WWE is planning to hold RAW and SmackDown television tapings from Madison Square Garden in New York City later this year.

The company recently reserved the iconic venue for two nights in September, according to PWInsider. MSG will host Raw on Monday, September 9th and SmackDown Live September 10th. These will be the first WWE TV tapings at MSG since 2009.

Madison Square Garden was the unofficial ‘home’ of WWE for decades, but running the venue has been cost prohibitive in recent years.

WWE still runs live events there once or twice a year (most recently in late December), but WWE has instead opted to hold PPV events, NXT Takeover shows and television tapings from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Next weekend, The Garden will host G1 Supercard, presented by New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor. This will be the first non-WWE wrestling show at the Garden in a very long time.

PWInsider also reports that Mexico’s Lucha Libre AAA promotion will be holding a press conference at MSG next week, presumably to announce a show there.

With other wrestling companies setting up shop in their backyard, it appears WWE has a renewed interest in strengthening their relationship with the World’s Most Famous Arena.

Gospel singer Yolanda Adams will sing America the Beautiful next Sunday to kick off WrestleMania 35.

Adams was named ‘Gospel Artist of the Decade” by Billboard in 2009. She has sold over 8 million albums in her career and has won countless awards, including 5 Grammys.

She posted a video on Twitter announcing the news:

Yolanda Adams & Titus O’Neil

Yolanda Adams is a close friend of WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil. They have been seen together at various entertainment industry functions, which fueled rumors that they were dating.

Back in February, reps of Ms. Adams told TheJasmineBrand.com,

“We are flattered that people would love for her and [Titus] to be a couple. However, they are only best friends and are enjoying sharing red carpets and outings together.”

Last June, Titus O’Neil welcomed “the incomparable” Yolanda Adams backstage at a WWE RAW event.

New UK promotion Wrestle Gate Pro has announced bouts for their upcoming ‘Lion’s Spirit’ event. The show will be taking place on May 18th from the Rushcliffe Arena in Nottingham, England.

Two big bouts have been announced for the card. British wrestling legend and upcoming PWG BOLA contender Jody Fleisch will be taking on Robbie X. Robbie was one of the stars of the WoS series and is currently a free agent. Japanese performer Shigehiro Irie will also be taking on Rampage Brown.

Wrestle Gate Pro was founded by British wrestling’s Gary Ward. We spoke to Gary regarding the new company’s inception. Ward described the company as “Opening The Gate To British & Japanese Strong Style, while giving the next generation of British based wrestlers an opportunities to nurture.”

Other performers confirmed for the night are as follows:

• The Kings of The North
• Gisele Shaw
• Sean Kustom
• Chris Ridgeway
• Cara Noir

PROGRESS Wrestling will be hosting their 87th Chapter event this weekend. ‘Breadknife’ will be taking place at the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London on Sunday 31st.

The full card has now been released and there are some potential barnstormers on there. PROGRESS Tag Team Champions Will Ospreay and Paul Robinson (Swords of Essex) will be taking on Aussie Open. The Australian team won their first tag team championship in PROGRESS at the Wembley show last year and now they want their gold back. This bout will be contested under TLC rules.

In another potential MOTYC CCK will be taking on LAX. This match also took place back at the PROGRESS United States tour last year, it was the Match of the Night and arguably one of the best tag team bouts on the globe in 2018. There’s a very good chance that both teams will be able to bring back the magic of that night.

Here’s the full card for Chapter 87 ‘Breadknife.’

• Angelico vs TK Cooper
• PROGRESS Tag Team Championship Match – Will Ospreay and Paul Robinson vs Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis)
• Nina Samuels vs Kasey Owens
• wXw 16 Carat Gold Winner Lucky Kid vs Tristan Archer
• David Starr vs Connor Mills
• CCK vs LAX

If there is one topic we can imagine Triple H must love to talk about, then its NXT, a show he has nourished from a development territory limited to a university campus to a global touring brand.

During a recent media conference call, the WWE COO again talked about the Black and Yellow brand and provided some interesting stats on the show and the recent events related to it.

H first discussed the former NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa’s unfortunate injury and revealed that they were aware of his condition prior to his main roster debut.

They wanted Ciampa to get some main roster experience before surgery, but the situation with him went from something manageable to a risk they couldn’t take.

