Becky Lynch’s well-received victory at the Royal Rumble earlier this week and the segment between her and Ronda Rousey on the following Raw made it clear that fans are behind this feud and they would love to see a one on one match between the two.
While the reports suggested that the company is planning to add Charlotte Flair to this bout later on, it appears that these two mentioned segments have made the official decide otherwise.
In the latest edition of their Week in Wrestling column, Sports Illustrated provided an update on the WrestleMania main event, revealing that the company is planning to close the show with the Raw Women’s Championship match:
“The picture for WrestleMania 35 is far clearer today than it was a week ago. With only 67 days until the event, sources close to WWE have told Sports Illustrated that the current plan is to close WrestleMania 35 with the Ronda Rousey-Becky Lynch match as the main event.”
This leaves Charlotte in an interesting spot as it’s not very likely that she will be left out of the WrestleMania card. So it’d be interesting to see what backup plans the company has for her and who the Queen ends up facing at the show.
As the former President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Bischoff is uniquely qualified to provide insight on the situation. Bischoff dealt directly with countless major league stars and more than one of them let him know, “I’m out of here” due to frustration with their creative direction.
Dean Ambrose is a huge star that WWE spent years investing in departure, but Bischoff does not see it as a big loss for them.
“No disrespect at all to Dean Ambrose … I don’t think it matters at all,” he said. “That’s not because of Dean’s abilities or lack thereof. But in WWE right now WWE is the star. Everybody else on that roster is a costar, to one degree or another. Stars are now interchangeable.”
Bischoff said it doesn’t matter how big the star is. If somebody leaves, the WWE machine will keep moving forward .. and that’s by design.
The roster is deep enough, and the pool of talent is deep enough that whether it’s a situation like Roman Reigns, as devastating as that was, WWE shifted on the fly. They didn’t even have to hit the clutch. They just kept going, right? I think that that’s intentional.”
Talent Comes, Talent Goes
Bischoff believes that Vince McMahon has made a conscious effort to make talent secondary and make the WWE brand the real attraction. Talent comes and goes. People get injured, people retire, people jump to the competition. Vince McMahon has learned this lesson many times before. At the end of the day, the wrestlers are interchangeable and it’s WWE that endures.
“If you’ve invested all of your resources, not just financial but all of your television time and all that real estate into building up a character, and through some scenario that you couldn’t anticipate that character is no longer there, you’re in a rebuild situation,” he said. “That can be devastating. WWE has gone through that before. They learned that lesson. Vince McMahon learned what happened when competition comes along and takes your talent, and I think he endeavored to build a company that was for the most part impervious to that. He did it by making WWE the star, and the talent less significant than the show that they’re on.”
Listen to the latest episode of After 83 Weeks here:
NJPW Junior Division legend KUSHIDA finished up with the company earlier this week. The icon of the Juniors Division wanted for his final match to be against Hiroshi Tanahashi. This was granted by New Japan officials.
Tanahashi took the win in around 24 minutes with the Texas Cloverleaf. This was a highly emotional bout, with KUSHIDA bowing out after 8 years with the company.
According to the Wrestling Observer, KUSHIDA wants to go to the WWE. The reasoning behind his decision is that “Jushin Liger told him he should go to WWE as part of his career experience.” Dave Meltzer also claimed that KUSHIDA would probably not be a good fit for the WWE/NXT. This due to his technical Japanese style and that he “doesn’t have the over-the-top charisma that Nakamura or Asuka have.”
As of now KUSHIDA’s status with WWE is unclear. WWE COO Triple H has reportedly been a longtime fan of the Japanese star. He has wanted to bring him in for a long time. Whether KUSHIDA can translate to the WWE style remains to be seen. Hideo Itami recently asked for his release from WWE, and many are anticipating that KUSHIDA may well suffer the same fate as the former NOAH star.
With Dean Ambrose and Hideo Itami leaving WWE news surrounding contract negotiations is going to be hotting up over the next few months. Especially when acts such as Chris Jericho are able to garner such incredible deals over at AEW
As we’ve previously reported AJ Styles has been looking to work a reduced schedule. The in-ring veteran has been one of the linchpins of the Smackdown Live brand over the past few years and it is very likely that WWE will bend over backwards to keep the ‘Phenomenal One’ in WWE.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Styles’ contract will be coming up for renewal in April. This really couldn’t come at a better time for the former WWE Champion. With the likes of ROH, AEW and New Japan looking to bring in talent WWE will absolutely want to keep Styles on board.
