Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley has posted a cryptic message on her official Twitter account that has led to some fans believing that it is about her ongoing storyline on WWE television with fellow former champion Sasha Banks.
As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in San Diego, CA at the Valley View Casino Center on the USA Network, Bayley attacked Banks following their six-woman tag team match against The Riott Squad. She wrote the following:
No Way Jose recently did a Q&A session with fans on Twitter that led to him having some harsh words with Mojo Rawley and event went as far as calling out Rawley for a bit of hypocrisy. You can see the exchange here:
Are you content knowing all of your "accomplishments" are because you're Gronk's lackey? You'll forever be his Cheeseburger, you clown. https://t.co/7WQd4ptgmO
Kane is in a position where he could make WWE history soon.
Kane made his return on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Ontario, CA at the Citizens Business Bank Arena on the USA Network after Daniel Bryan faced off with Luke Harper in the main event. Once Erick Rowan attacked Bryan to cause the DQ, Kane walked down to the ring to make the save.
Bryan and Kane will challenge Harper and Rowan for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles at Extreme Rules.
A Reddit user [u/LuckyGood0] recently noted that if Team Hell No wins the titles at this event then it would make Kane the first person to hold the World, WCW, WWE (RAW) and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
The user also noted that “It would also be his 13th Tag Team title reign in WWE. With 12 reigns, he’s currently 2nd behind Edge (14) when it comes to all-time Tag team title reigns for individuals in the company.”
The Extreme Rules pay-per-view event takes place on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena.
What are your thoughts on this potential accomplishment? Sound off in the comment section.
Posted June 29th, 2018 in News, WWE. Tagged: Kane.
This week’s Impact Wrestling was the first to broadcast from Windsor, ON, Canada. The promotion continues to build toward their Slammiversary PPV on July 22nd from Toronto’s Rebel nightclub.
This week’s episode confirmed two new matches added to the card and built towards several others. This article breaks down the top 6 developments in Impact Wrestling from this week’s episode.
We’ll start things out with the LAX storyline, where Konnan has returned to confront King (aka Eddie Kingston). King took over a leadership position with the faction due to Konnan and Homicide’s absence.
Konnan Confronts King
“All warfare is predicated on deception. You think you’re playing me, I’m playing you” – Konnan to King
LAX may have won back the tag-team championships with King at their side but now that Konnan has returned things could get interesting. Konnan confronted King this week. He told LAX that King can’t be trusted as well. From Ortiz and Santana’s point of view, however, King has turned things around for the faction.
Diamante has already expressed concern that King has ulterior motives. Konnan says he has proof King can’t be trusted and he’ll reveal it shortly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twba5ieaEB4
Brian Cage Is Targetting Matt Sydal But Kongo Kong Is Targetting Him
Last week on Impact, Sydal defeated Cage via count-out after interference from Kongo Kong and Jimmy Jacobs. It’s clear Cage still has Sydal and the X-Division title in his sights, however.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue86JXlRo2E
This week on Impact, Sydal defeated Dezmond Xavier in a non-title match. After the match, Cage came down to ringside to confront Sydal. This brought out Kongo Kong and Jacobs who attacked Cage before he could get to the champion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jutIGsxA0cA
If Cage wants another shot at Sydal’s title, it looks as though he will have to go through Kongo Kong first. The machine will meet Jimmy Jacobs’ monster in single’s action next week.
If Cage gets through Kong, he could be granted another shot at Sydal. The match would likely be scheduled for Slammiversary.
Eddie Edwards Has Made An Enemy of Tommy Dreamer
Eddie Edwards is moving on from his rivalry with Sami Callihan. The feud with Sami seems to have sent Edwards spiraling to a dark place. Tommy Dreamer attempted to help him but Edwards is too far gone and now sees Dreamer as an enemy. In fact, Edwards’ delusions have grown so intense, he’s begun to believe Dreamer is involved with his wife.
This week on Impact, Edwards traveled to Philadelphia to confront Dreamer at a House of Hardcore show. He interfered in Dreamer’s match, caning him on the head with a kendo stick.
Madison Rayne opened up this week’s show and spoke on why she’s returning to the ring. She was interrupted by Tessa Blanchard, however. The two would meet later in the night in the main event.
On a previous episode of Impact, Rayne defeated Blanchard with a pinning combination. Many called the win an upset. She’d defeat Blanchard again tonight, however. This time she used a crucifix combination to get the win.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAFnQuf4zKg
Blanchard beat down Rayne after the match but was interrupted by Su Yung and her army of Zombie brides. The brides and Yung surrounded Raye after Blanchard made a timely escape.