Another interesting thing he revealed was that Vince McMahon has the final say on all NXT callups. He decides which stars to bring up to the main roster and contarary to the popular belief you can’t say “you can’t have him” to the boss.

Some other notes from the conference call include:

• “There is much more to come.” said Triple H when asked about Lars Sullivan
• Aleister Black and Ricochet will be assigned to a brand the night after WrestleMania
• After SmackDown’s move to Fox, the WrestleMania weekend TakeOver is likely to be moved back to Saturday Night
• He is interested in the idea of bringing in more managers to NXT

Apart from this, the Game also revealed that as a touring brand NXT has proven to be profitable. While Triple H didn’t go into detail, this is still a great news for the fans of the brand as it will make his case of possibly moving main roster stars to NXT stronger.

Brock Lesnar doesn’t usually participate much in the buildup for any of his matches, so mostly it’s up to his opponent to try and sell their bout against the Beast Incarnate.

The same is the case this time and while Brock is probably resting in his home, his next opponent Seth Rollins is here, telling people why he wants to dethrone the Beast.

Rollins recently spoke to Sporting News in the spree. He expressed his feelings towards the current Universal Champion, saying that he wants his champion to be headlining all the events.

Continuing on the topic, Seth explained that a champion like Brock doesn’t inspire people and it’s frustrating for him as a fan to see the top belt of the company being held hostage:

“He’s in it for the money and he’ll tell you that. It’s just frustrating for me as a fan of our industry to see it kind of be held hostage by someone who only cares about themselves and making their own money.”

Elsewhere, the Architect also recalled trying to carry the mantle of being an inspiring champion with the IC title but explained that the prestige carried by the Universal title makes it the championship. And so he wants to beat Lesnar.

So far there is no news on what WWE is planning for this Universal Championship match. While Seth Rollins has been building this feud for a while, at this point nothing is set in stone and the odds can turn in the favor of either of the competitors.

Taiji Ishimori is scheduled to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship at the G1 Supercard against Bandido and Dragon Lee in a triple threat match. He spoke to NJPW1972.com recently about the match and his reign as champion.

“I’ve been very public about my plans for the junior heavyweight division,” Ishimori said. “You’ve heard me say I want to tear the whole thing apart and build it up again in my image, make it reborn. I think little by little I’ve started to do that.”

Ishimori defeated KUSHIDA for the title at Wrestle Kingdom this year inside the Tokyo Dome. Since that time, Ishimori defeated Jushin Liger at the NJPW Anniversary show.

“He’s a legend,” Ishimori said of Liger. “Just the icon of junior heavyweight wrestling in the Heisei era. If you look at me size wise, I’m a small guy, even for a junior. But Liger opened the door for people like me to become wrestlers. His influence went worldwide and there are countless people who became wrestlers because of Jyushin Thunder Liger. He raised the bar. Considerably, no doubt.”

After losing to Ishimori, Liger announced he’ll retire after the Tokyo Dome show next year.

Ishimori also spoke about each of his opponents coming up at the G1 Supercard.

“Obviously his background is in lucha, but that’s not all he has going for him,” he said of Bandido. “He’s wrestled in Dragon Gate before, so has some Japanese experience. I think he can wrestle Japanese style, can wrestle American style. He could really wrestle for any promotion in the world.”

Ishimori also spoke about Dragon Lee, someone’s he’s yet to face in the ring.

“We were in opposite blocks during Best of the Super Junior last year. The first time we shared a ring was when he came out at the Anniversary event,” Ishimori said of Dragon Lee.

The full interview can be read here.

• Full Lineup For G1 Supercard In MSG Revealed

Ronda Rousey has become known for frequently bending, if not flat out breaking, the fourth wall on her personal YouTube show, Ronda On The Road.

This weeks episode of the show follows her journey to this week’s Monday Night RAW in Boston, Massachusetts. During the video, Ronda would speak candidly on her match at WrestleMania. She would admit she thinks Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair wouldn’t be enough to main event the show. She went on toe say they “need” her in the match to elevate their feud. Their triple threat will see womenclosing the show for the first time in WWE history.

