Earlier this year, a man named Alex Pardo filed a lawsuit against Jose Alberto Rodriguez, FKA Alberto Del Rio. It seems unlikely he’ll have to pay out much, however.
The lawsuit stems back to an incident from November 2016. The Pro Wrestling Sheet was the first to report on the lawsuit. Court documents relating to the case outlined Pardo’s claim below:
“While returning to his table from the restroom, Plaintiff noticed the Defendant, JOSE ALBERTO RODRIGUEZ, flashing his rear end to the other patrons in the establishment. Upon returning to his seat, which was close in proximity to that of the Defendant’s, an altercation broke out and the Defendant and the individuals that were present with the Defendant began to assault the Plaintiff, ALEX PARDO. As a result, Plaintiff had to receive immediate medical attention and was transported to the hospital by means of EMS for further examination.”
Alberto’s side of the story is different, however. His version of the incident is below:
“[Alberto] attempted at this time to resolve the issue without conflict and while he did exchange words with the people celebrating with the 19-year-old Patricia at an adult establishment it the Counter-Defendant Alex Pardo who threw a glass at the Counter-Plaintiff’s head causing severe injury, including multiple lacerations. The entire group with the Counter-Defendant began a huge melee and the entire establishment was in a brawl. Counter-Plaintiff slowly rose to his feet only to be rushed again by the Counter-Defendant. The Counter-Plaintiff immediately protected himself and defended against the Counter-Defendant as it was necessary to protect himself and his companions against the Counter-Defendant’s use of unlawful force.”
Ongoing Legal Proceedings
The case has been going back and forth with legal proceedings. The plaintiff’s lawyer has withdrawn from the case as well. Alberto is counter-suing for $5,000 due to pain and suffering. His lawyer has filed a motion for a default judgment in Alberto’s favor. This was due to the plaintiff missing deadlines to file certain documents.
It won’t matter who WWE pushes on television from October 1st, 2019 to September 30th, 2024. WWE’s ratings can tank, their shows can receive poor reviews, and in the end, they will still hit record profits. This is all thanks to the new television contracts they signed with the USA Network and Fox.
In a press release from earlier this week, WWE revealed revenue generated from television contracts will more than double in the next 2 years.
As the deals won’t take effect until the fall of 2019, it will be a steady climb for the company. The value of their stock has jumped significantly recently with the news.
Expected WWE Television Revenue
The difference between this round of television contract negotiations and last is the boom in streaming services. Amazon, Facebook Live, and Netflix have entered the market in a big way, creating leverage for content producers like WWE. With more media outlets vying for live content, WWE was put in a far more advantageous position this time around.
As a result, WWE’s current television contract revenue is projected to increase drastically.
2017 – $217 million
2018: $235 million
2019: $314 million (includes 3 months of new TV contracts)
2020: $435 million
2021: $462 million
2022: Past $470 million
Update On WWE Stock Price
A report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is indicating the company should achieve double record-profits next year and beyond that for the following years.
On June 26th, WWE stock closed at $70.86 per share. The company is now estimated at $5.467 billion.
Some are now saying Vince McMahon may have waited to sell his stock had he known the stock price would go up as much as it did. This is likely not the case, however. McMahon was under pressure to announce his XFL deal before Charlie Ebersol announced his. Had Vince McMahon waited to invest in his own company, he would have been behind Ebersol’s league in terms of negotiating with venues, players, and cities.
With that being said, however, McMahon sold his stock at less than $30 a share. Had he waited until now to sell his stock, he would have gotten 133% more for it in return.
The inner child of Xavier Woods is very much alive. The proprietor of YouTube’s UpUpDownDown has spent part of today riding around the streets of Tokyo dressed up was “Wario” from the Mario Cart video game franchise.
Although Big E is not present for the fun, Kofi Kingston and Becky Lynch have each joined Woods for the ride.
Check out Xavier Woods’ post on what the three are up to below:
Woods says he plans to release the whole footage on his YouTube channel later.
Xavier Woods’ UpUpDownDown
After his recent E3 showdown with Kenny Omega, Woods posted the following thank you to fans of his YouTube show.
“I started my YouTube channel ‘UpUpDownDown’ in order to have a creative outlet that was my own where I had the ability to create something that was mine. For the past three years all of you have watched the videos, laughed with me, cried with me, made fun of me, and most importantly just had a good time with me.
Every day my amazing team works hard to bring you the most ridiculous and fun content that we possibly can. Yesterday we did something that no one thought we could ever do. We pulled off the “impossible” and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone involved. Yes, the rivalry between Kenny and myself was our story. But the larger picture was to shine a spotlight on the fighting game community. This group of guys and girls live this life all year long. They are an amazing group of people and we wanted to show the world what they are missing if they aren’t keeping an eye on them.
Yesterday was an example of how entertaining esports can be so find your local tournaments scene and support them. Thank you to everyone who has come along on this wild ride!”
Since being called up to the main roster, Shinsuke Nakamura has had 6 televised WWE Championship matches. He’s failed to win the title in all 6. He was scheduled to have his first match for the WWE United States championship this Tuesday. Unforeseen events prevented this from happening, however.
On Tuesday, it was reported Nakamura had sustained an injury on the previous day’s house show. He would not be able to face Jeff Hardy on Smackdown. Instead, Sanity’s Eric Young took his place.