Just when it looked like Yung was going to give Rayne her finisher, Allie returned and broke up the macabre scene.
Rich Swann Has Arrived in the X-Division
Rich Swann defeated Trevor Lee this week on Impact. It was just Swann’s second match for the promotion after having lost to Austin Aries at the Zero Fear PPV show.
We asked Swann earlier this week what competing in the X-Division means to him.
“Oh man, I was such a fan,” Swann said of the early days of the X-Division. “Seeing guys like Frankie Kazarian, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal.”
“Growing up aspiring to be a professional wrestler my size and stature that was one of my goals, if not the goal, to be in the X-Division to be in Impact, to get the X-Division championship,” he continued.
After Swann defeated Trevor Lee, it was revealed he will take on Fenix next week. Later in the show, it was revealed Swann will be part of a 4-way match at Slammiversary. His opponents will be Johnny Impact, Taiji Ishimori, and Fenix.
Sami Callihan vs Pentagon Jr Mask Vs Hair
Last week on Impact, oVe took on Pentagon and Fantasma. Callihan took it upon himself to interfere in the match and hit Pentagon in the head with his signature baseball bat.
This week on Impact, we traveled to a PCW Ultra show in Los Angeles, where Callihan attacked Pentagon. Along with the Crist brothers, Callihan unmasked Pentagon.
Later in the show, Pentagon would issue a challenge to Callihan for a Mask vs Hair match at Slammiversary.
Shinsuke Nakamura is not competing at WWE’s live events from Japan this week, but he did get physical
At Friday’s WWE live event from Tokyo, Japan at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, Nakamura had a confrontation with Samoa Joe that did not exactly go his way.
Nakamura had been scheduled to challenge WWE Champion AJ Styles at the event, but is currently out of action due to injury. Nakamura came out on crutches to cut a promo for the Japanese crowd, which brought out Samoa Joe. After some trash talking back and forth, Nakamura attempted to hit Joe with a low blow, but wound up in a Coquina Clutch.
AJ Styles ran out to make the save, setting up the Styles vs. Samoa Joe main event for later in the show.
#WWETokyo Shinsuke Nakamura entered the ring with a crutch, and read a little promo before being attacked by Samoa Joe.
As noted earlier this week, Nakamura’s leg was bit by a police dog backstage at Monday’s SmackDown live event from Bakersfield, CA. It’s unclear at this time how long he’ll be out of action for.
WWE Live Event Results from Tokyo, Japan (6/30)
– The New Day defeated The Bar
– Hideo Itami defeated Shelton Benjamin.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Shelton Benjamin. Tye answered the open challenge by Benjamin.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella retained over Becky Lynch
– Andrade “Cien” Almas defeated Sin Cara
– Daniel Bryan defeated The Miz
– Asuka and Naomi defeated Lana and Billie Kay with Peyton Royce
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers retained over The Usos, Rusev & Aiden English and Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
– WWE Champion AJ Styles retained over Samoa Joe
What are your thoughts on Nakamura’s injury? Sound off in the comment section.
Ring of Honor is back on pay-per-view tonight. Best in the World 2018 will also stream live for VIP Honor Club subscribers. The event will emanate from the UMBC Event Center (holds approx. 6000) from Catonsville, Maryland.
ROH Best in the World 2018 Lineup and Preview
ROH World Championship 3-Way Match Dalton Castle (c) vs Cody vs Marty Scurll
Castle has held the title since December 15th, 2017 when he defeated Cody at Final Battle 2017. Tonight could easily be his last with the belt.
Scurll and Cody have not been on the same page as of late and competing for the World Title in the same match will not make things easier. This match could lead to a full-blown Cody and Scurll feud, although Cody has a lot of other things going on as well.
This will be the first of 3 big championship matches for Cody this summer. He will also challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the G1 Special in San Francisco. He will then challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on September 1st.
ROH World Tag Team Championships The Briscoes (c) vs the Young Bucks
This match pits the most successful two tag-teams in Ring of Honor history against one another. Technically, the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Cesaro) and reDragon (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish) have held the tag belts longer than the Bucks, though nobody has held them longer than the Briscoes.
The Briscoes have adopted an anti-Bullet Club stance as of late. Now working as heels, this will be the most high-profile match yet featuring the Briscoes rivalry with the American faction of Bullet Club.
The Young Bucks are fresh off having won the IWGP heavyweight tag team championships in NJPW. They will have to defend those titles at the Cow Palace next weekend, however, against former champions, Evil and Sanada.