Dave Meltzer stated, “Even though he has friends in AEW he appears to be staying with WWE.” That said, if AEW were to make a blow-away offer to any WWE wrestler coming up for free agency, Styles is the guy.
With Styles’ wanting to work a reduced schedule it will open up a spot for a top babyface on the blue brand. With the likes of Mustafa Ali being called up it does appear as though WWE is trying to work on building some new up and coming Superstars.
Double or Nothing, the first live event under the AEW banner, takes place on Saturday, May 25th from Las Vegas, NV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. A “ticket announcement party” is scheduled for next Thursday, February 7th at the MGM Grand’s Splash Pool.
AEW sent in some new details about the ticket announcement pool party:
– We will find out when Double or Nothing tickets go on sale.
– The Elite crew will be on hand, including Cody and Brandi Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page and SCU.
– AEW is teasing spectacular new signings, exciting new partnerships and a surprise special guest.
– The AEW Double or Nothing Ticket Announcement party will stream live online starting at 6pm PST / 9pm EST on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans are encouraged to use the hashtag #AEW on February 7th.
AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes commented on the ticket announcement party:
“We promised to change the wrestling landscape in 2019, and it’s already starting to shift. Our roster is growing every day with awesome acquisitions, we’re gathering incredible momentum among our fanbase, and we’re poised to sell out the DOUBLE OR NOTHING event in record speed. Whether you can join us in person next week or plan to follow the news socially, get ready to party with us on February 7, and let’s start the countdown to DOUBLE OR NOTHING on May 25.”
Cody’s Nightmare Family Youtube channel is doing a new series titled, The Road To Double or Nothing. If you haven’t seen Episode 1 yet, check it out here:
WWE’s Royal Rumble event saw possibly the hottest Superstar in the company, Becky Lynch, win the Women’s Royal Rumble. The Smackdown Live Superstar wasn’t originally booked to appear in the match following her loss to Asuka. The ‘Lass Kicker’ took Lana’s place when she was unable to compete, outlasting Nia Jax and Charlotte Flair in the final 3 to win the match and headline WrestleMania.
On Monday’s RAW Becky Lynch appeared to confront Ronda Rousey and demand that she got her chance to face the ‘Rowdy’ RAW Women’s Champion at WrestleMania.
With the success of Lynch at the Rumble it was likely that the Smackdown Live ratings would be positively affected. However, this was not the case. The post Rumble Smackdown was slightly down but essentially even with the last two weeks. Last night’s show averaged 2.137 million viewers, which made it ninth for the night on cable.
According to the Wrestling Observer the show finished second in the 18-49 demo with a 0.70 rating. The only major sports competition on television that night was NBA game on TNT, which did 1.113 million viewers. Smackdown retained around 79 percent of the RAW audience, which is reportedly lower than usual. It’s fairly clear that after a 2 hour NXT Takeover, 6 1/2 hours of Rumble PPV and a 3 hour RAW fans are burnt out.
NXT UK held their latest episode this past Wednesday. The UK brand had been slow to start but following a stellar Takeover: Blackpool event there is a lot more buzz surrounding the product.
Two matches have already been confirmed for next week’s show. The first will see Ligero taking on Mark Andrews. Both men are highly regarded light heavyweight talents in the UK, both men are former PROGRESS World Champions and have been performing for independent promotions across the UK/Europe over the past decade.
Xia Brookside has also been confirmed for a return next week. The female Superstar is an impressive performer in her own right but also has wrestling in her blood. Xia’s father is NXT Performance Center trainer and UK wrestling legend Robbie Brookside.
In the main event WALTER will be taking on Mark Coffey. The Gallus member ran into WALTER during this week’s episode and now the Austrian behemoth will get his hands on the ICW star. When WALTER appeared at NXT UK’s Takeover event it completely changed the landscape of the brand. WALTER is a top performer in the European scene and he looks set to continue his independent dates as PROGRESS World Champion, he is also being scheduled for the wXw 16 Carat Gold tournament later this year.
WWE’s NXT UK brand continued its weekly show this past Wednesday. The debut of WALTER was the big feature of the programme and the Austrian destroyed his opponent quickly.