It was later revealed that Nakamura had been bitten by a police dog on Tuesday, causing him to be taken to a local medical facility for treatment.
Police Statement On Dog Biting Nakamura
“On Monday, June 25, 2018, officers of the Bakersfield Police Department Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Team were conducting a protective sweep of the Rabobank Arena in preparation for the WWE Live Summerslam Heatwave Tour.
During the sweep, the EOD Team, which consisted of an explosive detection trained canine team and bomb technicians entered an area of the arena where an employee of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was present. The canine entered the room to sweep for the presence of any explosive material. As the sweep took place the WWE employee was accidentally bit by the canine. The employee sustained an injury to his lower left leg. Medical aid was immediately summoned to the scene and the employee was transported to a local area hospital for medical treatment.”
Nakamura’s 2018
There is no update on Nakamura’s condition. WWE is likely hoping he will be in good shape to compete on WWE’s shows in Japan this weekend. Nakamura is expected to challenge AJ Styles for the WWE championship on the tour. He has played a primary role in the company’s advertising of the shows as well.
It’s been a difficult 2018 for Nakamura so far. After starting the year hot by winning the 2018 men’s Royal Rumble, he then followed that up by failing to win the WWE championship from AJ Styles in 4 attempts.
There has been some concern in NJPW about low ticket sales for their upcoming G1 Special in San Francisco on July 7th. A recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is stating that the company has sold a little over 5,000 tickets to the event. The venue is believed to hold approximately double that for wrestling events.
Despite the low ticket sales, the revenue generated is still expected to produce the highest gate in venue history. This is due to the high cost of ticket prices. It is also notable that while only half the tickets have been sold, it is primarily the most expensive seats which have been purchased.
There has also been speculation that most of the tickets sold have gone to fans traveling from out of town. The tickets available on the secondary market have gone from being 95% local sellers to 86%, indicating recent ticket sales are going to people outside the Bay area as well.
A reader of the Observer Newsletter wrote in to say they have not seen any local advertising for the event. This leads to further speculation the fans who have purchased tickets are from the hardcore wrestling base and not casual fans located in the area.
NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco
Sho, Yoh, Rocky Romero, Gedo, YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) vs Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, and King Haku (Bullet Club)
Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki-Gun)
KUSHIDA and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Marty Scurll and Hangman Page (Bullet Club)
NEVER Openweight Championship
Hirooki Goto (CHAOS) (c) vs Jeff Cobb
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
the Young Bucks (Bullet Club) (c) vs SANADA and EVIL (LIJ)
Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs Tetsuya Naito and BUSHI (LIJ)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hiromu Takahashi (LIJ) (c) vs Dragon Lee (CMLL)
IWGP United States Championship
Jay White (CHAOS) (c) vs Juice Robinson
NXT Champion Aleister Black kicked off this week’s episode of NXT. Black stated that how you deal with adversity defines you as a champion. Aleister said that his adversity was Lars Sullivan at NXT TakeOver and he made it fade to black.
Tommaso Ciampa interrupted and came down to the entrance ramp. Ciampa said that it was now time for Aleister to stand face to face with the devil. He claimed that he can see right through Aleister and just doesn’t buy it. Ciampa said that Black barely got by Lars Sullivan, but on the same night he beat Johnny Wrestling in the main event at TakeOver.
Ciampa boasted about defeating Gargano and claimed that was all in the past now. Tommaso added that when he gets in the ring with Black and takes his title, Aleister’s mystique goes away as well.
Ciampa then sat down like Aleister on the entrance ramp and vowed to make Aleister’s title reign fade to black. Ciampa then waved goodbye to Black as he was about to charge up the ramp towards him.
Kona Reeves faced Max Humberto tonight on NXT. Reeves started off the match in control and quickly launched Humberto out of the ring. Reeves followed him out there and bounced Humberto’s face off the ring apron. Back in the ring, Reeves connected with an Elbow Drop off the second rope and then a big boot to the face. Kona followed it up with the Hawaiian Drop for the quick victory.
Candice LeRae battled Lacey Evans on tonight’s episode of NXT. LeRae connected with three Arm Drags and a Dropkick for a two count to start off the match. Evans quickly got back up and shoved LeRae into the turnbuckle. Evans then grabbed Candice’s arm and wrapped it around the steel ring post for a near fall.
Evans continued to target LeRae’s arm by slamming it into the canvas. Lacey locked in the Cobra Crutch in the middle of the ring. LeRae broke free and knocked Evans to the mat with a Dropkick. Candice connected with a few punches and chops that sent Evans to the corner.
Lerae leaped off the second rope and connected with a Bulldog. Candice then followed it up with a Neckbreaker and followed it up with a springboard Moonsault off the second rope for the pinfall victory.
Candice LeRae was then interviewed backstage after her victory. LeRae said that she is concerned for her husband, Johnny Gargano, mentally and physically, but it is time for her to focus on her career. Candice said that her goal is to become NXT Women’s Champion.
After the victory by LeRae, Johnny Gargano was interviewed backstage. Gargano said that he watched his loss at NXT TakeOver: Chicago to Ciampa and that this is far from over. Gargano added that he has beaten Tommaso once and he has beaten him once. Gargano said that he was going to go talk to NXT GM William Regal to get another match with Ciampa. Gargano said that he doesn’t care when or where the match takes place.
