In the wake of Lana taking to Twitter in order to call Ronda Rousey “overrated,” she has since launched a YouTube channel with Rusev. Her bitterness initially stemmed from being replaced on ‘Total Divas’ due to being “strongly disliked by the demographic” that watches the show.
Lana responded to a Tweet by Ruby Riott in the build-up to Riott’s matchup against Rousey at Elimination Chamber, jumping at the opportunity to get her anti-Rousey opinions in.
In a new video uploaded to her YouTube channel, she has continued her campaign, admitting that she is “salty” when it comes to Ronda Rousey.
“I’m just going to address the elephant in the room,” she said. “Yes, I’m very, very salty. B***h, you know I’m salty.”
“[…] I thought all you did was diss reality stars, diss the Bellas, and now you’re taking my spot on ‘Total Divas?’ Yes, I’m salty,” she exclaimed. “[…] I’m so furious. You know, I’m so proud of you Ronda for being the ‘Baddest Woman On The Planet,’ but you’re no reality star and guess the one thing you will never, ever, ever, ever, be? As entertaining as me.”
The video ends with a request for people to write into her and share what they are salty about to be featured in her “I’m Salty” series.
With the two women on separate brands, it’s unlikely that any of this will lead to a feud. So the question inevitably becomes: why is Lana doing this?
Last week saw four of NXT’s top Superstars make their main roster debuts. The quartet was comprised of Tomasso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, and Ricochet. They would wrestle on both Monday Night RAW and Tuesday Night SmackDown. All would come away with victories during their experiences on the red and blue brand.
At a recent NXT Live Event, which took place on Saturday, Aleister Black took the opportunity to say goodbye to the NXT fans.
He reflected on the “crazy” week that he’s just had, commenting that it is definitely one of the “craziest I’ve ever had.” He would go on to admit that the “work is far from done” before listing out the two things that always make him feel great. The first is the sport of professional wrestling, the second is coming home to NXT, which he referred to as a family.
“Believe me, I am so, so proud I get to be a part of this family. Because this family, no matter where I go after this, will always be my home. It truly is.”
Aleister Black is advertised for this week’s episode of SmackDown Live. He is scheduled to team up with Ricochet to take on Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura in tag team action.
It appears that Drew McIntyre was able to avoid an injury while wrestling Dean Ambrose during the latest Raw Brand Live Event from Tupelo on Saturday night.
The commotion started when a fan who was in attendance for the show revealed that the ‘X’ sign was thrown during a match between the Scottish Psychopath and the Lunatic Fringe.
At first, it was believed that Dean Ambrose had suffered some real damage as the sign was thrown immediately after McIntyre hit him with a Claymore kick:
Not sure what really happened in mcintyre and Ambrose match at #wwetupelo the X got threw up after McIntyre hit Ambrose with the claymore kick @davemeltzerWON
Though it turned out to be the other way around and according to the fan, it was the former NXT Champion who had to be helped backstage after the bout, while Dean walked out of the arena on his own:
My first tweet wasn’t very clear at #wwetupelo after McIntyre pinned Ambrose with the claymore kick the X was thrown up and McIntyre limped to the back ambrose walked out fine @bryanalvarez@davemeltzerWON
Thankfully it appears that situation was not very bad as providing an update on his status, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer confirmed that McIntyre too was fine. He described what happened as a ‘close call’.
We’ll keep you updated on his condition but as of now, it appears that the former Champion was able to avoid the worst and there are no serious concerns about his health.
There is no news on what the company is planning for Drew McIntyre’s future and it would be interesting to see who turns out be his opponent for WrestleMania.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently made some interesting comments regarding the new AEW promotion. Good Ol’ JR spoke about the new upstart company on his Ross Report podcast.
When discussing the new company Ross began to explain how he feels they should run the business. Ross was mainly looking at how the company could build and ‘avoid becoming the next WCW.’ Alluding to how the last company to truly contest WWE ended up going out of business.