Here’s the full results for NXT UK from 01/30:
“Bomber” Dave Mastiff b. “Primate” Jay Melrose – Mastiff took the win in 5 minutes after hitting his running cannonball senton into the corner
A Highlight video played hyping the return of Xia Brookside. She returns to NXT UK next week
James Drake and Zack Gibson appeared for their Championship celebration. Gibson confirmed that the team was officially the Grizzled Young Veterans on NXT UK. Sid Scala appeared and confirmed that the team would defend the titles against Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch “soon.”
WALTER b. Jack Starz – WALTER took the win in 2:35 after a hitting a Powerbomb. This was WALTER’s debut match for the company
A video aired of Jinny beating Isla Dawn two weeks ago
Marcel Barthel and WALTER met backstage, Barthel spoke to WALTER in German, then asked if WALTER wanted ‘friends’ in his new surroundings. Both men were part of the Ringkampf stable in wXw
Jinny b. Kasey Owens – Jinny took the win in 5:09 after hitting the Makeover
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) b. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel – Seven and Bate took the win in 13:08 when Seven pinned Barthel. This followed a dragon suplex/springboard lariat combination
New Japan Pro Wrestling is coming off the back of their recent Fantastica Mania series of shows. These shows were a co-promoted event done with the Mexican company, CMLL. Now New Japan is heading towards their first big post-Wrestle Kingdom show, The New Beginning. Beforehand though, is the ‘Road To New Beginning’ tour.
January 30th marked the first show of NJPW’s USA version of the tour. The event took place from the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Road To The New Beginning USA Results 1/30
Alex Coughlin vs Clark Connors
Draw. The two US Young Lions would wrestle to a time limit stalemate.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Tyler Bateman via pinfall.
Gresham would outwrestle his NJPW La Dojo opponent, ending the match after a modified Jackknife cover.
Colt Cabana defeated Shane Taylor via pinfall
Despite Taylor having the obvious height and weight advantage, Cabana would be able to execute a clutch hold at the right moment to earn the win.
Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Brody King and Marty Scurll
The Killer Elite Squad would hit the Killer Bomb onto Brody King to secure the victory.
Jeff Cobb defeated Karl Fredericks via pinfall
Cobb took Fredericks on a quick Tour of The Island, putting him away for a quick win.
David Finlay defeated Chuckie T via pinfall
Chuckie T would lose out to David Finlay after the latter managed to pull off the Trash Panda.
Juice Robinson and Tracy Williams defeated Rocky Romero and Beretta via pinfall
Robinson’s Pulp Friction finisher was enough to put away the team of Roppongi Vice, reuniting for this special ‘one night only’ tag team encounter.
New Japan Pro Wrestling is coming off the back of their recent Fantastica Mania series of shows. These shows were a co-promoted event done with the Mexican company, CMLL. Now New Japan is heading towards their first big post-Wrestle Kingdom show, The New Beginning. Beforehand though, is the ‘Road To New Beginning’ tour.
The fourth show of the tour took place from Sendai Sunplaza Hall in Miyagi, Japan.
Road To The New Beginning Results 1/30
Shota Umino and Ayato Yoshida defeated Yota Tsuji and Toa Henare via pinfall.
Umino executed a Fisherman’s Suplex onto fellow Young Lion, Yota Tsuji, for the victory.
Tiger Mask and Manabu Nakanishi defeated Ren Narita and Hiroyoshi Tenzan via pinfall.
Tiger Mask hit the Tiger Driver onto Narita for the win.
Shingo Takagi defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru via disqualification
El Desperado’s interference in this matchup led to a win for the LIJ member.
BUSHI defeated El Desperado via disqualification
The win came for BUSHI after El Desperado ripped BUSHI’s mask off his face, ending in another DQ finish.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tomoaki Honma, and YOSHI-HASHI defeated Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, and Jay White) via pinfall.
Tanahashi would pin Takahashi after hitting the High Fly Flow.
Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., and Minoru Suzuki defeated SANADA, “King Of Darkness” EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito via pinfall.
Sabre Jr. would defeat EVIL after locking in the European Clutch pinfall combination.
Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, and Togi Makabe defeated Taiji Ishiimori, Tanga Loa, and Tama Tonga
We’ve got new NEVER Openweight 6-man champions after Taguchi scooped up the submission win over Bullet Club. This victory makes this team the 19th 6-man champions in NJPW history.