NXT GM William announced in a tweet that Gargano will face EC3 next week and that he needs to move on from Ciampa:
.@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
Undisputed Era Defeated Mustache Mountain & Ricochet
New NXT Tag Team Champions Mustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) made their way down to the ring to a great reaction from the crowd. They were set to face Dave Dixon & Carl Axelrod in a match, but Undisputed Era attacked them from behind on the entrance ramp.
Strong and O’Reilly called Mustache Mountain phonies. They surrounded Bate and Seven on the ring apron but Ricochet sprinted down to the ring to even the odds. A 6-man tag match was then made official for the main event of this week’s episode of NXT.
Bate trapped O’Reilly in the corner of the ring and tagged in Trent Seven. O’Reilly quickly brought Seven to the corner and Adam Cole tagged in. Seven connected with a chop that echoed throughout the arena and followed it up with a DDT for a two count.
Ricochet tagged in and springboarded off of Bate and Moonsaulted onto Cole and O’Reilly. Bate and Strong then tagged in and Tyler punched him in the face. Bate did the same to O’Reilly and Strong before posing in the ring.
Cole hit Bate with a cheap shot and Strong planted Tyler with a Backbreaker. Cole tagged in and stomped on Bate in the corner. O’Reilly quickly tagged in and continued to beatdown Bate in the corner. Strong tagged in and delivered a loud chop to Bate’s chest and then applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring.
Tyler broke free but Strong knocked him back to the mat with a Dropkick. Cole tagged in and connected with a Suplex for a near fall. Cole dragged Bate back to the corner and tagged O’Reilly back in. Kyle connected with a sliding knee to Bate’s midsection and then tugged on his mustache.
Roderick got back in and connected with a Shoulderbreaker for a two count. Tyler battled back with a headbutt and then an Exploder Suplex that sent Strong flying across the ring. Bate leaped across the ring to tag in Ricochet as O’Reilly tagged in at the same time.
Ricochet took out every member of Undisputed Era before launching O’Reilly into the turnbuckle. Ricochet then bounced off the second rope and connected with an uppercut for a two count. Ricochet hit a Northern Lights Suplex but O’Reilly was quickly able to lock in a Guillotine in the middle of the ring.
Ricochet was able to tag in Trent Seven who walked into a forearm from O’Reilly. Seven shrugged it off and connected with a Side Slam for a two count. Adam Cole pulled Bate off the ring apron as O’Reilly booted Seven in the leg.
Cole tagged in and took down his knee pad to expose right knee. Cole charged at Seven but Trent was ready and connected with a ridiculous Clothesline. Ricochet tagged back in and slammed Cole to the canvas for a two count. All hell broke loose and it ended with Cole and Ricochet trading kicks to the face as the rest of the Superstars were all taken out.
Everyone was trading punches now as Cole and Ricochet were the two legal men in the match. Ricochet connected with a Clothesline and then somehow avoided both Strong and O’Reilly’s high and low attempt by flipping over and under them at the same time. Ricochet then hit Cole with the 640 Splash and went for the cover but O’Reilly pulled Cole to the ring apron to break up the cover.
Ricochet got pissed off and hit O’Reilly with a Crossbody. Roderick Strong then grabbed Ricochet and connected with the End of Heartache on the ring apron. Strong threw Ricochet back into the ring and Cole pinned him for the victory.
Kevin Owens has reflected on being tossed off a ladder as well talked about how he prepares for a match.
The former WWE Universal Champion recently conducted an interview with the Argus Leader where he talked about various topics including the spot that saw Braun Strowman toss him off a huge ladder at the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena on the WWE Network, which ended up featuring Strowman winning the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
“I don’t know how well it can go when you get thrown off a 20-foot ladder. I’m definitely feeling it; it was an uneasy morning. It’s not part of the risks we take as wrestlers, but stuff like that doesn’t happen every night obviously, but when you got these ladder matches, there’s high stakes, and everybody’s trying to make a name for themselves. Everybody wants to get the MITB contract; that usually means at some point they will become champion. That’s a big deal; that’s what everybody strives for. I’m a professional, and I get used to stuff like that, but I never experienced what I did last night. But I’ll be ready to go before you know it.”
Owens also talked about what goes through his head before a match in the ring under the banner of the sports entertainment company.
He noted that he doesn’t have rituals but does reflect on the influences on his career, who he stated is the late Owen Hart.
“I don’t know what’s going through my mind. I don’t have any specific rituals. The only thing I’ll do every single time… not to get into the whole topic of religion here, but some people believe in God and some people believe in all kinds of things. I don’t have many particular beliefs, but I do believe in people who we’ve lost. I’ll speak to Owen Hart; he was a big influence on me as a young wrestler, and when he passed, I felt a great sense of loss. Ever since then I just talk to Owen Hart before every match and I ask him to be with me and make sure I don’t get hurt. Throughout the years I have added people to that list. I have lost people in this industry, and I speak to them as well, guys like Dusty Rhodes. And I’ll talk to my grandfather and grandmother who have also passed. I ask those people who are looking down on me to make sure I get through the match safely.”
What are your thoughts on Owens’ comments? Sound off in the comment section.