JR said that “Well, they’ve got to continue to create stars. They’ve got to continue to provide something new and exciting and talented to the fanbase. They’ve got to have a great television clearance as they start their weekly run this fall, I am told or as I read. So I think that’s important. They’ve struck a chord with many on social media.” Ross elaborated further, saying “their footprint, thanks to their social media expertise, is serving them well. But the main thing is they’ve got to cultivate a talented roster. They can’t get stale or predictable and continue to produce great episodic, hard-hitting, no eye-rolling content every week. It’s a hell of a big job and it ain’t going to be easy.”
Credit to the Ross Report and WrestlingINC for the transcription
As we reported earlier this week TJP, WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson, Tye Dillinger, and Hideo Itami were all released from their WWE contracts. Itami had publicly announced that we would be leaving. Dillinger also made some comments this week on social media confirming his release.
There appears to be some reasoning for the recent releases. According to the Wrestling Observer Arn Anderson was constantly in conflict with Vince McMahon. The actual details are few and far between but apparently a recent house show involved an incident which the WWE CEO was not happy about. Anderson took full responsibility for the incident and was subsequently terminated from the company.
TJP’s release is reportedly for disciplinary reasons. WWE are quite reluctant to ‘fire’ anyone currently due to the new landscape of professional wrestling (see: AEW). Again details are scarce but WWE felt firing TJP needed to be done.
Itami and Dillinger asked for their releases from WWE. With the aforementioned change of landscape both clearly feel that there are opportunities for them elsewhere.
Bruce Prichard, Steve Corino, “Hurricane” Shane Helms, Sonjay Dutt, Shawn Daivari, “Abyss” Chris Parks and WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett have all recently joined the company in backstage roles.
NXT UK Superstar Wolfgang recently spoke to the UK’s Mirror and suggested that he would like to see some WWE Superstars on the UK brand.
The newspaper asked the Gallus member about the upcoming ‘Superstar Shakeup.’ Wolfgang mentioned what he would like to see happen for the UK brand. The Scottish Superstar stated “It would be great to see new faces, but also some established ones coming over to NXT UK. Just like Noam Dar did recently.”
The Gallus stable member gave some specific names, saying “it would be great to see Jack Gallagher, Drew McIntyre and some of the heavyweights come across.” Wolfgang also mentioned that “people like Sheamus would be good. I know these guys are megastars now, but given where they came from, it would be good to see them back.”
Finally Wolfgang also mentioned “Killian Dain, get him back here if not permanently, but at least for a few episodes. I’m not sure he’s getting the platform he would wish for right now and I think he would jump at the chance.”
NXT UK recently taped their latest batch of episodes for the WWE Network. You can check out the full results for the taping here.
Posted February 24th, 2019 in News, NXT. Tagged: Sheamus.
Nikki Cross has made her intentions known towards WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Asuka through the power of Twitter.
Cross recently tweeted, “Hehe remember this Asuka?!?! Naughty Nikki is looking for a new toy?!? But shhhhhh keep it a secret! Hide and seek!!! Hehe ok I come find you PEEKABOO!”
WWE teased fans who should be in line for a SmackDown Women’s Championship next as they shared this post on Twitter with Lacey Evans, Naomi, Carmella, Mandy Rose, and Nikki Cross listed.
Over the past week, there have been rumors that Charlotte Flair was originally slated to be Asuka’s opponent WrestleMania 35. This would’ve served as a rematch from WrestleMania 34 in 2018 where Flair broke Asuka’s undefeated streak to retain the SmackDown Women’s Title.
Plans changed as Flair has since been added to the RAW Women’s Championship Match against Ronda Rousey. The belief is that Becky Lynch will be added to the contest to make it a Triple Threat Match.
Dave Meltzer recently reported that Asuka’s opponent at WrestleMania 35 was once slated to be against Lacey Evans. It’s possible that WWE books Cross against Asuka at the next pay-per-view event.
WWE presents the Fastlane event on March 10, 2019 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently did aQ&A on Facebook and commented on a number of interesting topics.
Right off the bat, one fan asked him about WWE Superstars asking for their release. On Friday, the granted the releases of TJP, Hideo Itami, and Tye Dillinger. This is where Angle made it known that WWE is not going to please everybody because most of these superstars won’t make it to the main event level. “You need to understand that there are so many talented superstars, but there’s only one main event each pay per view. The company tries to utilize each star as much as they can. WWE is not going to please everybody because most of these superstars won’t make it to main event level. There is only so much room on each show. I honestly think that the talent level is as high as it’s ever been right now. And because of that, there will be some unhappy superstars that want [to be] released.”
