The WWE is currently touring in South Africa at the moment, and it looks like they’re making fans happy even outside the ring.
Despite being in Africa; Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Titus O’Neil are still using Uber as a means for transportation. Their driver just so happened to be a WWE fan and absolutely freaked out when he realized who he’d be driving for.
The driver admitted that he watched them on TV every weekend, and also revealed a funny little tidbit about himself. It turns out that he shares the same name as former NXT Champion Sami Zayn.
Titus O’Neil caught most of their interaction with the fan on video and uploaded it to his Twitter. It’s a truly amazing and hilarious thing to watch. Check it out here below:
Dean Ambrose has been out of action since undergoing surgery to repair a torn triceps tendon back on December 19th. Dr. Jeffrey Dugas performed the procedure in Birmingham, Alabama and gave the following update to WWE.com on 12/20:
“[Dean Ambrose] tore some of the distal triceps tendon where it attaches to the forearm bone, called the olecranon. He basically tore about 50 percent of the triceps tendon away from the bone. So yesterday we repaired that back down to the bone where it tore off of. The surgery was very straightforward; we removed all of the extra bursal tissue — all of that extra swollen stuff around his elbow.”
The recovery period for this type of procedure is approximately 4-6 months, although Michael Cole mentioned on WWE television that Ambrose could be out for up to 9 months.
During a media appearance to promote this week’s WWE live events in South Africa, Seth Rollins provided an update on his former tag team partner and Shield brother. During an appearance on the KFM 94.5 radio station out of Cape Town, South Africa, Rollins sad:
“He had some pretty extensive triceps surgery earlier this year so he’s definitely still on the mend and rehabbing. But he’ll be back and better than ever, you wait. Summertime, maybe late Spring. Somewhere in there, I think, whenever that wily guy gets back to normal”
Rollins was also asked if we’d see The Shield back together when Ambrose returns. He said all 3 members of the Shield remain on good terms, but they will probably do their own thing. Rollins, Ambrose and Roman Reigns remain on the RAW brand following the Superstar Shake-Up, so the stage is set for them to appear together again by this summer.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T says he’s returning to the commentary booth this coming Monday when RAW emanates from St. Louis, Missouri.
Following the 2018 Superstar Shake-Up, there will be a lot of new faces – including Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode and more.
WWE has yet to announce a shake-up to the broadcast team, so it remains to be seen how the addition of Booker T will relate to Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman and Corey Graves.
Update: WWE RAW broadcaster Jonathan Coachman has since commented on Booker T doing commentary at Monday’s RAW. At first he was caught off guard when asked about the situation by a fan on Twitter, but clarified that he’ll be back on RAW the following week.
Thank you. I will be back in Montreal. No worries. I tell people on my show all the time you have to evolve with the times. This is a small way to do it. More/different eyeballs on both shows. That why I am honored to work for @WWE and @GolfChannel. #forwardthinking. https://t.co/gEYiZGnKfp
During his prime, there was no better high-flyer in wrestling than Rob Van Dam. As today is April 20th, a celebrated day amongst marijuana enthusiasts, it has become a popular day for Rob Van Dam to make media appearances. RVD has shared through his social media channels that you can hear him on a popular podcast later today and check out a collection of his matches on the FITE App.
Conrad Thompson and Bruce Pritchard of the “Something to Wrestle With Podcast” decided April 20th was the perfect day to bring RVD on as a guest. The 4-hour session with Rob Van Dam will be released at noon today.
— Conrad the Mortgage Guy (@HeyHeyItsConrad) April 20, 2018
Rob Van Dam in 2018
RVD is still wrestling these days, though he doesn’t keep a full schedule. He’s a regular for Pacific Coast Wrestling which operates out of California. His last match for the promotion was on March 18th when he unsuccessfully challenged Pentagon for the promotion’s heavyweight championship.