“It’s really cool to see people so p****d off, that thought I would fail miserably,” Rousey said. “And see that within one year, I’m in the main event of WrestleMania. And, you know what? I could promise you that Charlotte vs. Becky 9000 would not have made the main event of WrestleMania. They need me and I made it happen.”

Under Pressure

The pressure of main eventing WrestleMania on April 7th isn’t lost on the champion. She shares that “Going into this WrestleMania, I think it’s just… we just need to make sure the event is a huge success.”

She continues, “It needs to do extremely well views, I mean, it needs to do extremely well on pay-per-view buys. I want it to be the best ever because we need the women headlining WrestleMania to not be an isolated event. We need it to be, like, proof that this works and if we don’t do that, everything that we’ve done is for nothing, and we’re going to take so many years and steps back. So, there’s just so much depending on the success of this event. It really reminds me of me and [Liz] Carmouche for UFC. Everything depended on that event [UFC 157] being a success. The whole future of women in that sport, and I think the future of the women in this industry depends on the success of WrestleMania 35.”

Ronda Rousey defends her RAW Women’s Championship against SmackDown Women’s Champion, Charlotte Flair, and “The Man” Becky Lynch in a triple-threat at WrestleMania 35. The history-making matchup goes down on April 7th from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

This past January at the Royal Rumble, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey would successfully defend her RAW Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks. Rousey wasn’t shy in admitting that she considered this matchup a “dream match” for her.

But was the feeling mutual?

Speaking with journalist Vicente Beltran whilst doing international media for WWE, Sasha Banks would comment on their Royal Rumble clash. She confessed she didn’t consider it to be a “dream match” for her.

“No,” Banks admitted. “It was a dream match for her though. She said it.”

“It Could Be Any Team, Any Place, Any Time”

Later in their conversation, the discussion turned to the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. Sasha shares these titles with her partner, Bayley.

She would comment on how The Boss ’N’ Hug Connection is committed to defending their belts on any show, wanting them to become esteemed in the process. When asked how they would feel if they were to defend their titles on an NXT TakeOver event, Banks would reply:

“I think that would be amazing. That’s exactly what me and Bayley want to do, we want to take these titles all over the world. Whether it’s RAW, SmackDown, NXT, NXT UK, it doesn’t matter. It could be any team, any place, any time. We really do mean that; we want to take over the world and we want to make the tag team titles very important.”

The team will be defending the championships at WrestleMania 35 in a Fatal 4 Way against The Divas Of Doom (Beth Phoenix and Natalya), The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), and Nia Jax and Tamina.

It was reported a while back that Seth Rollins was dealing with a back injury and after this WWE had removed him from all Live Events leading up to WrestleMania.

While it was said that Rollins will be ready to go for the Show Of Shows, fans were still concerned about his health and whether or not he will be at his 100% for the fight against Brock Lesnar.

However during a recent interview with Sporting News, the former World Champion provided an update on his status. The Architect revealed that he has been cleared by the WWE Doctors and he feels good:

“I did have a lingering back issue that I was dealing with. (but) I’ve been cleared by our doctors. I had to take a few weeks to rest but it looks like I’ll be fine moving forward. I feel good. I’ve ramped up training in the gym and at my school. I feel healthy and, hopefully, I’ll be able to pick that guy up and throw him around a little bit so I’m not the only one getting tossed around.”

Apart from this Rollins also talked about his knee injury in 2015, why he wants to beat Brock Lesnar and more. You can check out some more highlights from his interview here.

Seth Rollins is currently scheduled to challenge Brock Lesnar for his Universal Championship at the WrestleMania PPV. Click here to check out an updated match card for the event.

While speculations are still running high on why WWE decided to put the SmackDown Women’s Championship on Charlotte Flair, we now atleast know the original WrestleMania plans for the belt.

Dave Meltzer talked about this title change in the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Newsletter and revealed the original WrestleMania plans for the championship.

We noted before how WWE had announced a fatal four-way #1 contenders match among Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Naomi, and Carmella for this week’s SmackDown.

And according to Meltzer, Mandy was expected to win this bout and go on to challenge the then champion Asuka for the Blue Brand’s title at the Show of Shows.

This match was obviously nixed when the company decided to put the belt on Charlotte and by the looks of it, it appears all five of these women including Asuka will now be left off of the WrestleMania card.