Another topic that Angle was asked regarding the happiest moment in WWE, which is a tough answer considering all of the great accomplishments that he has achieved through his wrestling career. “When I first started out. I was playing the goofy Angle character which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was getting so many reactions from the fans. It was fun…the time of my life.”
Steve Corino began working with WWE at the Performance Center in early 2017 and is working on the main roster helping to produce RAW and Smackdown live events. According to a report from PW Insider, Corino began working in the role a few weeks ago.
Corino was put into the position in order to free up Jamie Noble, who has other responsibilities with the company. Also on the RAW and Smackdown live events team are Michael Hayes and Joey Maloney. Corino had previously been helping out with live events for NXT as well.
Steve Corino is a former NWA, ECW, and MLW World Champion. Corino had a couple of tryouts in WWE, as an announcer, writer, and wrestler but nothing came together between he and the company until after he did a guest coaching spot at the Performance Center in late 2016.
He spoke to Wrestling Inc in 2015 about tryouts he had in WWE previously.
“In 2007 when I had a tryout as a writer and a wrestler, they were thinking that I was too old, so maybe I didn’t have the right people coming in for me. I was still in Japan 29 weeks a year, so I had something to fall back on. They were great up there. Anyone who buries the system by saying ‘I went up there for a tryout and they didn’t hire me, blah blah blah.’ Oh man. It’s such a well-oiled machine up there.”
Arn Anderson was recently let go by WWE after nearly two decades. Anderson joined the company not long after WCW closed in 2001. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, Anderson was fired due to an incident at a recent house show.
“Arn got fired. It’s an incident that everyone is pretty much keeping quiet what it was,” Dave Meltzer said. “It was an incident with Vince.”
“I don’t know the whole details of the incident other than it was something at a house show that evidently wasn’t handled well and Arn took the blame for that.”
The report continued to say that Arn and Vince had clashed over the years but that Arn had supporters in WWE management. Triple H is said to be a big Arn Anderson supporter. Anderson was also said to have been the agent assigned to John Cena matches as well. Some are speculating that if John Cena was full-time, Anderson would not have been let go.
The majority of Arn Anderson’s in-ring career was spent with Crockett and WCW. He did have a brief run in WWE during the late 1980s, however. He teamed with Tully Blanchard during this period as the Brainbusters along with their manager Bobby “the Brain” Heenan
When ROH and NJPW present the G1 Supercard from MSG on April 6th, the tag champs from each promotion will clash against each other. The Guerilla of Destiny will put up their titles against the Briscoes’ titles in front of a soldout Madison Square Garden.
The match came together yesterday on night 2 of ROH’s Honor Rising shows from Korakuen Hall.
Make that 5X IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champs. Come April 6th at Madison Square Garden, we’ll be ROH Tag Champs too. April 7th at the @BulletClubBP is gonna be lit AF
Guerillas of Destiny vs The Briscoes – Title vs Title – G1 Supercard From MSG
On night 1 of Honor Rising, the Briscoes and Guerillas of Destiny teamed together. The two teams don’t get along, however, and ended up coming to blows after the match. The two teams do have history together. The Briscoes defeated GoD to win the IWGP heavyweight tag titles at Dominion in 2016. GoD took the titles back just 4 months later at King of Pro Wrestling 2016, however.
In the semi-main event of Honor Rising night 2, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defeated Evil & Sanada to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for the 5th time. In the main event, the Briscoes defeated Juice Robinson & Dave Finlay to retain the ROH Tag Team Championships. Following the Briscoes defeat of Fin Juice, the Tongans hit the ring and challenged the Briscoes to a match at the G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden.
Matt and Nick Jackson got some revenge on Pentagon and Fenix last night. In the process, they also made a match between them official for AEW Double or Nothing.