Flip Gordon vs Bully Ray
Bully Ray has been trying to take out all the lower-card and younger guys on the roster. He’s already bullied Cheeseburger and several other wrestlers.
Tonight, Flip will try and upset the veteran and maybe try and impress the All-In bookers in the process.
ROH 6-Man Tag Team Championships The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, Vinny Marseglia) (c) vs Bushi, Evil, and Sanada
The Kingdom is the only 2-time holders of these titles. They have defended the titles more times than any other team as well. They are just 52 days away from breaking the Hung Bucks record for most combined days spent with the title.
LIJ has held 6-man gold in NJPW but never in ROH. In fact, no team from NJPW has ever won these titles. Tonight could easily be the first time it happens, however.
ROH World Television Championship Baltimore Street Fight Punishment Martinez vs Adam Page
Martinez won a 6-way proving ground match and then defeated Silas Young for the belt last weekend in Texas. He will be in tough against Page, who is still trying to win his first singles title in either ROH or NJPW.
Also Booked for the show:
Jay Lethal vs KUSHIDA
Kenny King vs Austin Aries
Sumie Sakai, Jenny Rose, Mayu Iwatani, and Tenille Dashwood vs Kelly Klein, Hazuki, Kagetsu, and Hana Kimura
Two new matches have been revealed for the upcoming Slammiversary PPV event. As seen on this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV, Pentagon Jr. challenged Sami Callihan to a Mask vs. Hair match at Slammiversary after Callihan removed his mask on this show only to have Pentagon cover up his face immediately after.
The other match slated for this PPV is Rich Swann vs. Johnny Impact vs. Fenix vs. Ishimori in a Fatal 4-Way.
Impact will present Slammiversary live on pay-per-view on Sunday, July 22nd from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Canada. Here is the updated card for the show:
– Impact World Champion Austin Aries vs. Moose
– Impact Knockouts Champion Su Yung vs. Madison Rayne
– Mask vs. Hair: Pentagon Jr. vs. Sami Callihan
– Fatal 4-Way Match: Rich Swann vs. Johnny Impact vs. Fenix vs. Ishimori
Noelle Foley, WWE daughter of WWE legend Mick Foley, is hoping to land a spot in Sports Illustrated’s coveted ‘Swimsuit’ issue.
SI is running a contest on Instagram where women can use the hashtag #SISwimSearch and submit their ‘audition’ video in hopes of appearing in the magazine.
Noelle Foley’s audition video can be seen below. She posted an inspiring message with her submission talking about her struggle with attempting to break into the modeling industry.
“I’ve always wondered if I had what it takes to be in the pages of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazines so I’m shooting my shot,” Foley wrote.
“Over the years I’ve been denied hundreds of times by agencies across the US because I’m too big to be a typical model and too small to be a plus sized model. I want to help break that barrier in between that size gap and and show that every body type is beautiful. I would LOVE to be apart of the movement and continue to spread this amazing message around the world!!!”
Chris Jericho was Sean Waltman’s guest on the latest episode of the X-Pac 1-2-360 podcast, which you can listen to at iTunes and Omny.fm.
Here are some highlights of what Chris Jericho said about:
The time Vince McMahon said he’d fire him if he didn’t have a good match with Sean Waltman:
“So when I got to WWE, I’d been working for 9 years and I’d been over in every company that I ever worked for so you know there’s certain guys like when Daniel Bryan came into the WWE I knew he’d get over no matter what. He’s been over everywhere he’s ever worked, he’ll figure it out and that’s what I did. I figured it out and it didn’t take long but there was a huge bullseye on my back and I smartened up to it very quickly.
And the other part of the story…what Vince told me was ‘you’re working with X-Pac tonight, if you don’t have a good match you’re fired.’ Which was a guillotine over my head… and then afterwards Vince was super cool, he pat me on the back, ‘hey pal, give me a call tomorrow and oh by the way every match that you have from now on run it past Sean Waltman first and make sure that it makes sense…In retrospect there’s a reason Vince did that. As we know Vince is a f***ing genius and we were peers but Sean you knew how to work that [WWE] style so he put me with you to figure out how to do it. I’m really happy he did that because I learned right away…That’s why Vince did it and it worked.
His match with Naito at NJPW Dominion:
“We went to the Dojo the day before and I had some ideas…but once again I was thinking more along the lines of what’s the story I want to tell? And here’s what I always go with, if I ever do a promo or match. What’s the vibe of this promo? What’s the vibe of this match? What’s the mood that I wanna set? Once I circled in on that then the rest just came together very quickly.