WWE and AEW are both interested in the same up-and-coming female wrestler. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, Bea Priestley is on both promotion’s radar. It sounds as though AEW is closer to landing the English star.
“The only name that I’ve heard among women is STARDOM’s Bea Priestley, who WWE was pushing hard for, but AEW looks closer with her,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “She’s not signed as of yet.”
The report would continue to say AEW might be the better destination for female wrestlers right now.
“All Elite seems like a great choice for newer women to go right now,” Meltzer continued. “WWE has a lot of great wrestlers, but there is so many people, that it’s easy to get lost in the talent pool, or take forever to make it up the ranks. AEW, if a success, they’re going to feature women at a top level, so there is more opportunity to be featured and make an impact quicker.
Bea Priestley, AEW and WWE
Priestley has recently traded the WOS women’s championship back and forth with Viper. She’s also held the WhatCulture Pro and Defiant women’s championships. She is a 3-year pro, having begun her career in early 2016.
Priestley is currently in a relationship with NEVER Openweight Champion, Will Ospreay.
Brandi Rhodes will be heading up AEW’s women’s division. She has promised new signings to the division could be introduced at the Double or Nothing rally in Las Vegas.
Also concerning female talent and AEW, Brandi told Diva Dirt earlier this month that inter-gender wrestling won’t be apart of AEW initially.
“There are some of us on-board who have worked intergender (matches). I’ve always been a fan of it. I learned a lot working in those scenarios,” said Brandi Rhodes. “There are reasons for and against it, always. We’re going to handle everything with care. I don’t think it’s something you’re going to see out of the gate with AEW.”
The Lawler family and attorneys representing Brian Christopher’s estate have issued subpoenas to the Hardeman County Sheriff’s office and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The subpoenas are part of their ongoing investigation into Christopher’s death.
The news was reported by local media in Memphis.
“FOX13 has learned that Lawler’s attorneys have filed two subpoenas to investigate Brian Christopher Lawler’s death,” said Ernie Freeman on Good Morning Memphis. “Investigators ruled Lawlor’s death was a suicide. Attorneys for his estate issued subpoenas to both the Hardeman County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennesse Bureau of Investigation. The subpoenas are part of a civil action by the Lawler family.”
Lawler Family Doubts Official Cause Of Death Finding In Brian Christopher Case
This summer, the Lawler family hired civil rights lawyer, Jeff Rosenblum, to investigate the official cause of Christopher’s death. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation opened an investigation into the case which is ongoing.
Jerry Lawler expressed his doubts to Local Memphis media in August that his son committed suicide.
“It just doesn’t pass the smell test,” Lawler said. “We’ve received literally countless calls, text messages from people, actual eyewitnesses, that were in the jail and saw things that happened on the actual day that Brian died that now has opened up a new can of worms,” he continued. “It just doesn’t seem like it was suicide.”
Dean Ambrose’s decision to leave WWE when his contract expires in April is sending shockwaves throughout the industry.
Late Monday night, PWTorch.com broke the news that Ambrose informed WWE over the weekend that he won’t be signing a new deal with the company. The buzz surrounding this story was so intense that WWE issued a rare statement on the matter. In an unprecedented move, WWE said, “We are grateful and appreciative of all that Dean has given to WWE and our fans. We wish him well and hope that one day Dean will return to WWE.”
Ambrose is not the first WWE Superstar to ask for his release this month due to creative frustration, but he’s the biggest name so far. WWE is very aware All Elite Wrestling is well-financed and offering big money deals to bolster their roster. They’re not taking this lightly and met with several performers this week to prevent more defections.
According to PWInsider, meetings were held backstage at Tuesday’s SmackDown Live TV taping to address the situation. More specifically, wrestlers whose contracts are coming up in the next year or two had private meetings with management to discuss signing long-term deals.
“After the Dean Ambrose news came out on late Monday/early Tuesday, there was a buzz of activity backstage at SmackDown as anybody who had a contract that was coming up in the next year or two was pulled into rooms and spoken to by management about signing longer form deals,” the report reads. All the wrestlers were sitting around looking at each other and going ‘would you look at this? this is crazy!’”
Ambrose is reported to have turned down a 5-year deal which would have seen him earn over a million dollars per year.