The Lucha Bros attacked the Young Bucks at the recent AEW rally in Las Vegas but the Bucks repaid the favor last night at an AAW show in Chicago. It is the first time the Young Bucks had been back in Chicago since All In on September 1st.
The Lucha Bros were defending the AAW tag-team titles against LAX when the Bucks interfered.
The interference by the Bucks allowed LAX to secure the victory over Pentagon and Fenix and win the AAW tag-team championships. The Bucks then challenged Pentagon and Fenix to a match at Double or Nothing and the Lucha Bros accepted.
The journey of bringing the WWE NXT UK brand to the more fans has continued as the company held TV tapings on Saturday from Coventry, England at the Planet Ice Coventry.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when these shows will air but WWE likely start to air these episodes on their streaming service, WWE Network, shortly. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of Wrestling Inc:
February 23rd Taping
– NXT UK GM Johnny Saint announces Pete Dunne will defend the WWE UK Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York.
– Tyler Bate defeated James Drake
– Jordan Devlin defeated Dan Moloney
– Kassius Ohno cuts a promo in the ring by reading an apology off his phone for Aston Smith.
– Rhea Ripley defeated Xia Brookside. Post-match, Ripley cuts a promo about being the most dominant woman in NXT UK. This led to Viper (Piper Niven) making her debut by coming out to the ring to face-off with Ripley.
– Mark Andrews vs. Noam Dark ends in a no contest when the referee threw up the “X” signal and both wrestlers would be stretched out.
– WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne and WALTER make their title match at NXT TakeOver: New York official.
– Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan defeated Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel
– Kay Lee Ray defeated Isla Dawn
– Joe Coffey defeated Trent Seven
– Travis Banks defeated Kassius Ohno
– Viper defeated Killer Kelly. Post-match, Ripley heads out and Viper invites her in the ring, but Ripley passes.
– Joseph Conners defeated Jack Starz
– NXT UK Tag Champs Zack Gibson and James Gibson cut a promo about Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams having a future title shot.
– NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm defeated Jinny
The first official match for the next special, NXT TakeOver: New York, for the WWE NXT brand has been revealed and it comes from the NXT UK roster.
The journey of bringing the WWE NXT UK brand to the more fans has continued as the company held TV tapings on Saturday from Coventry, England at the Planet Ice Coventry.
At these tapings, it was announced that WALTER will challenge Pete Dunne for the WWE UK Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York. We will be posting the spoilers from this taping later today.
NXT Takeover NY at #WrestleMania weekend will have the UK Championship defended!
If you recall, this match was teased back at the NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool event, which was the first special under the NXT UK banner, on January 12, 2019 at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.
It started when Dunne successfully retained his title over against Joe Coffey. After the match, WALTER made his debut and attacked Coffey before having a stare-down with Dunne.
The NXT TakeOver: New York event takes place on Friday, April 5, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network. WWE has yet to announce any matches for this show but is expected to do so in the coming weeks.
WWE has announced three things thus far for Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live.
On Saturday afternoon, the company confirmed two matches and a segment. First up is a contract signing that will see WWE Champion Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston make their next match official.
WWE has already confirmed that Bryan will make his next title defense against Kingston at the Fastlane pay-per-view event takes place on March 10, 2019 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Also, Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura will battle Ricochet and Aleister Black in a tag team match as well as Johnny Gargano taking on Cesaro in a singles match with Sheamus and NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa in their respected corners.
Just last week, Gargano and Ciampa beat The Bar in a tag team match. Thus, it appears that WWE is keeping this storyline going.
WWE invades Charlotte, NC at the Spectrum Center for this episode of SmackDown Live. If WWE announces anything else for the show we will sure to pass it along. The company will continue the build to the final pay-per-view event before WrestleMania 35, which is Fastlane, by announcing more matches for the show on this episode of the blue brand.
WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder), as well as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Bayley, are hoping that 2019 will be a big year for the tag team divisions for both men and women.
WWE sent out this video on their official Twitter account with the teams interacting and talking about being champions, which you can see here:
While Dawson and Wilder are reviving the RAW Tag Team division, Banks and Bayley are set on defending their titles not only on the main roster shows – Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live – but also in NXT as well.