PCW is releasing a collection of Rob Van Dam’s matches in the promotion through the Fite App today to celebrate 4/20:
On 4/20: watch "RVD’s Greatest Hits” on @FiteTV See the highest flyer in the game, @TherealRVD, in some of his greatest @PCWULTRA matches!
RVD is a former PCW champion, having held the title for 202 days between November 2016 and June 2017. Pentagon was the promotion’s inaugural champion, having defeated Brian Cage in the finals of a tournament. He lost the title 3 months later to RVD.
RVD would successfully defend the title against Willie Mack and MVP before dropping it to John Hennigan. As for Hennigan, he would defend the title 3x before losing it. Hennigan defeated Pentagon, Jeff Cobb, and Brian Cage. He’d lose the title to Pentagon at the Refuse to Lose event, however. His only title defense came recently against RVD.
The 47-year-old Rob Van Dam also wrestled frequently for the now-defunct 5-Star Wrestling promotion based out of Liverpool. The short-lived promotion brought in several big names for their events, including Rey Mysterio Jr and Jake Hager (FKA Jack Swagger).
Ahead of tonight’s MLW FUSION premiere on beIN SPORTS, beIN has uploaded the finals of the recent MLW World Heavyweight Championship tournament.
Below, watch “King of Bros” Matt Riddle and Shane “Swerve” Strickland battle it out to crown a new MLW World Heavyweight Champion.
It was the culmination of a months-long tournament, which saw Strickland defeat Brody King & Jimmy Havoc and Riddle best Jeff Cobb and ACH en route to the finals.
MLW FUSION is a new weekly 1-hour broadcast featuring Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini on commentary. As the name suggests, FUSION will feature a hybrid of pro wrestling styles bringing together some of the top talent from across the world.
In addition to Strickland and Riddle, MLW’s growing roster includes Jake Hager, MVP, Low Ki, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Jimmy Havoc, Barrington Hughes, Maxwell Jacob Friedman and many more.
FUSION will air each Friday night at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on beIN SPORTS.
Scott Steiner was on Impact Wrestling’s recent media call to promote Sunday’s Redemption PPV. Steiner is scheduled to team with Eli Drake to challenge LAX for the tag-team championships on the show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duQdjlbZWXs
Scott Steiner Promotes Redemption
As is usually the case with Scott Steiner interviews, he had plenty to say on several topics.
Transcriptions courtesy of Cageside Seats:
“Konnan’s gonna be doing what he always did in WCW after we finish this match. He’s gonna be carrying my bags and shining my belt. Maybe my shoes, too. Actually, he might come and cut my grass. I might have all three of them do it, really. I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet,” Steiner said in reference to Konnan, who will manage LAX on Sunday.
“They will be with Konnan, cutting my grass. I actually have a tee spot on my lawn where I need to be putting, so they better be just right. I hate golf. But they better cut my grass right. That’s what I don’t understand. Why does Trump want to keep out all the Mexicans, but who’s going to cut the grass? Seriously. I mean, that’s a legitimate question.”
Scott Steiner Goes Off on Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan
Scott Steiner does not like Hulk Hogan. This has been clear for some time but Steiner re-iterated it again during the media call:
“The beginning was the most profitable time at TNA, as far as viewership, making money, merchandise and all that stuff combined. Unfortunately, that led to the next incarnation, which was working for dumba** Dixie Carter, that brought in the racist Hulk Hogan and all those other guys. That’s what killed it. Of course, I’ve let my feelings be known, and she put a lawsuit on me, because of the stuff I was saying on Twitter about Hogan.”
Impact Wrestling’s Redemption takes place Sunday, April 22nd, 2018 from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.
There was an incident over WrestleMania weekend where Harry Smith (Davey Boy Smith Jr) is alleged to have thrown a cup of coffee in the face of Jake “the Snake” Roberts. The incident is said to have happened during WrestleCon.
