Charlotte Flair told reporters in North Carolina recently that she isn’t over the death of her brother. Reid Flair died on March 29th, 2013 at the age of 25.
“I wish I could say that I was over losing my brother, but I’m not,” Flair told the Charlotte Observer. “I mean, I have so many regrets. … How did my brother never get to see me wrestle? … I ask myself that every single day: How am I here, where I am, and he never got to see me? This was his dream. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it.”
Reid Flair had just returned home from a tour with AJPW in Japan at the time of his death.
Charlotte also spoke about the unique challenges she faces in her career due to being Ric Flair’s daughter.
“My dad’s legacy means the world to me,” Flair said. “(But) do I pay homage to him or do I not? Is it OK to ‘WOO’ , is it not OK, Is it too much? Is it not? I just have to tell myself, and remember, that I am way more athletic than my dad was and what I am doing now, it’s OK to continue my dad’s legacy and carry the last name, and WOO, and strut, and do all those things because … I’m going above and beyond and showing that I’m also a talent — versus just Flair’s kid.”
WWE is gearing up to position main roster newcomer Lacey Evans as one of the top female performers in the company.
Evans appeared in a ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ segment during this past Sunday’s Elimination Chamber event. Her music would hit, Evans would strut out, turn around and leave.
She replicated the spot on both Monday Night RAW and Tuesday on SmackDown Live. Tuesday’s appearance, however, would distract Asuka, giving Mandy Rose the chance to steal a victory. This could be hinting towards a potential Asuka vs Lacey Evans encounter.
Turns out that the reason this lies in the company’s belief in her as a Superstar.
According to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com, WWE sees major things for Lacey Evans in the future, wanting to eventually position her as one of the top female Superstars in the company alongside Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.
“Lacey Evans — you have no idea how big they want Lacey Evans to be,” he explained. “You know we talked about Asuka and Lacey Evans, which I don’t think is going to happen, but that was the idea…right now the idea is that when Ronda leaves, whenever that will be, the big three will be Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Lacey Evans. Which is, you know, kind of a shock — and she may not make it, but that’s where they see things.”
Since leaving WWE, Davey Boy Smith Jr. has been making a name for himself amongst the independent scene. He is currently one-half of the Major League Wrestling (MLW) Tag Team Champions and is a member of Suzuki-Gun in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). In New Japan, he tags with Lance Archer, forming the formidable team of Killer Elite Squad.
In an interview with the WINCLY podcast, Davey Boy Smith Jr. discussed the emerging All Elite Wrestling and commented on his interest in the promotion.
He admits that he has yet to speak to anyone from AEW, stating that “I think that it’s awesome that they’ve created something new and different, and I hope it’s a fresh breath of air for the wrestling world. Something that’s just a different alternative, and hey, competition is always a good thing, right?”
Elite Killer
Smith Jr. would go on to say that if he were to be approached by AEW, he wouldn’t know what he’d be able to commit to due to his NJPW obligations.
“I haven’t been contacted by them, but if I were to be, I don’t know what the situation is with New Japan. It seems that they’re not really working with AEW, which is too bad because guys like The Young Bucks & Kenny were featured stars in New Japan. And then when they started their own company, it seems that things have kind of split. I’d have to look into what would be the best situation for myself.”
Wishing them all the best, he shared that he would like to be a part of the promotion “if there’s interest” before reiterating that his contract with New Japan may render it impossible.
“You know what? I wish them all the best. I would like to be a part of it if there’s interest, if there’s a situation that I can be in there but I don’t know if it would work with New Japan. I’m not sure.”
The major discussion amongst the WWE Universe this week has surrounded the recent NXT call-ups to WWE’s main roster.
NXT Champion, Tomasso Ciampa, former-North American Champion, Johnny Gargano, Aleister Black, and Ricochet all performed this week. The Superstars appeared on both Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live.
Their appearances were announced prior to the shows themselves, surprising fans and backstage talent. It’s reported that Triple H wasn’t fully aware of their call up. Unsurprisingly, the decision is said to have been made by Vince McMahon.
Turns out that Vince’s reasoning lay in wanting to try to improve ratings and shake up what he, allegedly, considers to be “stale” Superstars.
Dave Meltzer discussed the debuts this week on Wrestling Observer Radio. He divulged that “Vince felt that the reason the ratings are down is because the product is stale, the stars are stale, and ‘We don’t have any superstars, and these guys that we have aren’t gonna be superstars so we need to make new superstars, so we gotta get guys that we haven’t ruined.’”
The end result of this was the debut of the aforementioned quartet. It’s worth noting that every match wrestled by an NXT Superstar this week was subsequently won by NXT talent.
