with an Eclipse for the pinfall victory. Baszler shouted that Ember and everyone else in this division is completely helpless and they all know it. Basler hopped on top of the announce table and got in a shouting match with Ember Moon as she posed with the title on the turnbuckle.
Baszler laughed as Moon demanded that Baszler recognize her as the NXT Women’s Champion. Ember Moon will defend her NXT Women’s Championship against Shayna Baszler at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans during WrestleMania 34 weekend.
Zelina Vega joined Almas as he angrily stomped his way down to the ring. Almas cut a promo that Aleister Black didn’t respect him. Almas called Black a piece of crap and demanded that Black face him next week and pay for his disrespect. Almas dropped the microphone and raised the NXT title in the middle of the ring.
William Regal Promised A Big Announcement Next Week
NXT GM William Regal was shown in his office. Regal addressed the camera and stated that tonight’s main event is up next. Regal added that next week he will be making an announcement that will change the landscape of NXT forever.
Adam Cole Defeated Kassius Ohno
Kassius Ohno faced Adam Cole in the main event of this week’s episode of NXT. Cole and Ohno locked up to start off the match. Ohno lifted Cole in the air and then dropped him to the mat. Cole got back up and connected with a knee to the midsection. Cole hit a forearm to the face and knocked Ohno to the canvas with a shoulder tackle. Cole tried to leapfrog Ohno but got a big boot to his chest for his troubles. Ohno followed it up with a Senton.
Cole charged at Ohno in the corner but Kassius was ready and flipped him to the ring apron. Cole tweaked his knee on the apron and fell to the floor outside the ring. Cole banged on the ring apron out of frustration and the referee checked on him. Cole lumbed back to the ring apron to lure Ohno in. Adam hit an Enziguri and then got back in the ring and stomped on Ohno. Cole smirked and posed in the ring as NXT went to a break.
When NXT returned, Cole was still in control of the match. Cole connected with a big boot and went for the cover but Ohno kicked out at two. Cole said that this was too easy and hit a Neckbreaker for another two count. Cole stomped on Ohno’s back a few times and then applied a Chin Lock. Cole dragged Ohno down and drove his knee into Kassius’ back while maintaining the hold. Ohno got back up to his feet and Cole planted him with a Backstabber for a two count. Cole shouted that Ohno is a loser and Kassius responded with a ridiculous right hand that dropped Cole to the mat.
Ohno leveled Cole with a Clothesline and followed it up with a kick to the face. Ohno Body Slammed Cole to the man and hit a running Leg Drop for a two count. Ohno punched Cole in the face again and then booted Cole in the face from the apron. Ohno followed it up with the Cyclone Kick and went for the cover but Cole kicked out at the last moment. Ohno connected with a forearm and Cole sprung back to his feet and shouted “is that all you’ve got?”. Cole lifted Ohno up for a Suplex and transitioned into a Neckbreaker into the back of his knee for another two count.
Cole went for the Shining Wizard but Ohno caught him and dropped him across the top rope. Ohno hit a running elbow that knocked Cole out of the ring. Ohno brought Cole back into the ring and went for the cover but Cole reversed it into a roll-up for two. Cole hit three Superkicks in a row and hit another Suplex/Neckbreaker. Cole followed it up with the Last Shot for the pinfall victory in an awesome match.
During a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Busted Open radio show, Edge was asked by Bubba Ray to be joined by Christian to induct The Dudley Boyz into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018. Edge said he was all in and that Christian would have no problem making the trip to New Orleans.
Today (March 21), WWE made it official. Edge and Christian will induct Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley ahead of WrestleMania 34. Peep the conversation that sparked today’s announcement below:
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) March 19, 2018
Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz, and The Hardy Boyz ruled tag team wrestling in the attitude era. All three teams participated in numerous Tables, Ladders, & Chairs matches. The most memorable one took place at WrestleMania 17. Edge and Christian ended up winning that battle.
The WWE Hall of Fame 2018 will stream live on the WWE Network on April 6. The ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET. Goldberg will be the main Hall of Fame inductee this year. He will be joined by Jeff Jarrett, Mark Henry, Ivory, Hillbilly Jim, and Kid Rock. Jarrius “JJ” Robertson will receive this year’s Warrior Award.
Frontline Wrestling owner and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay has announced the next 5 names for his company’s debut show on June 28th. ‘Build Me An Empire’ will be taking place at Stratford Circus and tickets for the show can be bought directly from the official Frontline site for as little as £15.
Already named for the debut show are Travis Banks, Chris Ridgeway, ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster and tag team Aussie Open.
Joining those already stellar names will be:
PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm
Wild Boar
Australian Star Adam Brooks
Maverick Mayhew
Conor Mills
Frontline Wrestling are looking to bring the Japanese ‘Puro’ style to British shores in a way that has never been seen before. This announcement with these incredible athletes shows that the company is going full bore on ushering in a new era of Strong Style in Great Britain.
The huge news of the week is WWE giving Daniel Bryan medical clearance to return to action after nearly three years on the sidelines. On Wednesday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Dave Meltzer dropped some new information regarding Bryan’s situation:
– Daniel Bryan is not looking to work a full-time schedule. He will most likely work a schedule similar to Randy Orton – more dates than Brock Lesnar, but not 200+ dates per year like the majority of WWE’s roster.
– Many fans are assuming we’ll see Daniel Bryan team with Shane McMahon against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania, but WWE has not finalized plans for Bryan just yet.
– Meltzer noted that Daniel Bryan has been studying footage of Zack Sabre Jr. matches over the past year in an effort to learn a similar, safer ring style. ZSJ is a master technician and hopefully Bryan can avoid his signature [high risk] suicide dives or top rope head butts.
– Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn’s beatdown of Daniel Bryan was a last-minute booking decision. Bryan took some stiff bumps on SmackDown, including a powerbomb on the apron, which undoubtedly had people on edge at home and backstage.
– As noted earlier, Daniel Bryan was not medically cleared by WWE doctors until about one hour before the company made the announcement on social media.
Listen to the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live over at f4wonline.com.
In related Daniel Bryan news, its worth noting that this week’s SmackDown Live averaged 2.888 million viewers, a slight increase over 2.771 million viewers the previous week.