New Orleans Police are now looking for Smith according to Pro Wrestling Sheet. A representative for the New Orleans Police Department issued the following statement:
“The NOPD is investigating a simple battery incident that occurred on April 7, 2018 in the 500 block of Canal Street. The victim told police that at about 11 a.m., he was signing autographs at the location when he was approached by a known subject, later identified as Harry Smith (DOB: 08-02-1985). The victim told police he attempted to shake hands with Smith, at which time a verbal argument ensued. Smith then allegedly threw a cup of coffee at the victim’s face and fled the scene. No major injuries were reported by the victim.”
This is technically the remnants of a feud which began with Jake and Harry’s father in the 1980s. Roberts has made public disparaging comments about Smith’s father. Davey Boy Smith Sr. and his partner, the Dynamite Kid, had a reputation for being bullies. Several wrestlers from the era have spoken out against their actions during this period.
Roberts has told a story of how the Bulldogs used to throw lit cigarettes at his snake to upset him. In retaliation to this, Jake fed Matilda (the Bulldogs pet bulldog) food laced with laxatives. When prompted, Jake is not shy about sharing his hatred for the now-deceased Davey Boy Smith Sr.
Shortly after the incident, Davey Boy Smith Jr. admitted to WrestleZone that he confronted Jake at WrestleCon. Smith says he asked Jake to apologize for the negative comments he made about his father. According to Smith, Jake offered to shake his hand but refused to apologize for his comments or step outside to fight the much younger Smith. After Jake told the member of the Killer Elite Squad to “F Off”, Smith says he threw the coffee in his face.
The New Orleans Police Department is asking anyone with knowledge of the incident to contact them.
Ricochet began wrestling house show and dark matches for NXT back in February. He then participated in the amazing ladder match at Takeover: New Orleans as his first-ever televised match with the promotion. It hasn’t taken long for Ricochet’s talents to be noticed by one of the all-time greats.
Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, whose movie “Rampage” is currently in theatres, had this to say regarding NXT’s newest superstar recently:
He’s the man! Love the stuff King is doing and will no doubt be the leader in ushering in a new era of our wrestling business. Future champ.
It’s not the first time the box office megastar has heaped praise on Ricochet. Back in the summer of 2016, The Rock posted a message on Instagram calling Ricochet “incredibly gifted” and warning him to stay away from backstage politics.
Ricochet’s Career Up To Now
The 29-year-old Ricochet has long been on WWE’s radar. A lengthy contract term with Lucha Underground, however, prevented him from signing with the company until recently.
Trevor Mann began his pro-wrestling career by moving up the independent rankings quickly. He made his debut as a teenager for Chikara and a couple of years later moved on to compete with Evolve and Dragon Gate as well. In 2010, Ricochet began competed for Pro Wrestling Guerilla too.
He made his first appearance in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2013. In his time with the promotion, he won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament (2014), the Super Junior Tag Tournament (w/ Matt Sydal in 2015), and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag-Team titles on 3 occasions (2x with Sydal and once with Ryusuke Taguchi). Surprisingly, he never won the company’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
In 2014, Ricochet signed with Lucha Underground. At the time, the company was signing performers to 7-season long contracts, though they have since gone back on these types of commitments. His Lucha Underground contract prevented him from appearing on television for other promotions. He was even prevented from appearing on the first NJPW show in Long Beach last summer.
Ricochet was officially declared a free agent after Lucha Underground’s 3rd season finished airing. During his time with Lucha Underground, he became the promotion’s first-ever World Champion. As the character, Prince Puma, he was to be the promotion’s first top babyface performer.
Kacy Catanzaro made her debut at an NXT house show in Sanford, Florida last night. She lost to another female prospect, Reina Gonzalez.
From 2014-2016, Catanzaro competed on the 6th, 7th, and 9th seasons of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”. She eventually earned a reputation as the greatest female competitor in the show’s history.
Before the American Ninja Warrior, Catanzaro was a Division I gymnist with the University of Towson, Maryland. She received a tryout with WWE at the Performance Center in January of 2017. WWE announced she had signed with the company during the Mae Young Classic last summer.