On Wednesday night, WWE taped the next several weeks of NXT television from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. These are the first shows coming out of NXT TakeOver: Phoenix. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of Jacob Cohen:
WWE NXT TV Tapings Results (1/30)
– Johnny Gargano opened the show. He said that it feels great to be the North American Champion, but was interrupted by Tommaso Ciampa. He says Gargano got the belt because he followed Ciampa’s lead, together they own the world. Johnny says this is his moment and he will never need Ciampa.
Velveteen Dream out and says that he thinks this is cute, but tonight is not about them, tonight is about the man who stole the show at Takeover. Dream said that he won the Worlds Collide Tournament and has earned an NXT Title shot of his choosing. He picks Johnny Gargano’s North American Title.
Scoop #8: Velveteen Dream doesn’t want Ciampa, he wants a shot at Johnny Gargano and the North American Title pic.twitter.com/Xb1j9b6tPr
– Forgotten Sons cut a promo about how they are overlooked in NXT and everyone should take notice. They will be the ones remembered as the team that takes the Tag Titles from The War Raiders
– Drew Gulak defeats Bugenhagen. Post-match, Gulak yells at the crowd for not showing him the proper respect. If there is someone in the back who wants to get stretched to come out now. Outcomes Matt Riddle
– Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, & Bianca Belair vs The Horsewomen
– Dominik Dijakovic defeats Shane Thorne
– Humberto Carrillo & Stacey Ervin Jr out for a tag match but Kassius Ohno comes out and says he’s been back in NXT for 2 years, he was sitting in the back and saw the “Notorious” Full Sail Crowd. Ohno says he has options and he will go somewhere he can be appreciated. Keith Lee comes out and KOs Ohno. Lee says don’t let the door hit Ohno in the ass on the way out.
– The Street Profits defeat Carrillo & Ervin Jr. Post-match, Profits cut a promo about any time The Street Profits get the ball, they are willing to roll. They call out the War Raiders but Barthel & Aichner come out instead. They say that they deserve a shot at War Raiders. Lorcan & Burch come out to get in everyone’s face. War Raiders come out and say there is a lot of talking but not a lot of fighting. Undisputed Era attacks but War Raiders stand tall.
– Aliyah defeats Taynara Conti. Horsewomen out and attack everyone post-match. Shayna Baszler says do not get in their way and do not piss them off.
Scoop #33: Aliyah defeats Taynara Conti with some from Vanessa Borne
Cody is scheduled to have surgery on his knee shortly. The AEW executive was pulled from the ROH Global Wars tour back in November after hearing his knee pop. Cody was to defend the IWGP United States championship against Beretta in Toronto but was unable to make the match.
“Sadly folks I will not be able to wrestle tomorrow in Toronto,” Cody Tweeted. “I will still be at the pre-show meet/greet to say hello to everybody.”
An MRI later confirmed Cody would need surgery to repair the damage done to his meniscus. He would delay the surgery until after Final Battle and Wrestle Kingdom, however. In an update to this story, the Wrestling Observer is reporting Cody’s surgery is scheduled for February 12th.
“Cody will be undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on February 12 in Atlanta,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “The surgery will keep him out of action for two to three months but he’s not scheduled to wrestle until Double Or Nothing on 5/25.”
Back in November, Cody provided a somewhat encouraging update on his knee. He was able to compete at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom back on January 4th, but his damaged meniscus will require him to undergo a minimally invasive procedure.
GOOD news is my doctor is fairly confident that my mcl/pcl/acl are structurally sound.
BAD news is the meniscus is fairly damaged, gonna’ require a scope. No dates will be adjusted at the moment, and I’ll definitely still compete in the final battle main event & at WK. pic.twitter.com/PtyK1wpoiz
wXw has announced the next name for 2019’s 16 Carat Gold tournament. The company has confirmed that David Starr will be taking part in the tournament. Starr is one of the more underrated talents on the UK/European scene, he is currently a free agent. The likes of AEW, NJPW and ROH are likely to start taking notice with his recent performances across the globe.
This follows the news that NXT Superstar Axel Dieter Jr/Marcel Barthel will be making his way home to Germany. The former wXw and PROGRESS star will be in Oberhausen March 8th-10th to take part in the prestigious event. Other names confirmed for the tournament includeWALTER, Daisuke Sekimoto, Pentagon Jr, Fenix, Jurn Simmons, Chris Brookes, Timothy Thatcher, Shigehiro Irie, Mark Davis, “Avalanche” Robert Dreissker and Rey Horus.