I wanted something that’s a little uncomfortable, a little bit stiff. Cause Naito’s style is tranquilo as his catchphrase, very laid back…I wanted a different Naito, I wanted a Naito that did give a shit and wanted to fight…That whole start of the match was his [Gedo] idea; attack him before the bell, attack him before he takes his suit off, put him through a table. Like I didn’t think of it that way… It sets the tone of being this super intense brawl.”
Working a Brock Lesnar-type schedule with New Japan and his future with the company:
“A lot more tales to tell with Chris Jericho in New Japan. And almost doing a Brock Lesnar type of schedule to where I am not there for every show but the ones that I am there for are now special cause Jericho is there. I didn’t expect to be doing more matches with New Japan as of January of this year and now that I’ve done another one and there’s a couple more in the pipeline I might decide to stay a little longer.”
Wanting to make his Rock ‘n Wrestling Rager Cruise an annual event:
“My schedule is ridiculous I’m not gonna have any fun at all, I am working the whole damn time but I have to sell this cruise, I have to make it a success. So you know wrestling fans are gonna have a great time, it might be a little bit crazy for the boys but it’s gonna be a fun experience for everybody because it’s people from all of the same mind set of really loving this certain art form of wrestling and rock n’ roll as well as love live comedy and love live podcasts all that sort of thing. It’s never been done before, I am taking a big chance but I had to do it and so far so good. My goal is for it to be an annual destination vacation. In year two, I’ve already got X-Pac 12360 on the docket for a live podcast if you could put up with it [laughs].”
The “WWE Style” of Wrestling:
“It’s all part of the learning process. Anytime you come into a new company it takes a while to figure it out. Now I always laugh when people say ‘WWE style? There’s no WWE style.’ Yes there is a WWE style, it’s a main event style, it’s how you really work. And anybody that comes through the system, it makes me laugh when you see guys from NXT that came from the indies that were super great and critically acclaimed…there’s always an adjustment period when you come into the WWE, I don’t care who you are – AJ Styles it was an adjustment, Bobby Roode or Samoa Joe or any of those guys … There is a way we work in WWE and once you can work that way you can take that style and work it anywhere on the planet and always have the best match on the show.”
How the wrestling business was different in the 1990’s:
“It was such a different business in the 90s. Even if it was only twenty years ago it might as well have been fifty years ago with the way the boys thought, the way the business was…it doesn’t even matter who the main event is anymore, whereas back in the 90s, if you were going to make the big money you had to be in the main event. And as a result, to stay in the main event there was a lot of political imagination going on behind the scenes to keep guys down or help guys out whatever it was. And those sorts of politics don’t really exist anymore.”
Backstage politics in WCW compared to WWE:
“When I came into WWE; it’s hard for people to actually believe this but at that time frame the wrestling war was real… there was a little bit of underlying heat amongst the boys if you came from WCW or vice versa. It’s just the way that it was. And so when I came into WWE… the first night I interrupted The Rock, I’m sure I had nuclear heat just by the fact that I was doing it. I was completely oblivious to that, knew really nothing of the politics that were going on. I was just doing my thing…”
Chyna having the stiffest forearm strikes:
“I remember the first real feud that I had was with Chyna. And [Vince McMahon] said to me, ‘Do you mind working with a woman?’ and I said ‘No I don’t mind, I’ll be happy too.’ And he goes ‘ I don’t want you to treat her with kid gloves, I want you to work with her like you would work with a guy. I don’t want you to pull any punches, I don’t want you to stiff her but do what you do.’ So I did that and I remember as a result she did get a little bit of a black eye once. By the way her forearm strikes were stiff as f***.”
You can listen to the full episode of X-Pac 1-2-360 with Chris Jericho below:
There were two former Impact Wrestling stars who attended WWE tryouts on Thursday.
The sports entertainment company holds tryouts throughout the year at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to have wrestlers run drills that could determine who they may want to potentially sign to a developmental deal and place in the NXT system where they would compete on the third brand.
Those former Impact talents are Laurel Van Ness and Robbie E.
Van Ness, real name Chelsea Green, departed from the promotion after a set of Impact tapings in Ottawa, Canada in January. Green signed with the promotion back in June of 2016 where she would go onto having a successful run including being the Knockouts Champion.
Green does have a bit history with the WWE as she was part of the 2015 re-launch of Tough Enough where she finished up placing fourth place for the females and is currently dating Zack Ryder.
Robbie E had a successful run with Impact as he is a former Tag Team, X-Division and Television Champion. He signed with Impact back in 2010 and departed in 2017.
It looks like WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy is still working through some injuries.