Here are the full results from last night’s NXT house show in Sanford, Florida:
Reina Gonzales defeated Kacy Catanzaro
Lio Rush w/Babatunde Aiyegbusi defeated Kona Reeves
Dakota Kai & Steffanie Newell defeated Aliyah & Kavita Devi
Adrian Jaoude, Cezar Bononi, & Taynara Conti defeated Big Boa, Rocky, & Xia Li
Ember Moon defeated Vanessa Borne
the Authors of Pain defeated TM-61
** Babatunde Aiyegbusi is a 6ft10 355lbs former football player who signed with WWE in 2016. He appears to be managing the much smaller Lio Rush.
Kacy Catanzaro in NXT Women’s Division
With the recent call-ups of the Iiconics and Ember Moon, it has left a hole in NXT women’s roster. It was also only back in November when 5 other NXT women (Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, & Sonya Deville) were called up as well. This leaves the door open for Performance Center trainees, like Catanzaro, to get an opportunity.
Currently the female performers who are used on NXT television are:
NXT Women’s Champion: Shayna Baszler
Kairi Sane
Nikki Cross
Candice LeRae
Dakota Kai
Bianca Belair
Aliyah
Lacey Evans
Vanessa Borne
There are also several female performers who work on the NXT house show circuit but do not appear on NXT televsion.
Tonight (4/20), Major League Wrestling’s new weekly television series Fusion premieres on beIN SPORTS. MLW Fusion will feature top ranked wrestlers from around the world competing for championship gold, creating a unique fusion of styles.
The 1-hour broadcasts will premiere at 8pm (Eastern) each Friday night and will replay at 11pm. The action will be called by Tony Schiavone and Rich Bocchini. This marks Tony Schiavone’s return to national television for the first time since the demise of WCW in 2001.
MLW has been creating a lot of noise since the promotion re-launched last fall. Following the success of their live events from Orlando, Florida at Gilt Nightclub, the company recently announced this national TV deal and crowned a new World Heavyweight Champion. We’re covering MLW here on the site because we love the product and believe it has the potential to be a viable alternative to WWE, ROH and Impact Wrestling.
BeIN SPORTS is available in over 50 million households across the United States via traditional cable providers Verizon Fios, Dish Network, DirecTV, and AT&T Uverse. The channel can also be accessed via “over the top” streaming via SlingTV, FuboTV and Yip. Check out the guide below to find out how you can watch MLW Fusion each week (click to enlarge).
It appears that Bobby Lashley could be added to the upcoming Fatal Four Way Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble event.
Lashley made his surprise WWE return 2 weeks ago on the Raw episode following WrestleMania 34 where he attacked Elias and established himself as a face.
Till now there was no confirmation of him being part of the upcoming mega Live Event and some believed that he could end up in the 50 Men Battle Royal at the show.
However, PWinsider has revealed that local advertisements in the area list the former World Champion as a participant of the upcoming Championship Ladder match.
This looks to be a solid indication that the former TNA Star would be wrestling side by side with the Champion Seth Rollins and others instead of being part of the Battle Royal.
Though it’s worth mentioning that the official WWE.com page for the upcoming event still lists the match to be a Fatal Four Way between Rollins, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and the Miz.
Apart from this ladder match, the Greatest Royal Rumble will feature several other gimmick matches as well including a casket match between Undertaker and Rusev and more.
You can check out an updated card for the event here.
Chris Jericho’s role for the upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble has gone back and forth in the past few days in the wake of the controversy surrounding Rusev.
During his recent interview on In This Corner Podcast, the former World Champion talked about these changes while discussing the upcoming mega live event in detail.
According to Jericho, he would be happy to play whatever role the company wants him to play on the show whether it be a casket match against the Undertaker or a lingerie match against Funaki:
“For me at this point I mean, whether they want me to be part of the Royal Rumble or work against The Undertaker or work against Funaki in a lingerie match, whatever needs to be done I’m happy to do it.”