Apparently, WWE’s plans for the foreseeable future is to have these four men work all three main brands until a more concrete decision is made.
Not everyone was thrilled by the debuts, with TJP taking to Twitter to vent his frustrations. Although not necessarily connected, Tye Dillinger did ask for his release this week.
The new biopic, ‘Fighting With My Family,’ releases nationwide on Friday. Promotion for the movie has featured on WWE programming for the past few weeks.
Sitting down with Kayla Braxton for WWE, Zelina Vega spoke about her role in the movie. She also recalled the audition process that she encountered.
Vega discussed the connection she had with AJ Lee’s character. She credited their mutual love of video games and nerd culture.
“Well, I play AJ Lee, the Divas Champion, and it was something that I really found a connection with her because we both were into video games, we’re both a little bit of, y’know, some nerds,” she said.
“So, it was really easy to just really submerge myself into her, and become her for that moment.”
“I Want You To Be My Divas Champion”
Insofar as auditioning for the role, it turns out Vega was able to bypass this step. She explained that she has known Dwayne Johnson for 5 years and, whilst struggling, she reached out to him. His response was an offer of the role of AJ Lee.
“Well actually, I’ve known Dwayne Johnson for around 5 years now, and I was going through a period of time where I was trying to get to WWE and it was…it wasn’t easy. It took me around 8 years to get here,” she explained.
“But at a time where I was struggling to become a WWE Superstar and struggling to become an actress, I texted him one day and I was like, ‘I’m at the end of my rope here, what do you suggest I do? Please give me some guidance,'” she confessed.
“He’s like, ‘Actually I’ve been working on something for the past few days now, give me a little bit and I’ll call you.’ And I was like, ‘OK’ and I didn’t think anything of it. And he called me and he said, ‘So I have this project that we’re working and it’s based on this documentary on Paige, and her family, and her life in wrestling and I would love for you to be involved.
So I was like, ‘OK, sweet.’ I’ll probably just get a little scene in the background and that’d be great.’ And he said, ‘No, I want you to be champion. I want you to be my Divas Champion, and you don’t even have to audition for the role, it’s yours. I know you can do it.’ Of course, the waterworks and all that came afterwards, but it was pretty incredible because he’s somebody that’s believed in me from the start.”
The WWE Universe witnessed a big title change last night during WWE’s NXT as The Velveteen Dream defeated Johnny Gargano for the North American Championship. Gargano would fail to retain the championship in his first defense.
Despite all the accolades, hype, and stellar performances over the years, this happens to be the first championship that Velveteen Dream has held in WWE.
However, the WWE Universe weren’t the only ones congratulating Dream on his win.
Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events, and Creative, Triple H himself, was also eager to praise Dream’s performance.
Taking to Twitter, “The Game” wrote the following:
“Believing you are absolutely everything you say you are is necessary if you want to be a champion.
…backing it up is what ACTUALLY makes you one.
Congratulations to the NEW @WWENXT North American Champion, @VelveteenWWE. #DreamOVER”
Believing you are absolutely everything you say you are is necessary if you want to be a champion. …backing it up is what ACTUALLY makes you one. Congratulations to the NEW @WWENXT North American Champion, @VelveteenWWE. #DreamOVERpic.twitter.com/jntI4hw70J
Velveteen Dream has often been outspoken about being put onto the main roster. This extended to wearing tights that had “Call Me Up Vince” emblazoned on them. He has also drummed up interest by using social media, encouraging fans in the past to Tweet en masse at WWE demanding that he be called up to the main roster.
With this championship victory, however, it appears that the Dream may continue to be in NXT for the foreseeable future.
We noted before how Seth Rollins wasn’t cleared to compete on this week’s episode of Raw. His status caused a lot of changes in the original script of the show and it was not finalized even after the episode had gone on air.
Though it appears that Rollins’ status wasn’t the only factor that affected the episode and the decision to call up 4 NXT Stars was also a reason for the same.
Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Triple H, who oversees NXT, initially didn’t know about the call ups. Vince McMahon apparently decided to bring in who he thought were four of the best guys in the NXT roster.
When the Game did find out, he worked to rearrange some things to better showcase the call-ups like changing the originally planned Ricochet vs. Finn Balor match into the tag team bout against Lio Rush and Bobby Lashley.
Though Seth Rollins’ status was still a major factor and the whole script had to be rewritten because the whole episode was built around the former WWE Champion.
Another example of how his injury affected the show was the match between The Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and Ruby Riott.
The Bout was originally expected to feature Alexa Bliss in Riott’s spot, but the need to have a longer match made the Officials change their mind as they weren’t confident about a lengthy match between Bliss and Rousey.
Though in the end, it appears that the changes worked out in WWE’s favor as they saw an increase in the viewership and the numbers were better than the company has seen in this year so far.