As we noted before, the decision to put the belt on Flair was a last minute call and the Officials only decided on the title change on the day of SmackDown.

While there is still no solid word on the reason behind it, a speculation is that the Officials are planning to close WrestleMania with a Horsewomen moment, with all four NXT Horsewomen holding a title in their hand.

While Nikki Bella was reported to be dating again at the start of this year, her former fiancé John Cena took some more time. Though now it appears that he too is back on the dating scenes.

There has been no solid news regarding his WrestleMania status so far, but now we know that Cena is at least having progress in his personal life.

The Cenation Leader who has been in Vancouver shooting for his next movie Playing With Fire was spotted with a girl and according to TMZ, the two enjoyed a four-hour long dinner date:

“We got this shot of the WWE superstar out on the town with an unknown — for now — brunette in Vancouver, and they’re clearly having a great time together. Not only were they cozied up, arm-in-arm together … but the photo agency that spotted them says they enjoyed a 4-hour dinner date!!!”

The girl who was with Cena has not been identified yet but you can check out a photo of this new couple coming out of their dinner date below:

John Cena does not have an announced match or segment for WrestleMania but the general belief is that he will still be appearing on the show and as we noted before, WWE is currently considering him for a segment with Elias. 

Roman Reigns decided to go public with his cancer battle last year and announced the news to the WWE Universe during a Raw episode in October. However, at the time, he hadn’t provided a lot of information on his condition.

During a recent interview with The Undefeated, the Big Dog opened up a bit more and revealed some scary information on his leukemia diagnosis.

The disease begins in a cell in bone marrow. With time, the infected cells can suppress the production of normal cells and the number of white blood cells increases rapidly.

While a healthy adult has a white blood cell count of somewhere between 4,000 to 11,000, Reigns’ numbers were way up the chart and a blood cell count of over 100,000 was the original reason for his concern.

This led to further examination and when the doctors discovered his enlarged spleen, it was clear that the former World Champion had to take a break from professional wrestling:

“That was the immediate physical scare of having to get me out of the ring, with a ruptured spleen, it’s obviously going to be a major operation, but people can die from it. It was a situation we didn’t want to put ourselves in, no matter how hardheaded I can be.”

Thankfully things didn’t go from bad to worse and after spending 5 months in rehab, Roman Reigns announced last month that he is in remission.

Reigns is now back to a full-time WWE schedule and he is currently scheduled to face Drew McIntyre in a one on one match at the upcoming WrestleMania PPV.

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle is set to wrestle his final match against Baron Corbin next weekend at WrestleMania.

Angle has been on a “retirement” tour in recent weeks, competing against the likes of Chad Gable, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. The Olympic Gold medalist posted a few messages on social media on Thursday as his career winds down.

He wrote on Facebook, “WrestleMania is around the corner. My very last match. I know its not the old Kurt Angle everyone has wanted, but I’m proud knowing its the new Kurt Angle thats been clean for almost 6 years. Thank you to all those who have been supporting me through the good and bad. I love you all. #RetirementMatch #itstrue #countdown.”

Later in the day, he wrote on Instagram, “20 years ago I made my debut on Raw, preaching the 3 Is’, intensity, integrity and intelligence. Next week at Wrestlemania, I will have my final match. #farewelltour #itstrue”

John Cena As Kurt Angle’s Final Opponent?

Both posts featured a barrage of replies urging Angle to reconsider his chosen opponent. The overwhelming consensus is that Angle should face John Cena at WrestleMania instead of Corbin. Cena made his WWE television debut against Kurt Angle back in 2002, so it would be a fitting end to Angle’s legendary career.

The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentioned the dynamic of Kurt Angle being John Cena’s first WWE opponent and the possibility of Cena being Angle’s final opponent:

“There is the book-end idea of Cena having had his first WWE television match with Angle and Angle having his last match with Cena, but as of 3/25 that was not the plan.”

John Cena has made several posts on his Instagram page over the past few weeks, including a photo of a fan holding a sign that says, “Baron Corbin is a dumpster fire.”

WWE has yet to announce a WrestleMania match for John Cena, despite the fact that his featured on promotional material for the event.