Continuing on the topic, Y2J later explained this to be a strength of his legacy as he can come and do whatever needs to be done whether it’s main eventing a show or being part of the opening bout of the night.
However, the company ended up adding Rusev back into the bout a few days later and Jericho has since returned to his previously announced position in the card, as part of the 50 Men Battle Royal.
There were rumors that Dolph Ziggler has signed a new WWE contract worth $1.5 million earlier this year and if they were true then it would have made Ziggler one of the highest paid employees of the company.
However, as we noted before these reports turned out to be false and the former World Champion himself has denied the stories of him signing a new deal with the company multiple times in recent months.
Now a new report from PWinsider has again confirmed the fact that Dolph is yet to sign a new deal and they reveal that his current contract expires sometime this summer.
While the exact date of his contract expiration is not given, the time frame still puts things in an interesting position as Ziggler has recently been aligned with Drew McIntyre in addition to being moved to Raw.
In previous interviews, the Show Off has said that he has limited time to make a decision on his future and implicated that he is also considering other options because of his poor bookings of the past several years.
So if WWE really wants to keep him around it would make sense for them to push the former Champion in near future.
Since the move to Raw offers several possibilities for a fresh start, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we see Dolph Ziggler becoming part of some interesting storylines in upcoming times.
There were several rumors coming off Brock Lesnar’s victory at WrestleMania 34 and one of the most exciting ones was that the company could be planning a match between him and Bobby Lashley with Lesnar losing the Universal Championship to the later.
However, in the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer addressed these speculations and revealed some bad news for the fans who want to see these two square off.
According to the Wrestling Journalist, while there have been heavy rumors of this match taking place in near future, currently there are no plans of this bout.
It’s believed that Officials can get two losses out of Lesnar if he is really on his way out – one where he drops the Universal title and another one to put one more wrestler over.
The general belief backstage is that a part-time talent like Lashley who is in his early 40s would not be benefited from a win over Brock as much as a younger talent.
Bobby Lashley made his WWE return after almost 11 years at the Raw after WrestleMania 34 where he attacked Elias. Though he is yet to get involved in any real feud.
On the other hand, Brock Lesnar is currently scheduled to defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at the Greatest Royal Rumble and many believe that the Beast could be dropping the title to the Big Dog during this WrestleMania rematch.
Mae Young Classic competitor and PROGRESS Women’s Champion Toni Storm has been confirmed for Frontline Wrestling’s debut show ‘Build Me An Empire’ which takes place June 28th from Stratford Circus in London. Frontline Wrestling is a new promotion headed by IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, the company will be looking to present a more ‘sports’ based style that is akin to Japanese/Puro’s presentation and aesthetic.
Rumors have been circulating regarding Toni Storm’s WWE status for several months now. There was an expectation following the Mae Young Classic that Storm and fellow British performer Piper Niven/Viper would be signed however this does not appear to have yet come to fruition, whether Storm and indeed Niven will end up in WWE/NXT remains to be seen but is very likely given the international popularity of both stars.
Storm will be facing fellow STARDOM roster star Bea Priestley in somewhat of a dream match for UK fans; Priestley is an up and coming performer in her own right, she has recently been confirmed as one of the 16 women taking part in the STARDOM ‘Cinderella’ Tournament taking place April 30th from Korakuen Hall in Japan, she will be facing Irish star ‘Session Moth’ Martina in the opening round.
Europe’s biggest All Female promotion Pro Wrestling: EVE has announced that the upcoming ‘Wrestle Queendom’ show will be broadcast LIVE on iPPV across the world.
The stacked mega card will be taking place Saturday May 5th from the world famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London. EVE has not yet confirmed which PPV company will be hosting the content however FITE is looking the most likely at this stage.