The Revival has gone as far as teasing bringing back the old design of the WWE Tag Team Titles, which has fans talking. This is just one of the many examples of how these two WWE stars want to bring back tag team wrestling to its glory days on the red brand.
The Revival beat Bobby Roode and Chad Gable to win the straps back on the February 11th episode of Monday Night RAW. On the flip side, Bayley and Banks became the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Champions at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event.
Last night, Impact Wrestling presented their first show from their Las Vegas tapings held earlier this week. The show aired live on Twitch and Pursuit. The Lucha Bros faced LAX in the main event.
Here are 8 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 2/22:
Lucha Bros Defeated LAX – LAX Unmasked Lucha Bros
Pentagon Jr. and Fenix defeated LAX in what was supposed to be the final chapter of their rivalry. The 3-match series ends 2-1 in favor of the Lucha Bros.
After the match, Konnan congratulated the Lucha Bros and asked LAX to do the same. LAX was hesitant to do so but ultimately put out their hands to shake with their rivals. Perhaps remembering how LAX treated them after their first match, the Lucha Bros got up in LAX’s faces instead of shaking hands. LAX then attacked and would unmask both of the Lucha Bros, much to Konnan’s dismay. The show closed with LAX holding up Pentagon and Fenix’s masks.
Brian Cage & Johnny Impact Agree To Takeout Moose & Killer Kross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3–BI4F2rd8
To kick things off last night, Johnny Impact announced he had defeated Cage, Kross, and Moose so he planned to move on to new competition. This didn’t sit well with Moose or Kross who both came out to confront Impact. A #1 contenders match between Moose and Kross was organized but resulted in a no-contest due to outside interference.
Later in the show, Impact presented Cage with a contract. The contract stated that if Cage helps Impact takeout Kross and Moose then Cage gets the next shot at his world title.
Tessa Blanchard Denied Title Match With Taya Valkyrie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiAuSpt9c1Q
We saw Tessa Blanchard in a backstage segment this week. She was storming out of management’s office, irate that she was denied another title match against Taya Valkyrie. Blanchard vowed she would get another shot at Taya one-way or another, however.
Later in the show, Blanchard would interrupt a match between Alisha Edwards and Delilah Doom and take out both Knockouts in an effort to make herself heard. Delilah Doom would later challenge Blanchard to a match next week.
A Dark War Is Coming
Rosemary has been haunting Dark Allie as of late. This week in a backstage segment, Father James Mitchell confronted Rosemary, claiming he is the one who owns Dark Allie. Rosemary asked Mitchell if they could cut a deal for Allie. Mitchell said he wants to bring Rosemary back to the underworld in exchange for Allie. Finally, the two sides decided to assemble their dark armies and battle it out in the ring. If Mitchell’s side wins, they get Rosemary. If Rosemary’s side win, she gets Allie.
Eddie Edwards Beats Eli Drake With A Wrestling Move
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULXcx7wQhYQ
Eddie Edwards didn’t need hardcore wrestling to beat Eli Drake. He attempted to use his kendo stick in the match but ultimately won with a roll-up pin on Drake, who had previously tried to use the kendo stick as well. Will this mark the return of the old Eddie Edwards?
Rich Swann Calls Sami Callihan “Family”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-XJ3ewVtZ4
Sami Callihan visited Rich Swann in the hospital this week. Callihan again tried to plead with Swann that Callihan is family and the only one really looking out for him. The nurses tried to get Callihan to leave, telling him only family is allowed to visit. Swann told the nurses that Callihan is family. Callihan then left an OVE shirt on Swann’s hospital bed as he left.
The Great Gama Singh Outsmoked The Rascalz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FU523INeQw
Impact Wrestling held their most recent tapings in Las Vegas. Then they head to Windsor in March followed by Toronto in April. What do all of these places have in common? Legal marijuana! While this should lead to the Rascalz advantage, they got outsmoked by the Great Gama Singh before their match with the Desi Hit Squad this week. Despite this, the Rascalz were still able to pull off the victory as they continue to rise up the rankings in Impact Wrestling.
The former Disco Inferno competed in the early days of TNA wrestling and was recently hired back to the promotion by Don Callis. His hiring occurred on an episode of Konnan’s “Keepin’ it 100” podcast.