While WWE had taped multiple endings to throw the fans off, they finally decided to go the way the original reports suggested and switched the North American title to new hands.
The main event of this week’s episode of NXT saw the North American Champion Johnny Gargano defending his title against Velveteen Dream in a one on one match.
After his victory at the Worlds Collide Tournament and getting the pin in a highly praised halftime heat match, Dream continued his momentum. He went on to win the bout and take the title from Gargano:
This win makes him the fourth ever NXT North American Champion. It’s worth mentioning that Johnny Gargano himself had only earned the title at last month’s NXT Takeover: Phoenix event from Ricochet.
While a number of NXT stars have made their way to the main roster in recent weeks, Velveteen Dream is a name which looks to be sticking around the Black and Yellow Brand. So it is likely that he will hold on to the title for a while.
Though it will still be interesting to see what the company has in store for him and the North American Championship and who turns out to be the first challenger for the newly crowned champion.
On Wednesday night, WWE taped the next several weeks of NXT television from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of Jacob Cohen:
WWE NXT TV Tapings Results (2/20/19)
– War Raiders defeat Vandal Ortagun & Chico Adams
– Johnny Gargano out without the NXT North American Title where he said it has been an interesting few weeks. Not only has he showed the WWE Universe what NXT is all about as a member of the Raw & Smackdown Roster. Last week he had one of his most difficult matches, and when he had his first challenge as a champion, he failed. Tommaso Ciampa out, he says that Johnny Gargano is at his best when he’s with Ciampa, together they win on Raw & Smackdown, but last week when Gargano was on his own and refused Ciampa’s help, and that’s why he lost. Ciampa offers Gargano to join him in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. That is where it all started for them, and the winner of the Dusty Rhodes Classic get a Tag Title shot at Takeover New York, this could be their moment. Gargano shakes Ciampa’s hand, they will be a tag team in the Dusty Rhodes Classic.
– Dominik Dijakovic vs Keith Lee ends in double count out. Post-match, they brawl until separated.
– Shayna Baszler defeats Mia Yim
– Aleister Black & Ricochet defeat Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel – First-Round Dusty Rhodes Classic Match
– Forgotten Sons defeat Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch – First-Round Dusty Rhodes Classic Match
– Velveteen Dream Out, he’s out to remind everyone that he is the NXT North American Champion, he has another reminder…Then Matt Riddle comes out. Matt Riddle wanted to congratulate Velveteen Dream, but real talk, he wants to challenge Velveteen Dream to a title match. Velveteen Dream is not Matt Riddle’s Bro and the spotlight is only on Velveteen Dream. The lights go out and there is a spotlight on Velveteen Dream. When the lights go on Matt Riddle is gone
– Mustache Mountain defeat Street Profits First-Round Dusty Rhodes Classic Match
– Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa defeated Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish First-Round Dusty Rhodes Classic Match. Post-match, War Raiders out to stare down DIY from the stage.
– Luke Menzies defeats Eric Bugenhagen
– Sasha Banks and Bayley walk out to the ring. Sasha says it’s good to be home, you never forget where you came from, their journey started in NXT. Bayley says the last time Sasha was in the NXT ring was the first ever Women’s Iron Women Match at NXT Takeover: Respect. They want to share the belts with NXT. They say the belts will be defended on Raw, Smackdown, or NXT, so the ladies backstage need to step up
– Adam Cole defeats Punishment Martinez. Post-match, Cole says he is the first NXT North American Champion and yet he has not got a one on one rematch for the title. Cole calls Velveteen Dream the biggest moron of them all. He’s the champion, but not for long, 2019 is the year of the The Undisputed Era. Velveteen Dream comes out and slaps Cole. They brawl briefly, then Punishment attacks Cole and Dream gives Cole a top rope elbow drop
– Forgotten Sons defeat Mustache Mountain – Semi-Finals Dusty Rhodes Classic Match
– Io Shirai vs Bianca Belair ends in a double DQ in a #1 Contender’s Match when Shayna Baszler attacks both of them. Kairi Sane runs in but also gets choked out. Io is eventually able to make a comeback but also gets choked out.
– Ricochet & Aleister Black defeat Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano – Semi-Finals Dusty Rhodes Classic Match. Post-match, Ciampa and Candice help Gargano up the stage, Ciampa tries to throw Gargano into the tron But Gargano was playing possum, he throws Ciampa into the tron, beats the crap out of him, implies he’s going for the belt, and poses with Candice.
Aleister Black battled Roderick Strong on this week’s episode of NXT. Strong controlled the match early and sent Black to the outside of the ring. Roderick hit a Backbreaker on the steel steps and then brought Aleister back inside the ring.