Although former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey is currently not on WWE television at the moment, it hasn’t stopped her from doing other media appearances as she is featured in this new Twizzlers commercial, which you can see here:
https://youtu.be/wJQXthr_4F8
Rousey attacked Alexa Bliss on a recent episode of RAW and was later “suspended” for 30 days as a result of her actions. Rousey will 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.
Maryse Shares The News
Maryse revealed on her official Instagram account that she officially became an American citizen. For those who may not know, the former WWE Divas Champion was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She posted the following:
Tenille Dashwood recently took part in a media conference call to promote Ring Of Honor’s (ROH) Best In The World pay-per-view this weekend (Fri. June 29, 2018). Dashwood (known as Emma in WWE) discussed her time in WWE as well and her portrayal of the Emma character.
Dashwood commented on distancing herself from the Emma character and wanting to be taken more seriously now that she’s gone from WWE:
“I definitely want to be taken seriously,” Dashwood said. “I didn’t feel like I had something to prove if anything it was for myself. I wanted to wrestle.
“I wanted to enjoy wrestling again and to meet all my fans and have competitive matches and those were all goals I had for myself. So I definitely want to be taken seriously to show myself I could do it still and you know to give that back to the fans too.”
WWE is planning to release the “Shawn Michaels: The Showstopper Unreleased” DVD later this year.
The three-disc DVD has been penciled in for late 2018 and will feature a collection of unreleased and never-before-seen matches. The footage selected dates between 1985 and 2009
Courtesy of Wrestling DVD Network, here is the content listing for the DVD that will be released on October 2, 2018:
DISC 1
WWE ‘Randy Savage Unreleased’ DVD – Full Content Revealed! Proud of the Future The Icon Shawn Michaels & Tim Horner vs. Hector & Chavo Guerrero Mid South Wrestling • January 5, 1985 Shawn Michaels vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts Mid South Wrestling • February 1, 1985 The Midnight Rockers vs. “Pretty Boy” Doug Sommers & “Playboy” Buddy Rose AWA Championship Wrestling • April 1, 1986 AWA Tag Team Championship Match The Midnight Rockers vs. “Pretty Boy” Doug Sommers & “Playboy” Buddy Rose AWA • July 13, 1986 The Midnight Rockers vs. Dennis Stamp & Brian Knobbs AWA • January 11, 1987 The Rocker The Rockers vs. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers Prime Time Wrestling • October 25, 1988 WWE Tag Team Championship Match The Rockers vs. Demolition Prime Time Wrestling • November 1, 1988 The Rockers vs. The Brain Busters Boston, MA (NESN Taping) • January 13, 1989 The Rockers vs. Hart Foundation Hamilton, ON, Canada (Dark Match) • December 14, 1989 The Rockers vs. The Orient Express London, ON, Canada (Dark Match; Prime Time Wrestling Taping) • April 29, 1990 The Rockers vs. Demolition Rochester, NY (Dark Match; Wrestling Challenge Taping) • June 5, 1990 The Rockers vs. The Natural Disasters Prime Time Wrestling • November 4, 1991 WWE Tag Team Championship Match The Rockers vs. Legion of Doom Superstars • December 28, 1991 DISC 2
WWE – Shawn Michaels as WWF Champion, Classic Winged Eagle Belt The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels vs. “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka Madison Square Garden (MSG Network Taping) • January 31, 1992 Piper’s Pit with Shawn Michaels Syracuse, NY (Dark Match; Wrestling Challenge Taping) • April 29, 1992 WWE Intercontinental Championship Match Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect Phoenix, AZ (Dark Match; Wrestling Challenge Taping) • April 5, 1993 Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs. The Headshrinkers Milwaukee, WI (Dark Match; Superstars Taping) • August 30, 1994 The Main Event Shawn Michaels and Diesel – Face to Face New York City, NY (WrestleMania XI Public Workout) • March 28, 1995 King of the Ring Qualifying Match Shawn Michaels vs. King Kong Bundy RAW • May 22, 1995 Shawn Michaels & Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Jacob & Eli Blu Louisville, KT (Dark Match; RAW Taping) • July 24, 1995 Six-Man Elimination Match Shawn Michaels, Diesel & The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid, Tatanka & Kama Evansville, IN (Dark Match; Superstars Taping) • July 25, 1995 The Champion Shawn Michaels vs. 1-2-3 Kid Superstars • April 27, 1996 WWE Championship Match Shawn Michaels vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin Des Moines, IA (Dark Match; Superstars Taping) • April 30, 1996 WWE Championship Match Shawn Michaels vs. Yokozuna Kuwait City, Kuwait • May 10 1996 Shawn Michaels vs. Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw Superstars • September 29, 1996 WWE Championship Match Shawn Michaels vs. Vader State College, PA (Dark Match; Superstars Taping) • September 24, 1996 WWE Championship Match Shawn Michaels vs. Brooklyn Brawler Madison Square Garden • November 15, 1997 DISC 3
WWE – Shawn Michaels as World Heavyweight Champion in 2002 The Showstopper WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match Shawn Michaels vs. Rob Van Dam RAW • November 25, 2002 Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho RAW • July 21, 2003 Shawn Michaels vs. Christian RAW • October 4, 2004 Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair RAW • February 7, 2005 Shawn Michaels & Batista vs. Triple H & Edge Birmingham, AL (Dark Match; RAW Taping) • March 21, 2005 Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle RAW • January 16, 2006 The D-Generate Texas Tornado Match D-Generation X vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. Charlie Haas & Viscera vs. The Highlanders RAW • October 2, 2006 WWE World Tag Team Championship Match Shawn Michaels & John Cena vs. Rated RKO Bakersfield, CA (Dark Match; RAW Taping) • February 19, 2007 Triple Threat Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Shawn Michaels vs. Batista vs. Chris Jericho Atlanta, GA (Dark Match; RAW Taping) • November 17, 2008 Shawn Michaels & The Undertaker vs. JBL & Vladimir Kozlov RAW • March 16, 2009 The Legend
Do you plan to buy this DVD? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield took some time to remember the late great WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero on Twitter.