On Thursday afternoon, we ran a report (originated at Pro Wrestling Sheet) stating Goldust’s WWE contract recently expired and would be a free agent in May after a 90-day no-compete period. Goldust says the story is false and lashed out at ‘smart marks.’

We apologize to Dustin Rhodes and our readers for the error.

Goldust to AEW Speculation

With reports of Goldust’s time in WWE winding down, fans have been speculating that Dustin Rhodes will be Cody Rhodes’ “mystery opponent” at AEW: Double or Nothing.

AEW’s Road to Double or Nothing Youtube series has been teasing that the situation between Cody and his mystery opponent is “personal.”

The latest hint that Dustin could be Cody’s opponent was dropped on this week’s installment. During a phone conversation with AEW seamstress / costume designer Denise Cutler, they were discussing Cody’s gear for Double or Nothing. She asked Cody if they should avoid the color gold, which some fans took as a reference to Goldust.

AEW Double or Nothing is scheduled to go down on May 25th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will will mark the first official event under the AEW banner.

The date and location for the next WWE NXT TakeOver event have been confirmed.

Triple H held a conference call with the media to promote and discuss the WWE NXT Takeover: New York event. During the call, he noted that NXT is returning to San Jose, CA at the SJSU Event Center on Saturday, June 8th. 

WWE later confirmed the news that this will be the location for the next NXT TakeOver event. The brand has previously held TV tapings and house shows at this venue.

When making the news, he stated that will be a standalone event as no other WWE pay-per-view event is scheduled for that weekend.

“(San Jose) is a place where before we were even doing TakeOvers, we kind of did the first WrestleMania weekend event where we were just testing the waters. it sold out and became this epic event that really set the brand in motion. I’m really excited to go back there on June 8, separate from everything else, and other pay-per-views around it, and put on an event that is epic and say thank you to that location for getting us off to such a great start.”

WWE already has their next event, NXT TakeOver: New York, booked as it will go down on Friday, April 5, 2019, in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center and will air on the WWE Network.

H/T to F4Wonline for the transcription

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista is preparing to make his return to the squared circle as he takes part in one of the biggest matches on the card of WrestleMania 35.

Batista is slated to take on Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match at this event. WWE’s YouTube channel has released this footage of him training for the match, which you can watch here:

“The Animal” is one of the most successful WWE Superstars of all time as he has won six WWE World Titles, a four-time WWE Tag Team Champion, and a two-time Royal Rumble winner (2005 and 2014).

During a recent episode of Monday Night RAW, it was revealed that Triple H had to put his career on the line in order for this match to happen. “The Game” accepted the stipulation to the contest.

WWE presents the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair will headline the show. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.

Seth Rollins has discussed the exact injury that caused him to be sidelined from in-ring competition under the WWE banner.  He did so while talking with Brian Fritz of Sporting News where he noted that it was a back injury that put him on the shelf for about a month.

WWE gave Rollins time off for the month of February but still had him making appearances on their flagship show, Monday Night RAW.

He returned after last wrestling in late January when he teamed up with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to do a reunion for a six-man tag team match against Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, and Bobby Lashley at the Fastlane pay-per-view event. The company would then book him in matches against Shelton Benjamin on March 11 and March 18 against McIntyre on RAW.

WWE gave Rollins time off from in-ring competition as he had February off from wrestling but still appeared on television. He returned to in-ring action at the Fastlane pay-per-view event to work a six-man tag team match alongside Shield members Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. He would also work matches against Shelton Benjamin and Drew McIntyre on episodes of Monday Night Raw this month.

“Yeah, I did have a lingering back issue that I was dealing with,” Rollins said. “At the end of the day, I’m able to compete. I’ve been cleared by our doctors. I had to take a few weeks to rest, but it looks like I’ll be fine moving forward. I feel good. I’ve ramped up training in the gym and at my school (Black and Brave Wrestling Academy). I feel really good. I feel healthy and, hopefully, I’ll be able to pick that guy up and throw him around a little bit, so I’m not the only one getting tossed around.”

Rollins is slated to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at WrestleMania 35.

Former WoS/World of Sport Women’s Champion Viper/Piper Niven has officially joined the NXT UK roster. The powerhouse performer appeared following a Rhea Ripley vs Xia Brookside bout. Ripley proclaimed that she was the most dominant women in NXT UK, Niven’s music then hit and the Scottish Superstar appeared.