Two of the standout matches on this show have got to be WWE Mae Young Classic Competitors Piper Niven/Viper and Kay Lee Ray taking on Aja Kong and Meiko Satomura respectively. The two legends of Japanese wrestling will be stepping in the ring with arguably two of the finest performers on the UK scene and it will be available to view live on iPPV.
Here is the currently confirmed card for the show:
Pro Wrestling: EVE Championship Match – Sammii Jayne (c) v SHE-1 Tournament Winner and ACE of EVECharlie Morgan
International Dream Match – Aja Kong v Viper
International Dream Match – Meiko Satomura v Kay Lee Ray
Winner Advances to the Wildcard Ladder Match – Kris Wolf v Jinny Couture
Ever since Triple H came up with the idea for NXT, he has had a certain vision in mind. For years, WWE would sign top stars in other promotions during the territories era as well as create their own stars from the ground up. When WWE and WCW got hot in the 1990’s and started the Monday Night Wars, they went after other promotions for their top stars. This led to the independent scene soaking up all of the talents that WWE and WCW didn’t want. However, when Vince McMahon decided to buy his competition, there became a monopoly in the professional wrestling business. It seems pretty clear what Triple H’s vision for the developmental brand is. Sign athletes, who have no pro wrestling experience and train them to become WWE Superstars. Also, he wants to sign the best of the best talents in the world and have them learn the WWE playbook then shine not only in NXT but on the main roster. Just look at the main roster in WWE right now.
ESPN has an article about the success of NXT and the level of growth that the brand has had over the past few years with some quotes with “The Game.”
“It’s just a classic story, you know, you don’t even have to say wrestling,” said Levesque. “Classics never get old, it’s authentic and it’s real. It was done with passion and emotion and feel. There’s a ring of truth to all of it, right? We put Gargano and Ciampa together and they weren’t best of friends, but they became it. He was in his wedding and all that is legit. “And to go forward from there, the injuries and just the story… part of it was the plan, and then part of it was just working around the nuances of life to get there,” Levesque continued. “But it almost made it better in some way, right? To me this is one of those things that I love because it is the classic bad guy-good guy… to me, that’s the art of what we do — and I do consider this an art form, in every sense of it. Sometimes you hit magic.”
As seen at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans event earlier this month at the Smoothie King Center on the WWE Network, Johnny Gargano battled Tommaso Ciampa in the main event. Some believed that the NXT Title should always be in the main event but Triple H explained why Gargano vs. Ciampa was the perfect fit to be the headliner of that show.
“I feel like any of them could have [main evented], and this was a debate. A lot of points of view on it. There’s a part of me that goes, ‘Whoa, the title should close,’ and then there’s a part of me that goes, ‘You cannot pass that emotion.’ You just can’t. No level of moonsault, no level of flip off a ladder, no level of any of that is gonna pass that level of emotion and feeling — that level of emotion of the storytelling. “I don’t know how you could have gone off the air better than Gargano gets his life back and his wife’s in there,” said Levesque. “Unless I have Ciampa run back in there and piledrive her, that’s the end. There’s always next time.” What are your thoughts on Triple H’s comments in this piece? Sound off in the comment section below.
Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) has decided to offer their On Demand service for free to new subscribers for this week only. You can find more information via the official ICW On Demand Twitter account @ICWonDemand or here. If you’re interested in getting a free week of Scotland’s biggest independent promtion then make sure that you sign up by Sunday 22nd.
One of the most anticipated bouts at ICW’s upcoming Barramania IV event pits Lionheart against longtime foe Jackie Polo. The two men will look to settle their heated feud on Sunday April 29th…but before their match the two men met during ICW’s recent Fight Club tapings and before Lionheart left the ring he attacked company owner Mark Dallas, hitting a Rock Bottom and leaving ‘the boss’ laying. Check out the video via the tweet below but be forewarned there is EXTREMELY strong language.