According to a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE has been protecting Hardy by having him participate in short Fatal Four-Way matches at live events. The United States Champ has also been seen limping quite a bit during live shows as well.
Hardy began defending his United States Title against SAnitY member Eric Young on SmackDown Live earlier this week, however, that match turned into a Six-Man Tag Team match between Hardy and The Usos against SAnitY.
On a May 17th episode of SmackDown, Hardy injured his leg during his entrance. He has also been dealing with a nerve issue that has caused numbness in his fingers. There’s currently no news on if he expects to take time off to deal with these injuries.
Discussion: Do you expect Hardy to drop the US Title soon and take some time off?
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently joined The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about his “20 Years Of Hell” tour. Foley talked about his infamous Hell In A Cell (HIAC) match against The Undertaker which took place exactly 20 years ago today (Thurs. June 28, 2018):
“It is definitely cathartic to talk about it. I’m kind of finding out new elements about the match as we go. Especially since it was a match that I kind of ran from for so many years and did not want to talk about it but after a while and I guess in the same way that Adam West came to terms that he was Batman and I know there are some other actors that have kind of felt pigeonholed, I didn’t want to be known for just that one thing.
“But after it awhile it was like maybe this isn’t the worst thing to be known for but it has been really cathartic to discuss it and I can honestly say that these have been the most fun shows and the best shows that I have done.”
Foley then talked about what was going through his head while being tossed down off the top of the cell by The Undertaker, before crashing into the announce table below:
“It’s funny because in the show I only curse once. It is like a two-hour show with a Q and A and I curse one time. But it turns out that I think in curses and that all I was doing was dropping f-bombs to myself before and after. It was what the BLANK was I thinking? And you’ve got to be BLANKING kidding me?
“It is why I was so glad when (Chris) Jericho’s Book “A Lion’s Tale” came out he talked about wanting to do something from the top (of the Cell) but when he went up there earlier in the afternoon {which I didn’t do or otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now} and he said the people down below looked like ants and I’m not exaggerating, they looked like ants and I thought to myself that is exactly what they looked like.
“If I could have thought of a graceful way to climb down the cell structure without ruining my career, I believe I would have done it.”
Ring Of Honor (ROH) is gearing up for their Best In The World pay-per-view (PPV) tomorrow night (Fri. June 29, 2018), which will feature some of the promotion’s biggest names.
ROH COO Joe Joff recently took part in a media call to promote the event, and was asked about the ROH dojo which is grooming the promotion’s stars of tomorrow. When asked for the long-term plans for the dojo, Koff said that he’s more focused on the short-term.
Koff explained the promotion’s priority is identifying talent in order to bring them over to TV or their digital network:
“I’d like to look ten years ahead but I think we’ll just focus on the next twelve to eighteen months,” Koff said. “What I’m hoping for what our expectation is identifying talent that we can bring pretty quickly to over the air TV or our digital network.
“We’re just looking to just bring talent through. Identify them from their local promotions or other places give them training and give them the opportunities. Understand the Ring Of Honor brand, understand the Ring Of Honor style so they get better before they’re seen in the bigger matches on TV or pay-per-view.”
An update on the schedule for Ronda Rousey as well as a note on the timing of WWE Money in the Bank has surfaced.
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that days before the Money in the Bank show, the media was told that the goal was a 10:30 p.m. finish, which would also be for all PPV events going forward aside from Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.
Thus, it would give WWE a cushion to go to 11 p.m. The PPV event ended up going off the air at 11:20 p.m. It was noted that at one point, the plan was for Alexa Bliss to cash-in her MITB briefcase at the end of the show, which means that Rousey vs. Nia Jax for the RAW Women’s Title would have been the main event.
Switching gears to Rousey’s schedule, there have been some changes.
As noted, Rousey attacked Bliss on a recent episode of RAW and was later “suspended” for 30 days as a result of her actions. Rousey is expected to be back on television next month to start the build for her match at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view event.
WWE has yet to officially announce when Rousey would wrestle Bliss but the expectation is that this match will happen sooner rather than later.
Meltzer noted that she is off the July 9th episode of RAW in Boston. Although at one point she was pulled from the July 16th show in Buffalo, she is back to working that event.
What’s interesting is that she is still scheduled to appear at the July 15th PPV event in Pittsburgh in some form whether that means she’s wrestling or just making an appearance remains to be unknown at this time.
Despite the fact that she was advertised for this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW in San Diego, CA at the Valley View Casino Center, she didn’t appear. She is still scheduled for all the live events she’d been advertised for.
What are your thoughts on Rousey’s schedule? Sound off in the comment section.