Gilbertti showed up for work but was given faulty directions to the management office and ended up locked out of the building.
Quick Results:
Moose vs Killer Kross – no contest
The Rascalz defeated the Desi Hit Squad
Eddie Edwards defeated Eli Drake
Alisha Edwards vs Delilah Doom – No Contest (Blanchard interfered)
Impact Tag Team Championships
The Lucha Bros (c) defeated LAX
Next week:
Delilah Doom vs Tessa Blanchard
Jake Crist vs Willie Mack
Johnny Impact & Brian Cage vs Moose & Killer Kross
Bruce Prichard is slated to make his return to the WWE as an employee while working on the creative team for the company.
On Saturday afternoon, Pwinsider.com reported that Prichard is returning full-time to the company to work in a top position on the creative team. His start date will be at Monday’s Raw TV event in Atlanta, GA.
It was noted in the report that his position in the company is being “as important as possible” in creative and he will be one of the top point people in the creative team going forward.
Although he’s best known on camera as Brother Love, his work behind the scenes has earned him the great reputation that he has due to him directly working with WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon as one of his top lieutenants. According to the report, his new role is going to be very similar to his former position in that he will be working directly with McMahon on all things creative.
He worked for the company for decades before departing from the company in 2008.
Once WWE brought back Prichard as Brother Love for an appearance on RAW 25, which was an anniversary show that took place in January 2018, it led to a reunion with Prichard and the company that he worked for over the span of two decades.
Last year, WWE made a deal with Prichard and Thompson to bring a video version of their podcast that would air on their streaming service, WWE Network, for several episodes. Since then, fans have wondered about a potential second season of “Something Else To Wrestle With” and when it could air.
Fans of WWE NXT star Matt Riddle should be excited as the WWE is slated to air a documentary on his life and career.
Riddle is still in the early stages of his career with WWE but fans have high hopes for him in their developmental system NXT. It was revealed in August at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn 4 that he had signed with the WWE as he was sitting front row at the show.
WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, is scheduled to air “Arrival: Matt Riddle” as it is currently listed to premiere on following RAW on Monday at 11 PM EST. Here is the synopsis:
“Join Matt Riddle, The Original Bro, on his journey from hard-fought beginnings to his thrilling debut in NXT.”
As of this writing, WWE has yet to announce who he’ll be taking on at the next NXT special, which is the NXT TakeOver: New York event that takes place on Friday, April 5, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center.
What are your thoughts on WWE’s streaming service airing a documentary on Matt Riddle? Is this something that you are interested in watching? Sound off in the comment section.
Former WWE Champion CM Punk is going to wrestle again but it just won’t be inside of the squared circle while wearing his famous attire.
ROH (Ring of Honor) star Marty Scurll recently announced that he would be taking on Punk at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo that takes place from March 22 – 24th.
However, it turns out that they will be thumb wrestling, according to the former WWE star. You can see their exchange here:
Once he signed with the WWE, his career took off, and he would later hold several championships including the WWE Title. However, after dealing with injuries and not wanting to wrestle anymore, Punk decided to walk out of the company on the Monday following the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in 2014.
Since he departed from the WWE, fans have wanted to see Punk compete in the squared circle again. Instead, he took his talents to the Octagon in the UFC.
The former WWE Champion fought Mike Jackson in a welterweight bout at the UFC 225 pay-per-view event on Saturday, June 9, 2018, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. As seen in the fight, Jackson dominated it and Punk showed a ton of heart but was winded after the first round. Jackson was able to pick up the unanimous decision win. He lost in his MMA debut against Mickey Gall at UFC 203 in September of 2016 by first round submission.
TJ Perkins was among several WWE wrestlers released from the company on Friday. The former Cruiserweight Champion was vocal about his frustrations in recent weeks, but was gracious to WWE after his departure.
Perkins has been tweeting about the situation and provides more details on what led to him leaving WWE. He wrote, “Hey so there’s a lot of messages/tweets/texts/emails/calls for me right now and it’s a bit overwhelming. If I miss your message here I apologize. Many are expressing sadness, and thank you, but its ok. And those who hate me w/a passion, thank you too. Sincerely. Thx for watching.”
