WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has confirmed that he’s in discussions with AEW (All Elite Wrestling), which launched back in January.

Ross made the news known when he appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines this afternoon where he talked about a wide range of talks including his departure from the WWE at the end of this month when his contract expires.

“We’re talking. We’re talking. I just haven’t signed anything yet. My people and their people are doing their thing.”

Ross’s most recent WWE televised appearance was part of the pre-show panel for the Greatest Royal Rumble event last April. He made some big news when he revealed earlier this month on an episode of the Ross Report podcast that after recent discussions with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, both sides decided it was best to go their separate ways.

Double or Nothing, which is the inaugural show promoted by AEW, will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 25, 2019. Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho in a rematch from their contest at Wrestle Kingdom in 2018 and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) vs. Lucha Bros. (Penta El Zero M and Rey Fénix) are being billed as the top two matches.

The promotion will also hold their Fight for the Fallen event on July 13, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place.

WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey changed her character during her feud with former SmackDown Women’s Champions Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.

When she first made her WWE debut at WrestleMania 34 and for the majority of her run with the company, she was presented as a babyface. However, that all changed as WrestleMania 35 got closer. Since her feud started with the stars of the blue branded show, she has turned heel.

Rousey has also been breaking kayfabe online through social media and videos posted on her official YouTube channel. This has fans talking online as a result of it.

TMZ recently caught up with former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion The Miz where they asked him about Rousey’s new character and her actions. This is where he praised her for getting attention heading into WrestleMania.

She’s slated to make her next title defense as RAW Women’s Champion against Flair and Lynch in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 35. 

“She’s making noise, she’s making headlines and you’re talking about her, so everything’s working about it. It’s WrestleMania season. You do whatever you have to do to get people watching … right now, she’s doing exactly that.”

Becky Lynch Taunts Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey

2019 WWE Women’s Royal Rumble winner Becky Lynch continues to taunt Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey ahead of WrestleMania. Lynch and Flair take on Rousey for the RAW Women’s Championship in what’s believed to be the main event of WrestleMania 35.

Recently, Flair posted a photo of herself on Twitter. Lynch responded by taking a shot at “The Queen”:

Rousey also addressed her situation on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW. She and her husband, UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, took on several of WWE’s security team members. Rousey said she doesn’t care how much she’s fined by the company for her actions.

Lynch responded by offering to pay Rousey’s fine with her new “shampoo money”:

Speaking of Lynch, her new Funko Pop figure is the number one selling item on Amazon’s Toys and Games section. Check it out here:

Mark Henry Launches Website

WWE Hall Of Famer Mark Henry has just launched his own website, which you can find at TheMarkHenry.com. The site offers a brief synopsis of “The World’s Strongest Man’s” athletic career, and also includes tour dates in which you can meet Henry and watch Monday Night RAW with him.

Here’s a description of of the events from Henry’s website:

“The World’s Strongest Man, Mark Henry is going on tour. On select Monday nights, meet Mark Henry in person at hospitality locations across the country. Come say hello, hang out, eat, drink and join Mark to watch and discuss the hottest action in professional wrestling all on multiple big screen televisions. It’s 3+ hours of non-stop wrestling action, talk and fun.”

Earlier this month, The Floor Seat reported that some major format changes were coming to the WWE Hall Of Fame induction ceremony this year. One of those changes being that there will no longer be inductors for inductees. The report also suggested that there will be 15-minute time limits for speeches.

These made sense given one of the biggest criticisms the ceremony has faced over the years is that it’s too long. F4WOnline obtained a statement from WWE regarding the potential changes. The source confirmed that format options are definitely being looked at. It was noted there could be a “mix of ways” to introduce inductees.

As for the 15-minute time limits, the source claims they don’t know where that came from:

“While we are looking at format options, the plan is to have inductors, but there could be a mix of ways to introduce inductees. We are also looking at flow, but I don’t know where the 15 minute time limit info is coming from.”

This year’s WWE Hall Of Fame class includes names like Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray), The Honkey Tonk Man, Torrie Wilson, D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, and X-Pac), and Warrior Award recipient Sue Aitchison.

The 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony takes place Saturday night, April 6th from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

What do you think of the rumored changes coming to the WWE HOF ceremony?

WWE might have spoiled the result of the NXT Title match at TakeOver: New York next month. It was recently confirmed that Johnny Gargano will face Adam Cole for the vacant title in a 2 of 3 Falls match. NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa was forced to vacate the title due to injury.

Local advertisements for NXT live events in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota are advertising a Champion vs. Champion match between Adam Cole and The Velveteen Dream. The events are scheduled for Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 28, respectively. Dream is the current NXT North American Champion. As for Cole, he is without a title as of this writing. Perhaps Cole is the man slated to leave New York with the NXT Championship on WrestleMania weekend?