PROGRESS has announced the final entrant(s) in their upcoming Super Strong Style 16 tournament. Taking place May 5th, 6th and 7th the annual tournament brings some of the best wrestlers from Europe, Mexico, Japan and the United States to Alexandra Palace in North London.
In an interesting twist the PROGRESS Tag Team Champions the ‘Grizzled Young Veterans’ have decided to enter themselves into the 16 man tournament…which man enters on the day has not yet been confirmed. The ‘Vets’ tag team is comprised of Zack Gibson and James Drake, Gibson is someone who is heavily linked with WWE’s United Kingdom roster after performing as part of the Axxess shows this past WrestleMania weekend. James Drake is already a member of the WWE UK roster and a chance to see the tag team perform as part of the Albert Hall shows may well become a reality this June.
The full lineup for the Super Strong Style 16 tournament is now as follows:
DEFIANT Wrestling has announced a massive Championship match for their upcoming ‘No Regrets’ PPV on Saturday April 28th from Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Reigning DEFIANT Internet Champion Travis Banks will be defending his coveted belt against Ringkampf stable member WALTER. Interestingly this match up pits the PROGRESS World Champion against the PROGRESS ATLAS Champion even before London’s biggest independent pro wrestling company the decides to pit these two stars against one another…
The ‘No Regrets’ PPV will be available to purchase via the FITE App or on DEFIANT’s own Access DEFIANT On Demand streaming service. You can sign up for a 30-day free trial right now if you head over to this page.
Access Defiant costs just $8.99 per month and features the entirety of the WCPW back catalogue, including the Pro Wrestling World Cup, WCPW True Legacy featuring Kurt Angle vs Cody Rhodes, Stacked ’17 featuring Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll and much more.
Ahead of Friday night’s MLW Fusion series premiere on beIN SPORTS, the promotion has announced another big match for the 5/3 Intimidation Games television taping from Orlando, FL.
Newly signed MLW star Jake Hager will debut against Jeff Cobb in a match that pits All American vs. Olympian. Hager, a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, has been aded to Colonel Robert Parker’s stable of talent.
Parker told MLW.com, “I recommend Mr. Cobb check his insurance policy and make the appropriate accommodations at the finest hospital as he has never faced a hoss like mister Jake Hager in his career.”
MLW Intimidation Games
Intimidation Games is shaping up to be another strong card from Major League Wrestling. Confirmed for the show:
MLW World Champion Shane Stricland vs. Pentagon Jr.
Rey Fenix vs. ACH
Jake Hager vs. Jeff Cobb
How To Watch MLW FUSION
https://twitter.com/MLW/status/987028074847002624
Posted April 19th, 2018 in MLW, News. Tagged: MLW.
One-half of the Smackdown tag-team champions, the Bludgeon Brothers, is taunting their rivals on social media. 38-year-old, Luke Harper, took time away from his normal social media routine to send a message to the Usos and Jimmy Uso’s wife, Naomi.
Normally, Harper sends out a daily Tweet similar to this:
The below screenshot of Harper’s Twitter feed shows this is usually all he does on Twitter:
Today, however, Harper decided to use his Twitter account to send a message to Naomi and the Usos. Harper commented on the real-life relationship between the couple:
It appears as though the storyline between the Bludgeon Brothers and the Usos will involve some real-life elements, including the real-life relationship between Jimmy Uso and Naomi. It’s unlikely the Bludgeon Brothers show up on Total Divas, however. The angle seems to be leading to a long-awaited Usos babyface turn as well.
WWE cameras caught Naomi and the Usos backstage on Tuesday:
the Bludgeon Brothers vs. the Usos and Smackdown’s Tag-Team Division
The Smackdown tag-team division is arguably the deeper of the two brands at the moment. With Anderson & Gallows and the Bar joining Smackdown from Raw, it creates a log-jam at the top of the division.