Strong applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring as the crowd got behind Aleister. Black battled to his feet and sent Strong into the turnbuckle. Strong connected with another Dropkick and then stomped on Aleister’s midsection. Roderick perched Black on the top rope and went for a Superplex but Aleister blocked it. Black went for a Powerbomb but Strong broke free and connected with a Backbreaker for a near fall.
Roderick lifted Aleister up for a Suplex but Black countered with a knee strike to Strong’s face. Black followed it up with a Springboard Moonsault and then a Brainbuster for a near fall. Strong hit a Gutbuster and then lifted Black up in a Torture Rack on the ring apron. Roderick launched Aleister into the turnbuckle and then went for the cover back in the ring but Black kicked out at two. Strong went for a Suplex but Aleister escaped and hit Black Mass out of nowhere for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Undisputed Era rushed the ring and attacked Aleister Black. Ricochet came down to the ring for the save and knocked Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly out of the ring.
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Will Return In Two Weeks
Undisputed Era, Aichner & Barthel, Forgotten Sons, and the Street Profits were the first four teams announced for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The tournament will return to NXT in two weeks and the remaining four teams will be announced on next week’s episode. The winner of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic will face War Raiders for the Tag Team Championships at NXT TakeOver: New York.
The #DustyClassic is returning, and the first four teams have been revealed!
Mia Yim faced Xia Li tonight on NXT. Yim was able to avoid a flurry of kicks from Li to start off the match and retreated to the corner of the ring. The two Superstars locked up and Mia shoved her to the canvas.
Yim connected with a spinning back fist and followed it up with the Protect Ya Neck for the pinfall victory. After the match, Baszler, Duke, and Shafir attacked Yim and Li. Yim got in some shots on Shayna but Duke and Shafir sent her to the corner. Shayna then kneed Mia Yim in the face as the crowd booed.
Velveteen Dream Captured The North American Championship
Johnny Gargano defended his North American Championship against Velveteen Dream tonight on NXT. Backstage before the match, Candice LeRae and Gargano had a brief conversation before they were interrupted by NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.
Tommaso told Gargano that he will be there to help him tonight if he needs it. Gargano refused and said that he won the title on his own. Gargano stated that he is going to be Johnny Wrestling tonight and retain his title. After Johnny walked away, Ciampa muttered “I’ll be watching” to himself.
Gargano wrestled Dream to the canvas to start off the bout. Dream stretched out Johnny’s arm as the two Superstars battled to their feet. Johnny brought Velveteen back down to the mat and rolled him up for a two count.
Dream applied a Wrist Lock as Ciampa was shown backstage watching the match. Dream connected with a slap that sent spit flying out Gargano’s mouth. Dream posed in the ring as Gargano rolled out of the ring to try and regroup.
The crowd chanted “Johnny!” as Gargano slowly made his way back into the ring. Velveteen applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring and brought Gargano down to the mat. Gargano broke free but Dream quickly leveled him with a shoulder tackle.
Dream taunted Johnny and slid out of the ring. Dream connected with a punch to the face as Gargano was on the apron and followed it up with a Dropkick back inside the ring. Gargano battled back with a series of chops in the corner and then slammed Velveteen to the mat.
Johnny followed it up with a Dropkick to the back of Dream’s head for a two count. Gargano hit a Neckbreaker for another near fall and then booted Dream in the face. Johnny went to work on Velveteen’s right arm again and bent it all the way back as Dream screamed in agony.
Dream battled back and beat Gargano down in the corner. Gargano shrugged it off and sent Dream flying over the top rope and to the floor outside the ring. Gargano posed in the ring to a mixed reaction from the NXT crowd.
Gargano went after Dream outside the ring as dueling “Johnny Champion!” and “Velveteen!” chants broke out. Johnny shoved Dream to the barricade and hit him with a few chops to the chest before rolling him back inside the ring.
Johnny continued to pose for the crowd, which allowed Dream a few seconds to regroup. Gargano locked in the Abdominal Stretch in the middle of the ring but Dream broke free with a couple of punches to Johnny’s face. Dream slammed Gargano to the mat with a Spinebuster as a “Velveteen!” chant broke out.
Velveteen Dream leveled Gargano with a Clothesline and followed it up with another Clothesline that sent Johnny out of the ring. Dream climbed to the top rope and hit Gargano with a Double Axehandle before the action returned to the ring.
Dream hit a Fameasser and went for the cover but Gargano kicked out at the last moment as Tommaso was shown backstage once again. Both Superstars battled on the top rope and Dream got the upper hand. Dream went for a Dream Valley Driver but Gargano escaped to the canvas.