As seen over the past several months, WWE has stopped using 205 Live Superstars on RAW.
For years now, the sports entertainment company has considered Monday Night RAW as their flagship show. With WWE continuing the trend of rebranding the 205 Live division, some fans were surprised that they would pull cruiserweight matches from RAW.
The reason that WWE stopped featuring 205 Live Superstars on RAW is due to WWE’s strategy to try and change the perception of the cruiserweight division.
According to a report by PWinsider.com, the decision made by the sports entertainment company was when Triple H took over as the 205 Live showrunner as he is in charge of the brand.
Thus, this way it would keep the Superstars from being overexposed and to make sure they were kept in a position where they could be protected.
What are your thoughts on the way WWE presents its 205 Live Superstars? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky has announced his intentions to retire from professional wrestling.
Snitsky, who’s real name is Eugene Alan Snitsky, is likely best known for his WWE run between the years 2004 and 2008. Most notably Snitsky had a feud with Kane that involved Lita in the storyline as well, which was heavily featured on Monday Night RAW at one point.
After his WWE release Snitsky has been keeping busy working the independent circuit as well as a brief run with TNA in 2014. The 48-year-old recently took to Instagram and announced he plans to retire after a few more shows in order to spend more time with his girlfriend and focus on weight training.
Here’s what he had to say:
“Only gonna do a few more shows!!!!! I’ve decided to move on and focus more on other things like @carianneb1 for instance…. And ofcourse weight training and appearances just no more in ring competition lol…..”
“I’ve been losing the love over the last few yrs and honestly don’t like the way wrestling is going….. Just wanna thank all my fans…. for without you there would never have been a SNITSKY!!!! I truly love my fans and always will…… Thx for taking the time to watch me perform it means the world to me!!!!!”
WWE Superstar Sasha Banks was recently a guest on CBS Sports’ In This Corner podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. One such topic was the current WWE run and success of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Rousey debuted in WWE back in January after the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble and confronted Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair before pointing to the WrestleMania 34 sign. She’d go on to The Show Of Shows to team up with WWE Hall Of Famer and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle to defeat Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in Mixed Tag Team competition.
Just a few months later Rousey made her singles debut against Nia Jax with the RAW Women’s Title on the line at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV). Rousey seemed like she was on the verge of winning the title, before Ms. Money In The Bank Alexa Bliss attacked both women and cashed-in her briefcase to win the RAW Women’s strap.
Banks has been pleasantly surprised with Rousey’s run in WWE thus far, saying The Rowdy One has been “killing it” inside the ring and she has thoroughly enjoyed watching her matches:
“She had been killing it. She’s proven all the doubters wrong, and it’s so crazy to see her matches,” said Banks. “I’m like in shock, I’m in awe. I loved her match at WrestleMania, I loved her match at Money in the Bank, and I definitely think she’s one to watch.
“I can’t believe Money in the Bank was only her second match and I am so impressed, and I hope I get to wrestle her in the future and I’m really excited for her here in the WWE and she really has been killing it.”
The Legit Boss admitted that she had her reservations about the Rousey-WWE signing at first, saying “When I first heard that she was gonna be here, I was a little like, ‘huh, that’s not really fair.”
Now, however, Banks sees that Rousey has proven herself worthy to be in the position she’s currently in with the company, and is excited to have Rousey in WWE.
You can listen to Banks on the In This Corner podcast by clicking this link here.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Good Ole’ JR first talked about getting to call Cody Rhodes vs. Kenny Omega at the upcoming G1 Special in San Francisco:
“Kenny is so cerebral and makes his matches so different. He and Cody have some characteristics that are compatible, but they also have some very different traits. The story they’re going to tell is going to be so well told. They are two of the best in the game. They’re going to mix all those ingredients into a hell of an entrée on July 7.”
“They’re both in their 30s, they’ve both paid their dues, they’re not new kids on the block. They have the chance to close the show on a live, free national broadcast. There is a lot of opportunity for positive exposure. They just need to get it done, bell-to-bell. It should be absolutely off the hook.”
Ross then explained why he thinks that Will Ospreay could be professional wrestling’s next big breakout star:
“Ospreay is the next breakout star, but only if he can stay healthy. He has a great upside, without any question, but the questions concern the style and how he works. Calling his matches, I’ve seen him get up after I thought he hurt himself or broke something in his body. At some point, you don’t need a medical degree to figure out the fact that when you take bumps on surfaces that were never intended to be bumping surfaces, and you do it for too long, the cumulative effect is going to be negative.