Cole defeated Ricochet, Aleister Black, Matt Riddle, and Dream in a Fatal Five-Way match to earn his way into the NXT Title bout at TakeOver: New York. Gargano was initially slated to face Ciampa, however, his neck injury forced those plans to change.

NXT TakeOver: New York takes place from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, April 5, 2019. Check out the updated TakeOver: New York card below:

• Two Of Three Falls match for vacant NXT Championship: Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole
• WWE NXT UK Championship: (C) Pete Dunne vs. WALTER
• NXT North American Championship: (C) The Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle
• Fatal Four-Way for NXT Women’s Championship: (C) Shayna Baszler vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair vs. Kairi Sane
• NXT Tag Team Championship: (C) War Raiders vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet

Do you think Cole will leave TakeOver as NXT Champion?

The New Day took part in a recent episode of Drop The Mic that aired Wednesday night on TNT where they battled iconic soul singers SWV in a no holds barred grudge match. The popular rap battle show is hosted by Method Man of Wu Tang.

Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods took the stage to show off their skills. This isn’t the first time that they have grabbed the microphone to battle it out with words in a rap contest.

The former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions took on The Usos (Jey & Jimmy) back in 2017 during an episode of SmackDown Live that was hosted by hip-hop star Wale.

You can watch the segment from Drop The Mic here, which is pretty entertaining:

As of this writing, WWE has yet to announce a match for The New Day at WrestleMania 35, which is quickly approaching. On Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Kingston beat Cesaro, Randy Orton and Rowan and Samoa Joe and Sheamus that was supposed to earn him the right to challenge WWE Champion Daniel Bryan for the title at WrestleMania 35.

However, after the match, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon announced that Kofi had to beat Bryan that night to get the title shot. He failed as Bryan won the match.

All Elite Wrestling has released Episode 8 of the weekly Road To Double or Nothing series. In this installment, we met a new AEW signee and got a first look at the AEW Championship belt.

AEW Championship Belt

We also got a first look at the AEW Championship belt that is in development. While AEW has yet to formally announce if this will be a “World” and/or “Heavyweight” title, we now know it is being created by “The Ace of Belts” Dave Millican.

During a discussion between Brandi and Dave, we learned that the belt has large layered plates and is influenced by the Mid South North American Championship (seen below):

Here is a first look at the design for the unnamed “AEW Championship” belt:

Allie Is All Elite

AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes has been teasing that we would meet a new female signee on this week’s Road to Double or Nothing. Earlier this week, it was reported that UK grappler Sadie Gibbs has signed with AEW, but that was not the new talent acquisition that was announced.

Former Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Allie is the newest member of the AEW women’s roster. You can follow her on Twitter at @AllieImpact.

WATCH: The Road To Double or Nothing: Episode 8

Lana and Rusev took part in a recent episode of Drop The Mic that aired Wednesday night on TNT where they battled billionaire, Mark Cuban.

Cuban, who is known for appearing on Shark Tank that is a widely popular show that airs on ABC as well as being the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, is a big wrestling fan. He’s appeared on WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, a few times in the past. His first appearance taking place in 2003 with a segment involving Eric Bischoff, who was the General Manager at the time.

Cuban then appeared on the show again in 2009 where he was a special guest referee in a match between Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton during their feud. He also appeared in a segment with John Cena and Sheamus, that saw him get physical with the “Celtic Warrior.” It led to the former WWE Champion putting Cuban through a table. 

Lana took to her official Twitter account to talk about the appearance on the television show, which you can see here:

You can watch the segment with the married couple and Cuban here, which is pretty entertaining:

The Velveteen Dream has his next title defense as North American Champion set. On Thursday, WWE revealed a new match that will take place at NXT TakeOver: New York, which will see Dream take on Matt Riddle.

Dream just won the title from Johnny Gargano back on the January 30th episode of the weekly television show of the yellow brand. He’s only the fourth champion in the history of the strap.

WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: New York event on Friday, April 5, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center that will air on the WWE Network. WWE might be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:

Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: New York Card

Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole – Vacant WWE NXT Title 2 of 3 Falls Match

WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair –  Fatal 4 Way Match

WWE NXT North American Champion The Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle

WWE NXT Tag Team Champions The War Raiders vs. TBA

WWE NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne vs. WALTER

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

Not so long ago, Rey Mysterio and Andrade were embroiled in an escalating feud. The two SmackDown Superstars would steal the show with each passing Tuesday. Many assumed it would lead to a major payoff, with fans and WWE Superstars giving their bouts praise.

Turns out, the feud between the two was meant to lead to “The Grandest Stage Of Them All,” WrestleMania.

According to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com, “Rey and Andrade were booked for WrestleMania, and why that changed I have no idea.”

He explained that Rey being choked out by Samoa Joe at WWE’s last event, Fastlane, is apparent evidence that Mysterio vs Joe at WrestleMania wasn’t on the table. At least at that time.