Gargano hit a Superkick then slammed Dream to the mat for another near fall. Johnny and Velveteen traded shots which sent both Superstars down to the canvas. Gargano connected with another Superkick on the ring apron and went for the Slingshot DDT but Dream countered with a punch to the face.
Dream went for the Dream Valley Driver on the ring apron but Johnny blocked it and hit Velveteen with a Suicide Dive. Back in the ring, Dream connected with a DDT but Gargano kicked out at two. Velveteen quickly climbed to the top rope and went for the Purple Rainmaker but Johnny got out of the way.
Johnny hit another Superkick and went for the cover but Velveteen somehow kicked out as the crowd chanted “NXT!”. Gargano climbed to the top rope but Dream caught him with a jab to the face. Velveteen lifted Johnny up onto his shoulders as Gargano desperately tried to escape. Velveteen hit an Avalanche Dream Valley Driver off the second rope and went for the cover but Gargano was able to kick out as the crowd chanted “this is awesome!”. Dream climbed to the top rope but Johnny rolled out of the ring.
Dream leaped at Johnny off the top rope but Johnny countered with a Superkick. Gargano followed it up with a Suplex on the steel entrance ramp and rolled Dream back into the ring. Johnny hit the Slingshot DDT but Dream kicked out once again. Velveteen connected with a Superkick but Gargano bounced off the ropes and hit a Clothesline.
Gargano hit another Superkick but Dream shrugged it off and hit a Dream Valley Driver. Velveteen hit a second Dream Valley Driver and followed it up with the Purple Rainmaker for the pinfall victory. Velveteen Dream is the new NXT North American Champion. Ciampa was shown backstage laughing as Dream posed with the title. Johnny crawled up the entrance ramp as Ciampa was shown walking away backstage.
Brian Pillman Jr., who is the son of Brian Pillman, has commented on the rumors of the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Jimmy Hart) being inducted into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class.
It was reported earlier this month that the current plan is to induct only the three talent listed above and not “Dangerous” Danny Davis, Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, or Davey Boy Smith. Jimmy and Bret Hart have already individually joined the WWE Hall of Fame.
During a recent interview with the WINCLY, Pillman Jr. talked about this possibility where he noted that “I haven’t heard anything about it, but it’s possible.” He noted that his mother doesn’t have too much bad blood with WWE but admitted that she wasn’t always the easiest person to work with.
“Everybody knows he deserves to go in. If he goes in with the Hart Foundation, I think that would be a good way to do it. I’m not gonna sit there and complain that he deserves it on his own.”
This year’s event will take place on April 5 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York as part of WrestleMania 35 weekend.
The continuation of NXT stars appearing on main roster shows took place on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live in New Orleans, LA at the Smoothie Center on the USA Network.
NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa and NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano worked a tag team match against former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro).
During the match, there was a scary spot that resulted in speculation by fans that Ciampa and Sheamus might have been injured due to a scary spot.
As seen in the match, Ciampa went for a sunset flip powerbomb off the top rope where Sheamus fell badly on Ciampa’s leg. There were some fans who feared that Ciampa and Sheamus might have been injured. Both stars continued the contest with as Ciampa and Gargano went over in their SmackDown debuts.
Sheamus and Ciampa are said to be okay and the belief is that there was no serious injury suffered, according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW from in Lafayette, LA at the Lafayette Cajundome averaged 2.771 million viewers, up from 2.462 million the previous week.
This is the best viewership of 2019 for the red branded show and highest viewed show since the September 3, 2018 Labor Day episode, which drew 2.872 million viewers. Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
8 pm – 3.046 million
9 pm – 2.840 million
10 pm – 2.427 million
The episode was expected to increase in viewership as this was the post-show for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event of the red brand. This episode finished fifth for the night in total viewers on cable.
Some of the matches that took place include Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin in a tables match, Finn Balor & Ricochet vs. Bobby Lashley & Lio Rush, Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Revival, Drew McIntyre vs. Dean Ambrose, Aleister Black vs. Elias, and WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott.
WWE hyped the Fastlane PPV and the matches taking place at that show. WWE will attempt to keep up this momentum with its viewership for RAW next week. In case you missed the show, you can check out the seven takeaways here.
The Undertaker is featured in a new promo to promote the third show in Puerto Rico for Latin star and big WWE fan Bad Bunny. For those who may not know, Bunny has featured WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair n the music video for “Chambea” and has been backstage at several previous WrestleMania events.
In the video, Taker appeared while wearing a hooded sweatshirt with sunglasses and only refers to himself as “The Deadman.” You can check it out at the 0:28 mark:
https://youtu.be/-1TSpM_zlBM
The Undertaker continues to have fans speculate about his future in the pro wrestling business. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion is taking bookings for appearances and autograph sessions independent of WWE. This had led to speculation his future with the WWE.