A fan asked him if he got in trouble for recently getting new tattoos. He replied, “I mean, the boss thought they were pretty cool last Tuesday when we met …and also when he gave me permission to get them 6 months ago.”
He also set the record straight on reports that he was disgruntled behind the scenes. “There was nothing negative,” he said on Twitter. “I have been swinging for the fences quietly behind the curtain for a year and this was a “spread your wings” thing. Boss said he respected my effort and diligence and it just didn’t fit what they wanted. It’s not my call, and I’m cool with it.”
When asked if he quit WWE or if it was their decision. Perks says he doesn’t believe in quitting and both sides worked together to find a meaningful role for him on television.
“Thought about it several times but no I never believe in quitting. For months the mutual goal was to find a way for me to accomplish my goals on a bigger platform. Tuesday was the same. But inevitably that doesn’t fit into what they want to do. I’m only a cog in a big machine.”
Perkins also said his goal in WWE was to represent Filipinos and he’s proud to keep that goal alive with whatever is next. So what is next for TJP? Follow him on Twitter at @MegaTJP to find out.
WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter was the latest guest on Sam Roberts’ Not Sam Wrestling Podcast. During the discussion, Slaughter went in-depth about his relationship with Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation from the late 80’s through the early 90’s.
Slaughter had several runs with WWE. He first worked for the company in from 1980-81, returned from 83-85 and later had a run with the WWE Championship in 1991. Slaughter told Sam Roberts that he was initially supposed to main event the very first WrestleMania against Hulk Hogan.
Of course, that was not meant to be – and he explains why. “I went for six years with G.I. Joe and left the WWE,” he said. “For the first WrestleMania I wasn’t there and I believe it was supposed to be Hogan and I in the main event for WrestleMania I.”
Hogan instead teamed up with Mr. T against the team of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorf. That feud generated so much mainstream attention for WWE it’s hard to imagine the alternate scenario where Hogan faced Slaughter instead.
Slaughter’s deal with the G.I. Joe franchise eventually led to a falling out with WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “I made this deal with Hasbro and I thought that Vince would be happy about it, but he wasn’t. He said, ‘I just signed with LJN and that’s a conflict of interest.'”
He continued, “Being the great leader [Vince] is, he figured I’d say, ‘Let’s go to WrestleMania,’ but I said, ‘You can only be a G.I. Joe once in your life, as far as a real live GI Joe cartoon.’ Out of all the G.I. Joe cartoons and action figures, I was the first living one. That was a big deal. It is today. I declined. I said, ‘I’m going,’ and he wasn’t too happy about that. I don’t regret it. I missed being in those first six WrestleManias, but in the long run I’m glad I did it.”
Slaughter said he didn’t speak to Vince McMahon for many years after that falling out. He didn’t watch WWE programming and actually made more money working around the world and from promoting G.I. Joe. He heard back from Vince McMahon in 1990 after WrestleMania VI. Slaughter told Vince he was very impressed with the WWE product, although he wasn’t crazy about Hulk Hogan’s match against The Ultimate Warrior.
Slaughter recalled that fateful phone call with Vince McMahon. “‘Sarge? It’s Vince.’ There’s only one Vince. I sent him a little handwritten note about WrestleMania VI. I wasn’t crazy about the match between Hogan and Warrior, The Ultimate Puke and Pukamania, but I said, ‘The production is unbelievable, the cameras.’ Vince said, ‘I got your note. I appreciate that. I never got that type of thing. It’s usually, ‘That was a great match, great show, but I never heard about the production end of it.’
Vince had heard through the grapevine that Slaughter’s deal with G.I. Joe and Hasbro expired. He asked Sarge if he was ready to get back to work. He was and Vince invited him over to his house the next day to pitch a big idea.
The idea was to turn the all-American hero into an Iraqi sympathizer. Slaughter loved the idea, but questioned how Vince would be able to make Hulk Hogan into a villain. Vince replied, “Hogan? No, I’m not making Hogan a villain. I’m gonna make you a villain.”