Ripley quickly escaped from the ring as Niven entered. Piper looked at Ripley and said “The most dominant woman in NXT UK? Not anymore!”

We had previously reported that there was interest from both WWE and AEW for Viper/Piper Niven. ICW Superstar Viper was allegedly offered deals by both AEW and WWE around the time that her WoS deal was expiring. Viper/Piper Niven does have some experience in a WWE ring, having performed in the inaugural Mae Young Classic. The Wrestling Observer confirmed that Viper was given a much “better offer” than Kay Lee Ray as there was apparently interest from All Elite Wrestling.

Whilst the future of WoS is still unclear this constant stream of stars leaving cannot be a good sign. Viper, Kay Lee Ray and Bea Priestley have all left for WWE/AEW respectively. These three Women were the biggest female stars on the WoS roster, there is a chance that new talent could be built around but as of writing we do not have any indicators regarding the promotion.

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez is making the transition into the pro wrestling business.

On Tuesday at the AAA TripleMania XXVII press conference, Cain made an appearance alongside representatives of TV Azteca, Lucha Libre AAA. This is where it was announced that he would make his pro wrestling debut at this show that goes down on August 3, 2019, at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City.

Velasquez said at the press conference that he had two or three more fights left on his UFC contract. He was asked if he thinks Lucha Libre was fake, which he responded by stating that the blows are real and that WWE was fake. He thinks Lucha Libre is much tougher and much more real.

This proceeded to him being interrupted by Texano Jr, Psycho Clown and, Pentagón Jr, with Pentagón offering Velasquez the option of a tag team match if he did not want a one-on-one match like the previous offers. This led to them doing a face-off with Cain and the other wrestlers mentioned above.

Thus, this led to speculation that the UFC star could wrestle a singles match against one of them or a multiple-person match at this show. It turns out that Velasquez has confirmed that he’ll be an in-ring performer but didn’t clarify when that would take place.

”I will be an in-ring performer for sure,” said Velasquez in a statement to MMA Fighting. “With more time learning this beautiful sport, great things will happen.”

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that “AAA attempted to sign Velasquez to a two-show contract but the second event, scheduled for the fall, was scheduled too close to a UFC event that Velasquez is expecting to right on, so at this point it is believed to be a one-show deal.”

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) will present ALL IN 2 from the Sears Center outside Chicago, IL on Saturday, August 31st, according to the Wrestling Observer.

The report states the event was always going to be held in the Chicago area, but there was some preliminary talk about hosting it at the larger Allstate Arena. In the end, the promotion decided to bring All In back to the Sears Center.

“The Labor Day weekend All In 2, as it’s being called, will be on 8/31 back at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, IL,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

This would mark the third official event under the AEW banner. Here is an updated look at the AEW live event schedule, including this rumored show:

• 5/25: AEW Double or Nothing (Las Vegas, NV)
• 7/13: AEW Fight for the Fallen (Jacksonville, FL)
• 8/31: AEW ALL IN 2 (Hoffman Estates, IL)

It’s worth noting that AEW trademarked the name ALL OUT last year, so that might be the name of the show.

All In 2: August 31, 2019

There were also reports from C2E2 this weekend that the Bucks and Omega were telling people at the expo they would return to Chicago for All In 2.

The Sears Center honored its involvement in the first All In by placing a plaque outside the venue. The Young Bucks showed the plaque on a recent episode of Being the Elite.

The first All In event aired on ROH’s Honor Club for subscribers on September 1st, 2018.

By the time All In 2 rolls around, Jim Ross might be with AEW. JR provided an update on his negotiations with the promotion recently.

• Jim Ross Says He Expects To Sign With AEW Very Soon

Dragon Gate and UK independent star PAC has been announced for an upcoming Rev Pro event. The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion will be joining the company on April 14th for their Southampton show.

PAC was originally scheduled to join the company on WrestleMania weekend. The Geordie star was booked to tag alongside Will Ospreay to take on CCK’s Chris Brookes and Jon Gresham. Rev Pro had to pull PAC from the event for undisclosed reasons, forcing a change. That match will now see Ospreay teaming with Hiroshi Tanahashi to take on Suzuki-gun’s Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki.