Also, it’s been reported that WWE currently doesn’t have a match involving him planned for WrestleMania 35.
It’s also been confirmed that he’ll be appearing at Starrcast II. The three-day convention is scheduled to take place from May 23 – 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pre-sale tickets go on sale on February 12th while tickets for the general public will be made available on February 15th.
Chris Hemsworth will be saying his prayers and eating his vitamins, brother.
The 35-year old Aussie best known for portraying Thor in numerous Marvel films including the upcoming ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is expected to portray Hulk Hogan in an upcoming biopic that will be directed by Todd Phillips.
Phillips will direct the feature about Hulk Hogan’s life with Scott Silver attached to write the script after the two just worked together on the upcoming ‘Joker’ movie starring Joaquin Phoenix.
The film is expected to be made for Netflix with Academy Award winning producer Michael Sugar behind the project alongside Phillips, Bradley Cooper and former WCW executive Eric Bischoff on board as producers as well.
Hogan came to prominence in the early 1980’s as part of the World Wrestling Federation under the guidance of Vince McMahon.
Hogan became a pop culture icon during the 80’s with his All-American theme and frequent battles against the likes of the Iron Sheik, Andre the Giant and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
In recent years, Hogan has stayed in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons including an infamous sex-tape scandal as well as racist remarks that were made by the former WWE superstar that essentially got him booted from any association with the company.
The biopic isn’t expected to dig into Hogan’s issues outside the ring over the past few years, however, and instead will stay focused on his rise to fame and the explosion of ‘Hulkamania’ during his prime years in the 1980’s.
Hogan is also expected to serve as a consultant on the project.
This will be the latest big budget project for Hemsworth after his starring role in three ‘Thor’ movies as well as four ‘Avengers’ films with the latest due out in April. Hemsworth also stars in the upcoming ‘Men in Black: International’, which comes out in June.
Ricochet is no longer scheduled to appear at two upcoming EVOLVE shows. On Wednesday, just days after his opponents were revealed, the promotion announced through their official Twitter account that WWE star would not be working these shows. Instead, fellow NXT star The Velvet Dream will replace him and work against his originally announced opponents.
Breaking News….
Velveteen Dream will replace Ricochet at EVOLVE on March 15th in Melrose, MA and March 16th in Queens, NY.
Ricochet will still be at both events for Meet & Greets.
He will be working events on March 15th in Melrose, MA and March 16th in Queens, NY. Dream will also be available for meet & greets at both events.
At EVOLVE 123, he’ll take on Orange Cassidy in a singles match while at EVOLVE 124, he’s set to team up with The Street Profits to take on Shane Strickland, Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy in a six-man tag team match.
The promotion is expected to announce more matches for these shows in the coming weeks.
Fellow NXT star Adam Cole was the latest talent to work under the EVOLVE banner as he competed at EVOLVE 121 and 122 against Shane Strickland and Darby Allin.
What are your thoughts on Dream replacing Ricochet at these shows? Do you plan on watching? Round off in the comment section.
It looks like 2019 Royal Rumble winner Seth Rollins was the cause of a few changes to this week’s Monday Night RAW. Rollins was expected to get physical on RAW this week but was not cleared to compete, per Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer. As a result, some re-writes to the show were made.
Rollins was initially to be heavily featured on Monday night. Instead, he did an interview segment with Charly Caruso backstage. RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey had been penciled in for a squash match with Alexa Bliss. She instead headlined the program opposite Ruby Riott in a more long-form contest. Re-writes reportedly began around 1 or 2 P.M. local time when Vince McMahon arrived at the arena.
The actual script wasn’t complete until 30 minutes after RAW had already begun. Changes were still being made an hour and a half into the program.
Rollins’ Injury
Rollins has been dealing with back issues for some time now. The injury does not require surgery, only rest, and, likely, stems. “The Architect” is close to being cleared to return to action, but was unable to do so for this week’s show. He’s still scheduled for all RAW TVs until WrestleMania, but is not being advertised for house shows. Rollins hasn’t wrestled a match since facing Dean Ambrose on the post-Royal Rumble episode of RAW.
What do you think about Rollins not being cleared forcing changes to RAW?
For those of you hoping Daniel Bryan will defend his WWE Title against Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35, we have some bad news. Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter reports that, as of yesterday (Tues. February 19, 2019) the plan is for Bryan to face the returning Kevin Owens in New Jersey:
This makes sense considering a previous report from Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, who suggests Owens will be returning as a babyface. Owens has been out-of-action for the past several months due to injury. WWE has been teasing his return with selfie promos in recent weeks.