Dieter Jr recently appeared as part of the company’s Anniversary event. The NXT Superstar took part in a six-man tag team match alongside Ringkampf members Timothy Thatcher and WALTER. The team faced NXT UK Superstars Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate.
Nia Jax‘s appearance in the men’s Royal Rumble match provided some memorable moments in the marathon 2019 Royal Rumble pay-per-view.
Jax’s spots with Randy Orton in the Rumble, and her followup with Dean Ambrose on Monday’s Raw have raised the question of whether or not WWE is considering promoting intergender matches, something that they have shied away from.
One WWE Hall of Famer, Jim Ross, and a future HOF inductee, Sean Waltman, both discussed Jax’s Rumble inclusion, and what it might mean, on their podcasts this week.
Jim Ross On Intergender Wrestling
Good Ol’ JR expressed a more nuanced opinion on the subject, praising Jax’s spot in the Rumble, while expressing his preference for it not to become the norm.
“I enjoyed the little wrinkle, if that’s all it’s going to be, of Nia Jax entering the men’s Royal Rumble,” Ross said.
“Didn’t have a problem with that, philosophically, for the moment, for a spot. I hope that doesn’t lead to a proliferation of intergender matches.”
Ross then made clear that his take is his own, and that he holds nothing against those that enjoy intergender matches.
“Those of you that do intergender matches, or like them, look, that’s cool with me, man. I don’t care,” Ross said. “But for me, if I’m booking, if I’m creating, if I’m writing, I’m not putting women and men against each other.”
Ross explained further.
“How I feel about that is kind of the expression I saw in Randy Orton’s face when he went face to face with Nia Jax,” said Ross. “That was a good moment. She got some shine. I just don’t want it going forward in an intergender rivalry. The women always have to wrestle smaller guys, who are comedy characters to some degree.”
“That’s not how I would produce wrestling.”
Sean Waltman On Nia Jax In The Royal Rumble
For his part, Sean Waltman had a slightly different take.
“I thought it was great. I f—ing loved it,” said Waltman.
Still, Waltman acknowledges that he understands why some critics take issue with WWE doing intergender violence.
“There are people that want to be accepting, but there’s a thing where it’s going to take a little bit to get used to,” said Waltman. “You can’t fault people for the feelings that come up when they see certain things.”
“Sometimes these things can bring up stuff within ourselves that we might not be comfortable with from our past and how we’ve been to women,” Waltman said.
“So there can be different reasons for people feeling a certain kind of way about this thing.”
These transcripts have been edited and condensed for clarity. When referencing these transcripts, please credit SEScoops.com.
Brock Lesnar’s UFC and WWE future has been in question for the better part of the last four years, and that remains the case as we enter another WrestleMania season.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Lesnar’s current WWE contract definitely runs through WrestleMania 35, and most likely the planned May event in Saudi Arabia.
That deal does allow Lesnar to fight in the UFC, and Lesnar has remained in the USADA drug testing pool. Lesnar has reportedly been tested recently, leaving the door open for him to return to fighting while under his current WWE contract.
Dave Meltzer believes that Lesnar is unlikely to fight again, and is simply using the threat of going to UFC as leverage in contract negotiations with WWE.
Further complicating Brock’s potential UFC and WWE future is the emergence of All Elite Wrestling.
Meltzer reported on an audio show this week that Chris Jericho wants a match with Lesnar, and Jericho appeared to be working towards that by taking a shot at Lesnar on social media on Sunday.
Jericho’s Tweet read:
“Intimidation and fear goes a LONG way in our business guys. But let’s be honest, @BrockLesnar needs to pull up his pants and lose the gut… the dream is over dude. I don’t play by the script… @wwe@AEWrestling
Becky Lynch has not only become one of the best parts of WWE Programming in the past year but she has also upped her Twitter game. She has become one of the most interesting WWE stars to follow on the social network.
One of the best parts of Lynch’s Twitter are her transactions with other WWE Stars and Legends and the latest example of it is her recent exchange with the Rock.