The rest, as they say, is history. Slaughter returned to the WWE in 1990, betrayed his country and captured the WWE Championship from the Ultimate Warrior at the 1991 Royal Rumble. He would later face Hulk Hogan in the main event of WrestleMania VII, where Hogan prevailed. Better late than never.
Listen to Sgt. Slaughter on the Notsam Wrestling Podcast:
(H/T to Michael McClead for the transcribed quotes)
Roman Reigns is training for his return to the ring, according to personal trainer David Gonyea.
Reigns is scheduled to appear on Monday’s WWE Raw to provide fans an update on his health. He has been out of action since October, when he announced to the world he is battling a recurrence of leukemia.
During his time away from WWE, Reigns has been undergoing treatment for leukemia. He’s also taken a few acting roles, including a role in Hobbs and Shaw, the Fast and Furious spinoff starring his cousin Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
On Saturday, David Gonyea posted a photo of himself with Reigns, who has been training at the land Club and Spa gym in Waikiki, Hawaii. Gonyea says it’s been very humbling and an “absolute honor and privilege” to help prepare Reigns for his in-ring return.
The journey of bringing the WWE NXT UK brand to the more fans has continued as the company held TV tapings on Friday from the Coventry, England at the Planet Ice Coventry.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when these shows will air but WWE likely start to air these episodes on their streaming service, WWE Network, shortly. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of WrestleZone:
February 22nd Taping
– Isla Dawn defeats Killer Kelly.
– Ligero defeats Joseph Conners. Post-match, Conners rejects a handshake.
– Mike Hitchman & Primate defeat Sam Stoke and his partner.
– Nina Samuels defeats Charlie Morgan.
– Jordan Devlin defeats Travis Banks in a falls count anywhere bout.
– Wolfgang defeats Flash Morgan.
– Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan defeat Saxon Huxley and Tyson T Bone.
– Noam Dar walks out to the ring where he cuts a promo about he’s now full-time in NXT UK and calls out Mark Andrews. They brawl.
– Kay Lee Ray debuts and defeats Candy Floss.
– Eddie Dennis defeats Ligero.
– Moustache Mountain cut a promo in the ring about how they’ll be competing at tomorrow’s taping.
– Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel defeat Howley and Stoker.
– Kassius Ohno defeats Ashton Smith. Post-match, he continues to attack after until Travis Banks makes the save.
– Pete Dunne and WALTER defeat Joe and Mark Coffey in the main event. WALTER and Dunne stare each other down afterwards.
A surprise 70th birthday party was held for Ric Flair Friday night in Atlanta, Georgia.
Flair turns 70 this coming Monday, February 25th. WWE is advertising a big birthday celebration for the 16-time world champion on Raw. However, the festivities are underway a few days early.
LA Times columnist Arash Markazi was on hand for the surprise party and provided some details of what’s going on inside. The guest list includes Triple H, Shane McMahon, Chris Jericho, Ricky Steamboat, Charles Barkley, Evander Holyfield, Dennis Rodman and many more.
Championship belts were on display (big gold and the winged eagle), as were Flair action figures and one of his signature pink robes. They even showed a Flair vs. Steamboat match, officially making this one of the coolest parties ever.
Check out this video of the guests yelling “Surprise!” and Ric Flair being greeted by his guests.
A quick trip to Atlanta for Ric Flair’s surprise 70th birthday party. The guest list includes Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Triple H, Shane McMahon, Charles Barkley, Todd Gurley, Evander Holyfield, Dennis Rodman, Chris Jericho, The Nasty Boys, Brad Nessler and like everyone else. pic.twitter.com/AcmyG4Ducx
Ric Flair took to Twitter on Saturday morning to speak about the party. He thanked his wife Wendy for arranging it and wrote, “I am so overcome with emotion! Last night ws truly a night I will never forget! Thank you!!!”
I Cannot Even Begin To Describe How Much Last Night Meant To Me! First, I Want To Thank My Lovely Wife Wendy For Planning The Whole Thing! Next, I Would Like To Thank All My Wonderful Friends And Family Who Came Out And Made It Such A Memorable And Amazing Night! pic.twitter.com/dpMrwbAtj9