On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Shane McMahon confirmed Bryan vs. Kingston for Fastlane. The New Day member has risen tremendously in popularity as of late. He was one of the final two, along with Bryan, in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match this past weekend.
Unfortunately, Kingston came up just short of his first-ever World Title in WWE. However, he’ll get a one-on-one shot at Fastlane from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on March 10, 2019. As always, plans change frequently in WWE all the time. With that being said, perhaps there’s still hope Kingston will get his WrestleMania moment after all.
What do you think about a possible WrestleMania match between Bryan and Owens?
WWE’s UK division will be airing its latest show tonight on WWE Network. The brand has been on a roll since the Takeover: Blackpool show and this week’s show is set to be another gem.
Toni Storm will be defending her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Rhea Ripley in the main event. Ripley was the inaugural NXT UK Champion and Storm took her Championship at the recent Takeover: Blackpool event. This highly anticipated rematch could see the belt change hands once again.
Mark Andrews and ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster will also be taking on Gallus’ Joe & Mark Coffey. The Coffey Brothers have been engaged in a feud with WALTER alongside their Gallus stablemate Wolfgang. Andrews and Webster have been used sparingly on the show so far, this could be their opportunity to show the NXT UK fans what they can do.
NXT UK Tag Team Champions Zack Gibson & James Drake will also address the WWE Universe in Phoenix. This week’s show took place at the Royal Rumble Axxess shows back in January.
PROGRESS ATLAS Champion Trent Seven will also be stepping into singles competition against the debuting Shane Thorne. Seven is one of the biggest Superstars on the NXT UK brand alongside Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne of British Strong Style.
WWE has announced that NXT UK will be heading to the Download Festival later this year. The UK brand will be heading to Donnington on June 14th to 16th. NXT UK will be taping episodes for the WWE Network show at the annual metal festival.
Superstars currently announced for the weekend shows include WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne, NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm, NXT UK Tag Team Champions James Drake and Zack Gibson, WALTER, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Jinny, Jordan Devlin, Rhea Ripley, Travis Banks and Gallus.
The Download shows are part of the next NXT UK tour. WWE announced that “NXT UK will visit Scotland for the first time ever with two nights of tapings on Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20, at the Braehead Arena, beginning at 7:30 p.m. GMT. Tickets for the Glasgow shows will be available Friday, Feb. 22, at 10 a.m. GMT”
NXT UK also announced that the brand “returns to the Plymouth Pavilions for two nights of action on Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20, beginning at 7:30 p.m. GMT. Tickets for the Plymouth shows will be available beginning Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 10 a.m. GMT at www.theticketstore.co.uk/.”
NXT UK returns this Wednesday on the WWE Network. The main event will see NXT UK Women’s Champion Toni Storm defend against Rhea Ripley.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently appeared on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast. The former WWE commentator was asked about The Undertaker and the significance of him taking bookings outside of WWE.
“He’s done many Comic Cons in the past and WWE has booked him at like World Of Wheels or some of those type things,” JR said of The Undertaker. “He’s done those and I’m sure he’ll do more of them but when you are in his position and you’ve got young children, he’s not on the road and I’m sure he doesn’t want to be on the road all the time and I wouldn’t at his age and his obligations and the miles on the car.”
JR continued, “I’m not surprised about it and to me it’s just a third-party booking. He’s still under contract to WWE and I’m sure WWE gave him the blessing to go make a payday. When I had and was working on (NJPW) I had a contract with WWE and at the same time I was working for AXS TV. Now figure that out? I had a contract with them too and WWE had never allowed that but they changed.”
WWE and Outside Bookings
Ross also discussed how WWE had changed their view of outside WWE commitments. JR said “they were easing up on some things, so basically it was just a matter of me going and doing the thing that I love and keeping my rhythm and making damn good money on the side and they like that and I like it so that is what we did for the first two or three years of that AXS TV deal and it was all with the blessing of WWE and Vince.”
JR also discussed the significance of Taker leaving. Ross said, “The thing with Taker is not and I don’t see it as a sign of anything changing or he’s branching out or he’s going to start wrestling. Because he’s not going to wrestle anywhere else I can guaranf*ckingtee you that.”
You can listen to JR’s comments about The Undertaker here:
On last week’s Jim Ross Report, JR revealed more details about the show, including the wrestling personality that he is paired with in the early stages of the venture.
“I had a business meeting a couple of weeks ago with Jessie Kresa, ODB. She’s got her food truck, and her whiskey sauce, all these great things. She’s a very ambitious entrepreneur,” Ross said.
“I thought she would be a good topic to talk about doing a reality show around. So I pitched that idea to my super-agent Barry Bloom,” continued Ross. “Barry pitched the idea, showed some digital stuff of ODB doing her thing.”