“He has a great imagination and he’s a great improvisationalist, and he’s really good with strikes and submissions. So if he leaned a little more on the other aspects of ‘The Aerial Assassin’–he doesn’t have to do a moonsault to the outside to be an aerial assassin, he just needs to land on a surface that will half-ass welcome your body to it.
“He’s got some size, he’s a real keeper, but I do worry about the number of risks he takes on any given tour. I hope I’m wrong, because he is so entertaining and wonderfully creative, and he’ll be a big, big star if he stays healthy. It’s up to guys like myself and Josh Barnett, or Don Callis and Kevin Kelly, to make sure we don’t make him known for only one thing in taking risks. Sometimes the talent believe what you say about them, and they continue down that road, which has a very unfortunate but inevitable destination.”
You can read Ross’ full interview with Sports Illustrated by clicking this link here.
Some fans were a little thrown off when Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle announced that the multi-man match at Extreme Rules to determine the No. 1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title at SummerSlam had been cancelled.
Angle cited “contractual issues” with Lesnar as the reason for the decision. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter sheds some light on the situation. Meltzer reports that Lesnar’s “contractual issues” is a storyline. The current plan has Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley going down at Extreme Rules, and the winner being Lesnar’s opponent at SummerSlam.
Apparently the idea behind suggesting Lesnar has “contractual issues” is to get Lesnar booed by fans and make it seem as though he’s heading to the UFC with the Universal Championship. WWE would like to push the narrative towards hardcore fans that Lensar refuses to drop the title before he leaves WWE.
WWE also wants to keep having Superstars tell Roman Reigns that he doesn’t deserve another shot at Lesnar because of all the times he has failed in attempt to get fans to be sympathetic towards The Big Dog. If they cant get sympathy from fans, at the very least they’d like to get Reigns some “grudging admiration” when he finally dethrones The Beast.
As for Lesnar’s UFC future, we should know in the next few days whether or not he has re-entered the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing pool. This should provide some insight into whether or not he will be fighting the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 206 next weekend.
It was announced that Lars Sullivan suffered a broken jaw halfway through his match against NXT Champion Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II. No additional details have been provided on the injury, but WWE’s NXT account Tweeted out the following x-ray photo showing the break:
According to a report from PWInsider‘s Mike Johnson, WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler’s contract with the company is set to expire later this summer. It was also noted that he has yet to sign a new contract with the company.
Ziggler is a part of one of the biggest feuds on RAW at the moment. He recently defeated Seth Rollins to win the Intercontinental Championship, and the pair tore the house down in their rematch on Monday Night RAW earlier this week.
It should be interesting to see how Ziggler’s contract situation plays out given that he’s currently a WWE title holder.
Stacy Keibler has given birth to her second child, a boy named Bodhi Brooks Pobre, with her husband Jared Pobre.
The former WWE star announced the news on Wednesday night on Instagram with a photo of herself, Pobre and their three-year-old daughter Ava holding Bodhi’s tiny hand. She said the baby was born at her home on June 18.
https://instagram.com/p/BkjF17uB1KR/
Keibler broke her silence from social media two weeks ago to announce her pregnancy.
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Two months after breaking up with actor George Clooney in July 2013, Keibler began dating Pobre, a tech entrepreneur. They got married on March 8, 2014, in a surprise beach ceremony in Mexico. The wedding was a surprise to their respective families since they were on vacation.
Four months after giving birth to her first daughter (Ava Grace, born August 20, 2014), Keibler said she never thought about marriage or parenthood until she began dating Pobre.
“Life can be unpredictable. You feel one way, and then … boom!” Keibler wrote on her lifestyle website. “You need to entirely change your perspective. That is certainly what happened to me this past year. Until I started dating Jared, the idea of being married and having a family was never on my radar. I was just hoping that the right love would find me.
“But after a serendipitous reconnection with Jared, a friend who turned out to be my soulmate, we created a family together almost instantly. Talk about a serious change in my reality! This year and the holiday season especially has me feeling so nostalgic about family — my family, my new family, and of course, the newest addition to our family. Ava has graced us with such joy, such light and such love–we never saw it coming. She is our special little lady, and I couldn’t be more thankful for how she has opened my heart.”
Since becoming a mother, Keibler has maintained a very low profile. She stopped acting and is rarely photographed in public. She also shut down her lifestyle website (at StacyKeibler.com) and largely abandoned social media. Until her pregnancy announcement, she had not posted on Instagram since September 2015.
WWE has already announced that Carmella would defend her SmackDown Women’s Title against Asuka at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view event that takes place on Sunday, July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the PPG Paints Arena and will air on the WWE Network.