With the Usos and the Bludgeon Brothers feuding over the titles, that leaves the New Day, the Bar, and Anderson & Gallows all vying to be declared the next challengers. Sanity has also been called up to Smackdown as well. Eric Young, Killian Dain, and Alexander Wolfe could be inserted into the tag division too.
In the Superstar Shakeup, Smackdown gained two former tag-team championship winning teams and gave up the Ascension and Breezeango. Not a bad deal for Shane McMahon and Paige!
The Bludgeon Brothers are scheduled to defend their newly won Smackdown tag-team championships against the Usos. The match will take place at the Greatest Royal Rumble on April 27th, 2018 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It will be their first televised title defense since winning the belts at WrestleMania 34.
The final episode of Impact Wrestling before the company’s Redemption PPV on Sunday airs tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5OvN6kXxT8
Impact Wrestling Preview (April 19th, 2018)
KM Issues an Open Challenge
Kevin Matthews, aka KM, plans to issue an open challenge to the Impact Wrestling locker tonight.
Johnny Impact vs Kongo Kong w/Jimmy Jacobs
The Emo Princess, Jimmy Jacobs, has control over Impact’s newest monster, Kongo Kong, but how will he fair against perennial top-contender, Johnny impact?
Neither of these two has a match booked for the Redemption PPV. Perhaps something will be set up here or they might both be left off the show.
Su Yung and Braxton Sutter vs Fallah Bahh and Kiera Hogan
An inter-gender match featuring two of Impact’s newest female wrestlers, Su Yung and Kiera Hogan takes place tonight.
Yung will take on Knockouts Champion, Allie, on Sunday for the championship.
We are still finding out just how dangerous the undead bride is. Perhaps tonight we will find out more about Su Yung’s plans for Allie.
Brian Cage in single’s competition
Nobody is rising up the Impact Wrestling rankings faster than Brian Cage. He’ll be in single’s action tonight but his opponent has yet to be named.
Cage defeated Lashley recently on Impact and the victory over a former World Champion likely means the promotion has big plans for him.
Brian Cage is scheduled to be in a 6-way match at the Redemption PPV. His opponents are scheduled to be Taiji Ishimori, Dezmond Xavier, El Hijo del Fantasma, DJZ, and Trevor Lee.
Last Road to Redemption
While not confirmed, it is expected the company will air some promotional segment for the Redemption PPV main event.
Impact was forced to explain for Alberto El Patron’s removal from the Redemption show during last week’s episode. Aries explained that since he lost the triple threat match at the LU vs Impact show, the same match will be run back again at Redemption. Should Pentagon win at Redemption, he would simultaneously hold both the Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling world championships in storyline. While season 4 of Lucha Underground has been filmed (so he may have lost the title, I don’t know), it has yet to air.
On Friday 4/27, WWE presents the Greatest Royal Rumble, a special event from the King Abdullah Sports City in Saudi Arabia. The event will air live on the WWE Network and WWE is pulling out all the stops to ensure this is a memorable show.
Several weeks ago, a photo was circulating online showing one of WWE’s set designers working on what was purported to be the WrestleMania 34 stage design.
WrestleMania 34 came and went – with a beautiful production setup that looked nothing like the stage depicted above. With construction underway inside the Abdullah Sports City stadium, a photo has leaked showing that arched stage is actually for the Greatest Royal Rumble:
Greatest Royal Rumble Card:
The following is the updated card for next Friday’s Greatest Royal Rumble WWE Network special:
50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Battle Royal
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
Casket Match: The Undertaker vs. Rusev
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
John Cena vs. Triple H
Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Lashley
United States Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Jinder Mahal
Raw Tag Team Champions The Bar vs. Bray Wyatt & Woken Matt Hardy
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Usos
During this week’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, a vignette aired hyping the return of Kona Reeves, who has dubbed himself “The Finest.”
For those unfamiliar with Kona Reeves, he’s been under WWE contract dating back to 2014. He competed in the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (2015) and wrestled on NXT television throughout 2016 and into early 2017.