Becky recently held an AMA session from her account and she ended up having an interaction with the Rock during which this duo teased a big match. Below is a new episode of WWE Now which takes a look at these stars teasing the bout:
Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match Confirmed For Raw
WWE has announced the third qualifying match for the upcoming Women’s Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match, confirming that the bout will take place on next week’s episode of Raw.
The match will see Bayley and her partner Sasha Banks battling with the team of former NXT Star Nikki Cross and Alicia Fox for an opportunity to compete in the upcoming Chamber match.
This is the final qualifying match from Raw’s side and the winner of the bout will join Nia Jax & Tamina, Riott Squad and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville at the announced bout.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) has been making strides in locking down talent. In recent months we have reported on the company signing Bandido, Brody King, PCO, and more to their expanding roster.
Unfortunately, the company have also been impacted by a recent bout of injuries to some of their top, and up-and-coming, stars, including the newly signed Mark Haskins.
Haskins took to Twitter to reveal that he has recently “suffered a partial tear” in his calf. Thankfully, according to him, “It’s already getting better so shouldn’t be out for more than a few weeks.”
Suffered a partial tear in my calf recently. It's already getting better so shouldn't be out for more than a few weeks. Still going to be in Florida next weekend @ringofhonor Got Lifeblood peeps to represent ? #Squad
He promises that he will still be in Florida next weekend, ending his update by saying he’s “Got Lifeblood peeps to represent #Squad”
LifeBlood is ROH’s latest stable, featuring Juice Robinson, Tenille Dashwood, Bandido, Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams, and David Finlay.
Recent ROH Injuries
During their Honor Reigns Supreme weekender earlier this month, both Flip Gordon and Chris Sabin would suffer injuries whilst performing.
Gordon suffered an injury to his right knee during a match against Tracy Williams. It is reported he may be out for around 4 weeks due to an MCL sprain. Sabin’s prognosis, however, was more serious. He suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during a six-man matchup, which will take a lot longer to heal and rehab.
Twitter feuds are nothing new. They can, however, spark between almost anybody, as evidenced in a recent back-and-forth between WWE NXT UK Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley, and WWE Hall Of Famer, Mick Foley.
Their initial spat began after Mick stated that, although Ripley was a “force” to contend with, she was by no means a Kacy Catanzaro “…and you will NEVER be #TheMan.”
Ripley lashed back at him, saying: “Why would I want to be a fake man when I can be a legit bad ass woman! Mick… I think you should sit down before I make you sit down. Make the smart decision..”
Now Foley, responding to a fan’s question regarding Ripley, has admitted he believes Ripley to be a future WWE champion, but only if she “adjusts her attitude a wee bit.”
In an attempt to smooth out their Twitter dispute, he would follow up with:
“@RheaRipley_WWE – let me put to rest the rumor (started by me an hour ago) that you need to adjust your attitude a wee bit. In truth, I hear AMAZING things about your attitude. I see you as a future @WWE #RAW or #SDLive champion and a MAJOR player for years to come.”
The NXT UK Women’s champion would respond, telling him to “get back in your lane old man.” She then wrote that his “days have passed, I am the now and the future. So you can just sit there in your trackies and your flannel shirts and admire my work.”
That’s right, get back in your lane old man… Your days have passed, I am the now and the future. So you can just sit there in your trackies and your flannel shirts and admire my work. ?
Not since 2001 has the wrestling industry had such a wide array of genuine options available for the talented men and women looking for an opportunity. With All Elite Wrestling (AEW) willing to invest in their product and talent at an unprecedented degree since WCW, WWE may no longer be the only major player in town.
One big money contract they offered helped them to secure a major talent: Chris Jericho.
Details regarding Jericho’s AEW contract reportedly leaked backstage amongst the WWE locker room last week. The amount apparently “stunned” and “freaked” WWE personnel, depending on their position.
Speaking on the Wrestling Observer Forum, Dave Meltzer stated that “Last week it went around WWE locker room the Jericho $ amount, it was a huge shock.”
He would extrapolate this point further via Wrestling Observer Radio: “One of the things that happened, I was actually told this a couple of days ago, Jericho’s contract number went around the WWE locker room and a lot of people were stunned, freaked, depending on your viewpoint.”