14 years ago today, Bradshaw defeated Guerrero in a Texas Bullrope Match at the 2004 Great American Bash pay-per-view event to win the WWE Title. He wrote the following:
A thank you to mi amigo Eddie Guerrero! Here’s to you esse! 14 years ago today became the @WWE Champion in a match with the greatest friend/opponent anyone could hope for! #vivaLaRaza love your Eddie. pic.twitter.com/43rDguDYSl
Rich Swann will take on Trevor Lee tomorrow night on Impact Wrestling. Many feel the 27-year-old’s style is a perfect fit for the promotion’s X-Division. He was given an opportunity to show what he can do at Impact’s recent television tapings in Windsor, ON, Canada.
Additionally, Swann wrestled Austin Aries for the Impact World championship at the One Night Only pay-per-view, Zero Fear. He can also be seen on Major League Wrestling’s show on BeIN Sports, Fusion.
Swann recently answered questions from the media as part of Impact Wrestling’s teleconference call.
“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.”
Swann would also specifically mention AJ Styles as someone he enjoyed watching during this period of the X-Division.
“At that point in time in professional wrestling, there was only one company,” Swann continued. “Then to see these guys kind of throw out this style, this cruiserweight style, this style that had kind of been forgotten about thrown out and abandoned, and put it on TV, it mesmerized me.”
Swann emphasized that he was influenced by the X-Division style growing up. Winning X-Division gold was something he dreamed of as he aspired to be a pro-wrestler.
“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.”
The X-Division roster is pretty stacked these days, so Swann will have no easy climb to the top. Current champion, Matt Sydal, recently Tweeted that he will be keeping his 3rd eye fixed on Swann’s match with Lee tomorrow night.
“That’s a dream right there for me,” Swann said in reference to competing in the X-Division. “That means the world.”
What’s Up With Rich Swann’s Hair These Days?
Swann’s recent haircut was addressed on the conference call as well. He stated the haircut is an homage to Minoru Suzuki. The “Beautiful Sadist” and leader of Suzuki-Gun often shaves designs into the top of his head and leaves the back longer than the top.
Rich Swann and Su Yung Moving Forward, Focussed on Positivity
“My wife and I are living a happy life,” Swann said on today’s conference call. “We would like to forget about the past and focus on the present and our future and focus on positivity.”
Impact Wrestling Vice President, Don Callis, addressed Swann’s hiring on an earlier conference call. He stated unequivocally that after speaking with Su Yung, Impact management (Scott D’Amore, Ed Nordholm, and Don Callis) made the decision on the spot to give Swann a chance in Impact Wrestling.
“(Su Yung) explained the situation to us and what happened and it was decided there and then between the three of us” – Don Callis
Yung and Swann are moving forward, focussed on the future, and focussed on Impact Wrestling.
Former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay recently offered a Q&A for his Twitter followers (@WillOspreay) ahead of his Frontline Promotions’ debut show ‘Build Me An Empire’ which takes place tomorrow night from the Stratford Circus in London.
Several topics came up during the Q&A including Will’s all time dream opponent, his favourite New Japan Pro Wrestling bout, who his ideal opponent in WWE would be and much more. Check out the highlights below.
@notyash1If you were to join NXT, who would you face & why? – Me & Ricochet as a team Vs Tyler & Trent
@DRose502If you were to wrestle any wrestler past or present, who would it be and why? – Eddie Guerrero
@BondzillaTbFavourite Njpw match? – Okada vs Kenny. All of them
@bmaheshp1Who is your favourite wrestler from NXT? – Gargano is like the man
@juan_rafael12Why would not you like to go to WWE? – Right now I offer nothing. I wanna be able to say I satisfied myself on the independents & in Japan. Then if I ever went go knowing I can help and not just be another guy
@jyoonhorsebackIf you moved up to heavyweight would you change up your wrestling style or would you continue to be a flippy lad? – I’ve changed my style anyway. Look at my first match with Kushida in Invasion Attack to my match with Hiromu in Dominion. I’ve evolved over time. In fact my strikes are now on the same level as my high flying
@JoshuaVisserWho would you’re ideal opponent be in the WWE? – Gargano or Rollins
Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes took part in a recent media conference call to promote the upcoming NJPW G1 Special on AXS TV. Rhodes first discussed how writers and producers in WWE have more power than talent creatively, when it’s the performers that will suffer on behalf of poor instruction:
“I don’t look at it as being in control of my creative.” Cody explained, “I literally look at it as just knowing myself. I guess knowing my act, knowing what I would do, and what I wouldn’t do, and going out there and trying it out. The fans will tell you if you got it right or if you got it wrong. I think that’s one of the most backwards ass things about [pro] wrestling in the first place is writers. What are you writing? What on Earth are you writing?