PAC will be back in action for Rev Pro in Southampton against Paul Robinson. Robinson is Will Ospreay’s longtime tag team partner in the ‘Swords of Essex.’ The two men are currently the PROGRESS Wrestling Tag Team Champions and this bout should be an intriguing pairing.

Kenny Omega is in the midst of an in-ring sabbatical following his New Japan Pro Wrestling contract expiring in January. The “Best Bout Machine” signed with All Elite Wrestling in February and battles Chris Jericho at Double or Nothing on May 25th.

On the latest The Jim Ross Report podcast, Omega told JR that he took several months off from wrestling to recuperate after years of working a grueling in-ring style in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“The work never ends, and of course we’re really trying to get [All Elite Wrestling] off the ground. But at least the [break from] physical toll that traveling on the road took on our bodies, and just the New Japan style in general had on my body,” says Omega.

Kenny’s Injuries

“I was really starting to feel it towards the tail end of last year,” Omega says. “The G1 was really rough on me. I had to power through a cracked heel. And then I ran into an issue with torn cartilage in my rib.”

Omega says that his list of injuries did not stop there.

“I was on an operating table for an hour and a half having my lip reconstructed because of a misplaced clothesline,” Omega says. “It was one thing after another.”

Time Off

Kenny says that his time off has allowed him to heal up, and that he is beginning to see the benefits of the break in the gym.

“It was great to take that little bit of time off after Wrestle Kingdom,” says Omega. “Now, I’m finally, at the gym, starting to lift heavy.”

“I’m starting to be able to pack on some more size, the way I want to, just given the fact that I can train properly.”

“This is the time for me, to kind of go back into maintenance mode, and it’s really doing me wonders,” Omega says.

“I really hope that I can bring a brand new package to Las Vegas. And not only be in great-feeling shape, but great-looking shape as well.”

Watch: Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi from WrestleKingdom 13

Sean “X-Pac” Waltman believes El Hijo del Fantasma will end up in WWE. Fantasma is one of the wrestlers who has been granted a release from Lucha Underground. He worked there as King Cuerno.

According to Waltman, Fantasma has everything WWE looks for in a lucha star and would be a great fit for NXT. In fact, he encouraged WWE to sign him when the company asked about scouting Mexican wrestlers.

On the latest episode of his X-Pac 12360 podcast, Waltman said, “He was a guy that I talked to WWE about when they asked me. Canyon Ceman had asked me to take a trip down to Mexico after Alberto Del Rio left the first time.”

He continued, “Fantasma was one of the guys I told them about. He can speak English, he’s got a great look, and he fit most of the criteria they were looking for.”

Waltman says that Fantasma got as far as a tryout with WWE several years ago, but the company ended up not offering him a contract.

“He had a tryout down there, and he got a lot of heat for going in there and doing it, and then ended up not getting hired, for some technical reason,” says X-Pac.

Waltman believes that whatever the issue was that prevented Fantasma from signing years ago, would not be an issue today.

“It was some silly little thing, that, obviously, I think they would overlook now,” he says. “Maybe they changed their criteria, or maybe they just got less picky on certain things.”

• Update: WWE Reportedly Offers El Hijo del Fantasma A Contract

As we reported a few days ago, and as Jim Ross confirmed on ESPN, he is negotiating with All Elite Wrestling.

On this week’s Jim Ross Report, JR gives a status update on his AEW negotiations, and says to expect news shortly.

“We are talking to AEW. I’ve mentioned that before. They are an exciting young company,” says Ross.

As to a potential timeline for an announcement, JR sounds optimistic that he will be able to announce a deal with AEW in the coming days.

“When we get something finalized, which should be, I’m thinking, in the next few days at most, we’ll let everybody know,” says Ross.

“Life is good, man. When one door closes, another door opens, if you let it. And that’s my choice,” Ross says.

“Another door is opening, and if all goes well, knock on wood, everything’s cool. It’ going to be a good year.”

As to what potential role he might play with AEW, JR says he thinks he has something to offer in a couple of different areas.

“I’d like to think I can contribute to their success, either at ringside calling play-by-play, or behind the scenes,” JR says.

“Those details are all still being discussed.”

You can listen to JR’s full comments, in context, below.

Do you expect JR to end up in AEW?