From there, Ross says, his super-agent went into business for him.
“For whatever reason, he showed the people some tape of me, I have no idea what it was or why, but they want both of us on this cooking show.”
Ross is clear to point out that the likelihood of this ever reaching television is, as he put it, “iffy.”
Still, JR added some details on the plot of the proposed Jim Ross and ODB show.
“If we do a pilot and it makes the cut, it’ll be around ODB’s food truck, and she and I cooking. We just have to map it out, then shoot the pilot, and see where it takes us,” said Ross.
“I can only imagine that interaction, that dichotomy, of two alpha males, so to speak.”
As to a potential timeline for the proposed cooking show, details are sketchy, says Ross.
“It may be something in 2019, it could be next year.”
“But there’s interest in that kind of an offbeat show.”
Chris Jericho made some comments regarding AEW’s sellout of the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the latest episode of Cody’s YouTube series. During the episode, Jericho said he is the sole reason AEW soldout the arena.
“It’s a very exciting time for All Elite Wrestling after selling out Double or Nothing in just 4 minutes,” Jericho said on the show. “12000 tickets sold at the MGM Grand in just 4 minutes, it’s unprecedented!”
Jericho continued to talk about how even the fans are celebrating this accomplishment as if it is their own.
Chris Jericho Claims He’s The Reason Double Or Nothing Sold Out In 4 Minutes
“Cody and the Bucks are saying ‘we did it!'” he continued. “And every single person who bought a ticket to go to the show or is going to watch at home on PPV is saying ‘we did it we are part of something special, we made this happen together, we did it!'”
Then Jericho started to insinuate he is the only reason the show sold out.
“But is that really the truth?” Jericho asked. “Or is the more accurate description ‘I did it’ as in Chris Jericho single-handily sold 12 thousand tickets in 4 minutes because that is the truth. It doesn’t matter if Kenny Omega is on the show, or Cody’s on the show, or MJF is on the show, I made it happen.”
Jericho is scheduled to wrestle Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing in a match which could close the show.
“I am the sole reason why AEW is a smash success right out of the gate,” Jericho continued. “And I want all of you to thank me for that. You’re welcome.”
AEW will be bringing back the Over Budget Battle Royal for Double or Nothing. The match was on the Zero Hour pre-show for All In as well with the winner being granted a shot at the ROH World Championship on the PPV. Flip Gordon (dressed as Rocky Romero’s Chico El Luchador character) won the battle royal but then lost to Jay Lethal.
On the latest episode of “Road to Double or Nothing”, Cody announced the match will return for the May 25th PPV.
Cody Announces Over Budget Battle Royal Will Return At AEW Double Or Nothing
“So when it came down to All In and we had an extra hour presented to us in the last minute,” Cody said. “We had a lot of people already in town with Starrcast. So we thought the idea we would do this battle royal but we would do a really good battle royal. But again, we didn’t have the money for it. So, we called it the Over Budget Battle Royal and I ended up selling the soft goods of the ring, the apron, the buckles, so that we could afford it and everyone could get a proper payday.”
“Now, I wouldn’t say it’s over-budget anymore but it’s still the Over Budget Battle Royal,” he continued. “And it’s returning for Double or Nothing.”
Cody would continue to say that battle royals are often thought of as bathroom breaks but not the one they had at All In. He also said the winner would receive a big reward. Cody would not say what that reward will be just yet, however.
Kofi Kingston was announced last night as Daniel Bryan’s opponent at Fastlane. His booking over the last couple of weeks has reminded some of the time from nearly 10 years ago when he also appeared to be in line for a major push. As it turns out, Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston may have referenced this time from 2009 last night.
In 2009, Kingston looked to be a breakout star. There are rumors his push was stopped after Orton was less than pleased with his performance during a match on RAW, however. Last night on Smackdown, that incident was referenced during the main event 6-man tag.
A user on Twitter put the two events back to back in the following video:
Tommy Dreamer commented on Edge and Christian’s podcast about Kofi’s lack of a push that year. He said it still bothers him.
“I am still angry about a few things in professional wrestling,” Dreamer said. “Great things which were either dropped or messed up. One of them being when Kofi Kingston send Randy Orton through the table at Madison Square Garden and they never went full board with it, am still upset about that”.
When asked about the incident from 2009, Kingston told Smack Talk Radio in 2012 he wasn’t too bothered by it. He said much of what Orton was doing was being in-character at the time.
“Everyone knows Randy kinda has an attitude,” Kingston said. “So that’s Randy being Randy. What everyone doesn’t remember is that we were in a heated rivalry so a lot of what you saw was him being his character and him kinda playing to that.”