“I have some friends who are writers at WWE and the most thing they could ever offer was, as far as pre-tapes and backstage interviews, they were there to provide a little bit of direction, a little coaching. But they were there to look at the shot. In that vein, they were very valuable, so I see the importance there. But as far as this industry, if people ever say that it’s scripted, I dare you to find me a wrestling script. It doesn’t exist. We’re a rare thing, a rare bird in the world of entertainment, an important bird.
“Same with producers! I love all those legends. I love them to death. Some of them are like family to me, but how the hell are you going to tell me what to do out there? You don’t! And that was my biggest mistake with WWE is ever listening. There’s a difference between collaboration, and advice, and being told to do this because that’s not how it works. You go out there and you’re the one on TV. You’re the one who gets heat if you suck and you reap the rewards if it’s a grand slam.”
Rhodes then discussed the differences in the locker rooms of WWE and NJPW, as Japan’s locker room is a lot more traditional:
“There’s a huge difference in the locker room philosophies between WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.” Cody elaborated, “I can tell you, it’s not a knock on WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling understands much more how to do their locker room. The individual factions are separated.
“Chaos has their own locker room. Bullet Club has their own locker room. But there are no outsiders, no celebrities, they can be somewhere else, but they can’t be in the locker room. It’s a real traditional space. You ride on a bus with your crew and no other crew. You don’t stay at the same hotel. It’s a real traditional space.
“And it’s something just as an old school [pro] wrestling fan, I really value when I go. But I think they have the locker room. I think that’s the philosophy in the locker room as far as company goes, it’s much different.”
Recently The Elite challenged The New Day at E3 for a battle in the Street Fighter video game. WWE provided some extensive coverage and promotion of the event, mentioning Omega and The Young Bucks by name a few times. Rhodes offered his thoughts on the company doing this:
“I thought that was really, I hate using this expression, but good for business.” Cody continued, “that’s something that The New Day, and The Elite, I guess now, The Golden Elite, that cross-promotional element is something that they wanted to do for a long time and [WWE] can’t pretend that people don’t exist anymore.
“Kenny Omega is a revered star worldwide. He’s the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion and I think it was good for business. I had a nice little banter back-and-forth with some of my friends from the WWE locker room, but I kept saying, ‘hey, you guys are welcome for the rub.’ And then, they kept saying pretty much the same thing back to me.
“But yeah, no, I’m glad The Elite won regardless of whether Kenny’s my best friend or if I could [not] care less about him. But The Elite, in this case Kenny, defeated Xavier Woods and they put that one to rest. But who knows? I think The New Day/Golden Elite rivalry might just be getting started.”
You can listen to Rhodes on the AXS conference call at this link here.
WWE 205 Live Superstar Hideo Itami will be making his return to Pro Wrestling NOAH when he faces Noamichi Marufuji on September 1st.
The man formerly known as KENTA appeared for Pro Wrestling NOAH over a 13 year span. He won the company’s Junior Heavyweight title 3 times and the GHC World Heavyweight Championship on one occasion.
Itami recently appeared in a pre-taped promo for the Pro Wrestling NOAH live crowd, according to his opponent Marufuji the “pop was so huge that you couldn’t hear the video” so he has posted the direct feed footage to Twitter.
You can check this out via the tweet below. The translation of Itami’s promo is as follows:
“Hello NOAH fans, I’m WWE’s Hideo Itami, formerly KENTA. I’ll be part of Marufuji’s 20th anniversary show on 9/1. It’s been 4 years since I was in a NOAH ring, I’m very excited to see you“
*Credit to Chris Charlton for the transcription
Last summer there were rumors that Itami was going to go back to Japan full-time. The rumors started after Itami lost an NXT Championship match at Takeover: Chicago (the first one). Rumors were then that Itami had discussed giving up on WWE and going back to Japan. He then dispelled those rumors in the segment below which aired on NXT programming last summer.
Last night’s episode of SmackDown Live from Ontario, California ended before tapings for 205 Live began. The dark match main event of the evening was a Tag Team match between the teams of The Miz and Samoa Joe against Kofi Kingston and Big E of The New Day.
Miz reportedly poked fun at fat people in the crowd before the match started, and told them to sit down and shut up so the ladies in attendance could enjoy checking out his body. He also unlocked his inner Rick Rude by calling the fans “sweathogs.”
New Day members were making grinding motions towards Miz and Joe. Miz returned fire with some of his own but Joe left the ring and refused to take part. Kingston took out Joe with Trouble In Paradise before he and Big E hit Miz with Midnight Hour to pick up the win.
The trio celebrated for the crowd to end the night.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega recently spoke to Tokyo Sports in Japan on a variety of topics including his involvement in the upcoming G1 Climax Tournament.
Due to the ‘block’ structure of the round robin tournament the IWGP Champion will be facing his longtime friend and ‘Golden Lovers’ tag team partner Kota Ibushi. When asked how he felt about facing the ‘Golden Star’ Omega gave the following response:
“Honestly I don’t like it. Six Years ago after the Budokan match, we had an agreement. ‘If we do this again, one of us might die. If it isn’t a bigger match than this, let’s never wrestle a singles match again.’ If it was the G1 final, or the Tokyo Dome main event, that level. But the group selection is random, you can’t help that...”