Meltzer clarified that it “[…] wouldn’t be a John Cena number and it’s not a Brock number and I don’t think it’s a Ronda Rousey number — maybe it is, I don’t know, but it’s a pretty high number. It’s one of the higher numbers. It would be near the top in WWE. [Wrestlers are] all of a sudden like ‘Woah.’ Something out there is real.”
This knowledge comes in the wake of numerous talent asking for and receiving, their release. In recent weeks, rumors have circulated Mike and Maria Kanellis and The Revival. Just this week, news broke that Dean Ambrose would not be resigning with WWE after his contract expires post-WrestleMania. Hideo Itami will also be leaving, most probably returning to Japan to wrestle.
We noted before how Hideo Itami was reported to be leaving WWE, and while the company didn’t release an official statement on the same, it became clear that this was not a work when a number of WWE superstars showed their respect to Itami on Twitter.
However, this is not the case with Dean Ambrose. While he is said to be leaving the company after WrestleMania and WWE has confirmed the same as well, there are people within the company who believe that the whole thing is a work.
Due to the confusion, the roster members had so far been quiet about the situation with the Lunatic Fringe opposed to the case of Hideo. Though now Rusev has broken this silence by thanking both the Japanese Star and Ambrose with the following Tweet:
As we noted before, Dean Ambrose’s current contract with WWE expires in April after WrestleMania. He is said to be frustrated with the way his on-screen character has been presented and so he is planning to leave.
The company had offered him a new seven-figure, five years deal to re-sign but he gave his notice to the Officials on Monday before Raw and made it clear that he is not interested in negotiating further.
Posted January 31st, 2019 in News, WWE. Tagged: Rusev.
Becky Lynch’s Epic Response To Vince McMahon’s Birthday Wish
Yesterday January 30th was the birthday of this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble winner and the Man Becky Lynch. So it was inevitable that she will create some twitter buzz.
Lynch made some interesting tweets during the day and she also called out the current Raw Women’s Champion and her WrestleMania opponent Ronda Rousey in one them:
However, the tweet that stood out came in the response of a birthday wish from the chairman Vince McMahon himself, where Lynch effortlessly connected the story to a very famous comment from the boss:
This week’s episode of SmackDown had some surprising matches and segments including the one where R Truth won the United States Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura.
WWE recently posted a top ten moments video of the show which features this surprising title change and more interesting moments from the episode, like Daniel Bryan introducing a new WWE Championship belt.
This list is topped by the main event segment of the show which featured Daniel Bryan and some other stars. It saw Triple H announcing an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE title. You can check out the video below:
It was a very difficult day for WWE star Rey Mysterio. “The Master Of The 619” visited the grave of his dear friend, WWE Hall Of Famer Eddie Guerrero, for the first time in 13 years. It wasn’t since Guerrero’s passing in November of 2005 when Mysterio was last there. He posted the following on Instagram:
“Always had a hard time wanting to visit Eddie & found myself cowardly refusing it due to the pain & memories from that day………Finally this past Monday, after 13yrs, I had the courage to visit him and have a one on one moment with him…. & …….exactly what I feared of happening, happened.
“Memories from that day were flashing through my head but his presence was much stronger and was able to cope and maintain my composure. After my conversation & connection with him I left with a Huge internal Smile and felt a soothing & peaceful! Eddie has been such an inspiration not only to me but to many & will always continue to do so.
“I witnessed that day, that future wrestlers who never had the opportunity to meet him took the time to stop by and pay their respects wishing they would of had the honor and privilege to have met him & been around him like many of us did! I truly miss you WeeWeeto!”
Guerrero began his professional wrestling career in the late ’80s. He worked for promotions in Mexico before going on to work for the likes of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). He made quite the name for himself once he landed in WCW as a member of the cruiserweight division. It was there that he put on some of the best matches in professional wrestling history.
In 2000, Guerrero signed with WWE before WCW went under. However, he was eventually released after a drunk driving arrest in November of 2001. In 2002 Guerrero returned to WWE on an episode of Monday Night RAW, attacking Rob Van Dam. Over the years, Guerrero blossomed into one of the WWE Universe’s biggest fan favorites. He captured a WWE Championship, two European Titles, a United States Championship, and two Intercontinental Titles.
In November of 2005, Guerrero passed away in his hotel room in Minnesota due to an underlying heart condition. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2006 several months after his passing.
What do you think about Mysterio visiting Guerrero’s grave for the first time in 13 years?