Carmella posted the following prediction on Twitter ahead of her next title defense.
It’s well known that former WWE RAW and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair was recently featured in ESPN Magazine’s Body Issue with a host of other athletes.
The official Twitter account of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon congratulated Flair with this post on the social media platform:
The ultimate beauty of body and soul. Congratulations @MsCharlotteWWE for being featured in @ESPN Magazine’s Body issue.
WWE’s YouTube channel has posted the following video from the latest episode of Something Else to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard that has been released in the on-demand section of their streaming service, WWE Network. The episode looks at The Undertaker‘s shocking character change in 2000 where he went from his deadman gimmick to his biker gimmick.
Prichard noted that McMahon and Taker disagreed on the gimmick as McMahon believed you don’t change or fix something that isn’t broken while Taker pushed for a character change. The longtime former WWE employee added that WWE was always planning to go back to the deadman gimmick while Taker thought that once they made the gimmick change that he could never go back to the deadman character.
Mick Foley Remembers
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley took to his official Facebook page to remember his legendary Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker at the sixth annual King of the Ring pay-per-view event on June 28, 1998, at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He wrote the following:
The first match for next week’s episode of WWE NXT on the WWE Network has been officially announced by NXT General Manager William Regal, who revealed that EC3 vs. Johnny Gargano in a singles match would take place.
WWE taped the next week’s edition of NXT on Thursday, June 21, 2018, from Winter Park, FL at the Full Sail University. Regal wrote the following:
“.@JohnnyGargano needs to move on from @ProjectCiampa, so next week he’ll be facing someone who demands the main event spotlight, the top 1% @therealec3. #WWENXT.”
.@JohnnyGargano needs to move on from @ProjectCiampa, so next week he’ll be facing someone who demands the main event spotlight, the top 1% @therealec3. #WWENXT
WWE officials have started the next program for NXT Champion Aleister Black on this week’s episode of NXT as Black was doing a promo in the ring before being interrupted by Tommaso Ciampa.
It appears that these two superstars will compete for the gold at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV during WWE SummerSlam weekend.
What are your thoughts on Black feuding with Ciampa? Sound off in the comment section.
The first-ever MLW Middleweight Champion will be crowned at next month’s Battle Riot event from New York City.
MLW announced on Thursday that the July 19th TV taping from the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY will feature Maxwell J. Friedman and Joey Ryan squaring off to crown the inaugural champion.
The new MLW Middleweight division will feature competitors weighing 205 pounds and under.
In addition to the Battle Riot main event and this Middleweight Championship bout, the card will also feature The Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart and Davey Boy Smith Jr) w/Brian Pillman II vs. ACH & Rich Swann and John Hennigan vs. Low Ki.
As announced earlier this week, MLW Battle Riot will be broadcast on beIN SPORTS (the home of MLW FUSION) as a 2-hour special on Friday night, July 27th.
Tickets for MLW Battle Riot are now on sale at Eventbrite.com.
Tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling will be the first from the company’s television tapings in Windsor, ON, Canada earlier this month. The city is home to Scott D’Amore’s Border City Wrestling.
Not every segment will be from Windsor tonight, however. Eddie Edwards will travel to Philadelphia and confront Tommy Dreamer. The segment was filmed at a recent House of Hardcore show from the 2300 Arena. There will also be a match on tonight’s show which was filmed at a PCW show from Los Angeles.
Tonight’s show will continue the build to Slammiversary on July 22nd from the Rebel nightclub in Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sami Callihan has said he wants to take Pentagon’s mask. If his feud with Eddie Edwards is any indication, it’s clear Callihan will go to great lengths to do damage to his rivals.
Last week, Callihan took a bat to Pentagon following a brawl after oVe took on Pentagon and Fantasma.
This could be the beginning of a feud which will carry over until Slammiversary.
2) Matt Sydal vs Dezmond Xavier
It looks as though this will be a non-title match. You can bet if Xavier is able to defeat the champion tonight it will put him in line for an X-Division title match, however.
Speaking of the X-Division, we still don’t know who the champion’s challenger will be at Slammiversary. Xavier is likely hoping he can improve his chances of earning a title shot tonight.
3) Rich Swann vs Trevor Lee
X-Division champion, Matt Sydal, Tweeted out that he will be keeping his 3rd eye fixed on this match. It will be Swann’s second match for the promotion after wrestling Austin Aries at the recent One Night Only PPV, Zero Fear, from Mississauga, ON, Canada.
Trevor Lee’s “Cult of Lee” tag-team has hit a rough patch as of late. He might be thinking it’s time for him to climb back up the single’s rankings.