Omega went on to say; “I don’t want there to be an injury and I don’t want to hurt him. But I am the Champion, and I don’t want to lose in that situation. In all honestly, he’s on a level that he could be a legitimate challenger whether he wins the G1 or not but he wants to earn his spot, that’s the type of guy he is. So he’s going to come at me with all he has.”
New Japan’s G1 Climax Tournament begins on Saturday July 14th and will be available to view on NJPWWorld.com
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega was recently a guest on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast and talked about his match with Kazuchika Okada at Dominion 6.9.
It was arguably the greatest match in professional wrestling history. The two-out-of-three falls match lasted about 65 minutes and Omega revealed it took “a lot of thought and care” to put together parts of the match.
The Cleaner also divulged that he and Okada didn’t want to do too much in the two falls leading up to the third in order to keep the audience intrigued. Creatively, Omega and Okada didn’t want to exhaust themselves creatively, leaving the door open for a fifth possible meeting between the two rivals:
“It’s what story are we going to tell that complements the other three matches that we’ve done,” said Omega.
“What story do we tell that leaves something open for a possible fifth match, because even though we were never told that there was gonna be a fifth match, I have a feeling that there’s gonna be a fifth match. So I didn’t want to blow everything in that match, and I wanted to leave it for that there is gonna be another one.”
For a fifth meeting between himself and Okada, Omega wants to bring something different to the table “whenever it happens.”
You can listen to Omega on the X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast by clicking this link here.
The Brooklyn Brawler was recently a guest on Prime Time with Sean Mooney where he talked about several professional wrestling topics. Brawler was able to work for WWE several times over the years, but the memories that stick out to him the most were his performances in Madison Square Garden.
His most memorable MSG experience was likely his WWE Title opportunity against Shawn Michaels. His journey to earning that match was a rather interesting one:
“Okay so we’re wrestling in Madison Square Garden and we’re having a battle royal. I’m in the battle royal but I’m just a guy to get thrown out, this and that. All of a sudden Ken Shamrock who was scheduled to win the battle royal got injured in her sternum, his chest he got injured,” Brawler said.
Shortly after the injury producers went to Vince McMahon and alerted him Shamrock couldn’t win the match because he was injured. McMahon decided to make the call to put Brawler over instead:
“Put Brooklyn Brawler over, he’s local.”
McMahon didn’t realize, however, that he promised the winner of the Battle Royal a shot at the WWE Title. Brawler reminded McMahon of this at the next MSG show, and The Chairman Of The Board responded with “You got your match.”
Initially Brawler was supposed to work with Bret Hart for the WWE Title, however, during that time The Montreal Screwjob had just occurred and Shawn Michaels was the new World Champion. At first Brawler believed that Michaels was going to refuse to work with him, but to his surprise HBK was very accepting of the idea and immediately began putting the match together with Brawler:
“His finish is the Superkick if I Superkicked him people would come unglued,” Brooklyn Brawler said. “What a match we had. It was the first Garden show with DX with Chyna and Triple H on the apron on the outside of the ring. Me and Shawn Michaels in Madison Square Garden. I remember The Undertaker walking into the room, into the dressing room and looking at the line-up and it shows me in the main event, he’s underneath me and he goes, ‘what the f–k is this?’
“That’s what he said. I just said, ‘it’s not me I didn’t do it!’ Because nobody wants heat with The Undertaker. But I tell ya, my career, you couldn’t even write this the way it happened. He’s kicking out at two-and-a-half and he’s selling and doing all these crazy moves,” Brawler said .
“I mean he made me look like a million bucks. I’m telling ya and then Triple H jumps on the apron and I pop him, nail him then Chyna comes in and gives me a Frankensteiner. I mean, it was great.”
You can listen to Brawler on Prime Time with Sean Mooney by clicking this link here.
Monday Night RAW was capped off by an epic main event for the Intercontinental Title, as defending champion Dolph Ziggler took on Seth Rollins.
Former WWE Superstar TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) produced the match, according to Fightful. It should be noted that some of the best matches on RAW for the past several months have been produced by the former Tag Team Champ.
Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns vs. The Revival was produced by Michael “PS” Hayes. Matt Hardy and Curtis Axel’s one-on-one affair was produced by WWE Hall Of Famer D-Von Dudley.
Scott Armstrong produced the squash match between The Authors Of Pain and their ocal enhancement talents – Rex and Rick Gibson. Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya was produced by Fit Finlay.
Sarah Stock was the producer for the Six Woman Tag Team match of The Riott Squad vs Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Ember Moon. Dean Malenko was listed as the producer for No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley, even though the match never got underway.
Finally, Jamie Noble was the producer for Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens vs. Constable Baron Corbin and Finn Balor.
When Corey Graves and Byron Saxton shared the WWE commentary booth on Monday Night RAW, the former NXT star loved to burn his colleague. Now, of course, they work together on SmackDown Live after some things were moved around for the Superstar Shake-Up.
Despite the move to Tuesday nights, Graves’ love for burning Saxton remains the same. He recently showed his support for a “Shut Up Saxton” t-shirt idea on WWE Shop which was suggested by a fan:
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker and former WWE Women’s Champion Michelle McCool recently celebrated eight years of marriage. She shared some photos from the occasion on Instagram:
Ember Moon Has Bank Account Shut Down Without Notice
RAW Superstar Ember Moon took to social media to call out Chase bank for closing her bank account unexpectedly and without explanation after seven years of business. She posted the following:
Former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor decided to show off the nasty bruise that he suffered in his latest match.
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, Braun Strowman & Kevin Owens defeat Baron Corbin & Balor by count out. Balor shared this photo of the bruise on his back on his official Twitter account:
WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, has added more episodes of Mid-Atlantic episodes. Over the past few weeks, the sports entertainment company has added episodes from the territory from the years 1983, 1984, and 1985 as the latest classic content drop.
These episodes feature a number of stars from Magnum TA to Wahoo McDaniel to Manny Fernandez. Here are the episodes that were added:
Mid-Atlantic 08-04-84 – 08/04/1984 (Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium – Spartanburg, SC)
Several matches have been announced for the next set of ROH TV tapings.
Ring of Honor will hold their Fairfax Excellence event on Saturday night in Fairfax, Virginia at the EagleBank Arena.
This taping will feature the fallout from the Best in the World pay-per-view event that is slated to place on Friday night. For those who are planning to attend this event, you can buy tickets here.
The Card
– KUSHIDA vs. Jonathan Gresham
– Adam Page & The Young Bucks vs. EVIL, BUSHI, & SANADA
– Kagetsu & Hana Kimura vs. Jenny Rose & Mayu Iwatani
– Women of Honor #1 Contender’s Match: Kelly Klein vs. Karen Q vs. Tenille Dashwood vs. Madison Rayne
– Women of Honor Title Match: Champion Sumie Sakai vs. Hazuki
What are your thoughts on this card? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WWE RAW and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair recently took to her official Twitter account to praise SmackDown General Manager Paige for her work as the GM of the blue brand. She wrote the following:
.@RealPaigeWWE is doing an awesome job all-around as GM! ?? #SDLive ??
If you recall, Paige become GM earlier this year after it was announced that Paige’s career was over as in-ring performer under the WWE banner after she suffered a neck injury during a six-woman tag match back in late December at a live event that needed to be called off after she took a hard kick to the back from Sasha Banks that she wasn’t ready for and it stunned her.
205 Live Match
WWE has announced the first match for next week’s episode of 205 Live. That contest will be Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy in a No DQ match.
As of this writing, the sports entertainment company has not announced any other matches for this show, which will be held in Omaha, NE at the CenturyLink Center Omaha
What are your thoughts on Paige’s work as GM thus far? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WCW and TNA star Disco Inferno recently made an appearance on “The Matt Riviera Show” podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Inferno was first asked about his issues with Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes.
Inferno commented on a social media photo posted by Rhodes showing a graphic head wound that he suffered in a match against Kenny Omega. Rhodes apparently took things the wrong way and a beef between the pair started:
“ I think he completely misinterpreted what I was saying, because I wasn’t burying him….I’ve worked, I’ve been on a writing team, and I’ve been an agent, okay. So, if I’m critical of somebody, like wrestlers, like I do sometimes on the podcast…
“It’s not anything, like if I was there agent, I wouldn’t be saying right to their face.. of course the fans are going to say, ”Oh, you’re just hating him”. No, I’m not hating, this is what I did for a living… That’s the perspective that I’m critical on commentary with professional wrestling these days.”
Inferno then offered his thoughts on the large number of wrestlers suffering serious injuries lately:
“The one thing I see in the business that kind of bothers me is that, as wrestling’s gotten, like the quote unquote “evolution of wrestling” is that, you know, back in the day… when I got hurt, I hurt my back. When guy’s got hurt, they hurt their knee, they hurt their shoulder… We’re at a stage in the business where, back in the day, if guys were watching, like the way the guys work today…
“We would tell the guys, “What the hell are you doing? You guys are killing each other out there.” I’ve never seen a time in the business where guys are hurting each other. Not like hurting their shoulders or hurting their knees… They’re hurting each other, because they’re doing things that look like they hurt, and they do… Everybody was a mark for Benoit…
“You watch Benoit, Kurt Angle, and Edge all had neck injuries that were serious neck injuries… What did they do every match? German suplexes… 6, 7, 8, 9 German suplexes… You look at the move, regardless if it’s a work or not. You’re landing on your neck constantly. Constant stress on your neck that’s going to add up… you can’t do that… Alex (Wright) would do a German suplex to me one time, and it was a finish. ”
Finally, Disco discussed how he believes that modern wrestling has lost its way:
“Professional wrestling is predicated, and always has been… two guys wrestling/fighting each other. That’s the concept… so when everyone talks about psychology… If you do things that don’t look like something you would do in a fight, that’s bad psychology. Because if you’re just taking a bunch of acrobatic maneuvers and acrobatic spots… and try to insert it into the concept of professional wrestling, which is supposed to be a fight, it just does not make sense…
“Now we have this younger generation of people that grew up, that didn’t watch that wrestling, when it was like a suspended disbelief and pretending two guys are in a fight, they’ve accepted this as professional wrestling. That it’s acrobatics, it’s spots, it’s a performance… and that’s kind of where wrestling’s lost it’s way… The shows now are just a bunch of critics that kind of just applaud the performance. They’re not emotionally invested…”