“To show you how short-sighted or how far this booking went, Joe choked Rey out at the last pay-per-view to win when you had R-Truth who could have lost or Andrade who could have lost that are going nowhere,” Meltzer said. “So that tells you on the day of the last pay-per-view there’s no way that this match was planned.”

Mysterio is now slated to wrestle Samoa Joe for the US Championship at WrestleMania 35. There is no word on whether the feud between himself and Andrade will reignite. There were, however, rumors at one point that the two would form a latino stablealong with Sin Cara.

Jimmy Uso was arrested for disorderly conduct last month. Body-cam footage of the police interacting with Uso was released recently. The video does not contain footage of him actually committing the acts which led to his arrest, however.

In the police report, Jimmy Uso is alleged to have “squared up” in a stance to fight a police officer, however, this is not shown on camera. What is shown is an intoxicated Jimmy Uso being put into the back of a police car and the police interacting with Naomi.

The footage can be seen in the player below:

Naomi was pulled over for exiting a parking lot going the wrong way on a one-way street. She has since commented that it was dark at the time and the roads were confusing. Naomi was not intoxicated. Jimmy Uso was not driving.

Jimmy Uso February Arrest

After news of Uso’s arrest broke, WWE sent a release to media outlets. The release stated that Jimmy Uso is responsible for his own actions. While WWE often will suspend or release talent charged with domestic violence, they rarely take action on smaller offenses such as disorderly conduct.

Also in February, the Usos won the Smackdown tag team championships at Elimination Chamber. The Usos then successfully defended the titles against Miz and Shane McMahon at Fastlane.

• The Usos and Hardy Boyz Continue To Tease WrestleMania Match

As we have previously reported, Cody has filed for a number of trademarks of late.

The most recent round of filings include a number of WCW pay-per-view event names, including Bash at the Beach, BattleBowl, and Bunkhouse Stampede.

Previous trademark filings include one for his late father’s wrestling name, Dusty’s nickname, and Cody’s “American Nightmare” moniker.

Cody took to Twitter to address the story directly. The American Nightmare says that no one should read too much into the trademark news.

The “cattle” that Cody mentions, is what he considers to be Dusty’s intellectual property.

Dusty Rhodes served as a booker for Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling.

In that role, he is credited with creating the War Games match, Starrcade, and a laundry list of other well-remembered events and concepts.

Cody has addressed this subject before, noting that many of Dusty’s creations hold personal meaning to his family.

Cody’s heartfelt explanation should resonate with fans.

However, he is an executive vice president of a professional wrestling company.

As a result, it is easy to see how fans and media alike could reach certain assumptions based on these trademark filings.

But by addressing the story with transparency, those assumptions can be put to rest.

What do you think of Cody addressing the trademark story head-on?

Batista vs Triple H is one of the hotter angles heading into WrestleMania. On this week’s X-Pac 12360, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman makes the case why neither Triple H nor Batista is likely to end up playing the villain in their feud.

Batista vs. Triple H: Who Is The Heel?

After laying out Ric Flair at his television birthday party, it would seem that the WWE creative team’s idea is for Batista to play the bad guy.

Not so fast, says Waltman.

“People who want to cheer Batista, there’s no reason why they can’t,” says Waltman.

“We’re not pigeonholing him in a way where if he’s not cheered, there’s a problem.”

Waltman recalls that Batista’s last run with the company saw him brought in as a babyface, right in the middle of Daniel Bryan’s ascent.

While fans were clamoring for Bryan to be positioned as the top good guy, they were instead treated to a Batista Royal Rumble win.

Ultimately, there was a change of direction, and Batista ended up playing the bad guy.

“Remember what happened last time?” Waltman asks. “And that’s not his f—ing fault. And I felt really bad for Dave.”

Reality-Based Batista vs. Triple H Feud

This go-around, Waltman says that by playing off some tension between the two that are based in reality, WWE will end up with a more realistic feud, not one where there needs to be a traditional good and bad guy.

“This is really smart,” Waltman says. “And if you don’t try to tell people who to cheer for, it will usually work out okay.”

“Triple H is a human being. That’s his character,” says Waltman. “The feud is a personal beef. There’s no total good guy, total bad guy.”

“Imagine that. It’s kind of like in real life… It’s always shades of gray in relationships.”

Regardless of the storytelling device being used, X-Pac says that he thinks WWE hit a home run, and he looks forward to Batista vs. Triple H.

“It’s a very nice way of doing it,” says Waltman. “It’s a really smart way of using Dave [Batista].”

Check out this week’s X-Pac 12360 below.

This transcript has been edited for clarity. When referencing this transcript, please credit SEScoops.com. 

Do you agree? Does there need to be a traditional babyface/heel dynamic in Batista vs. Triple H?

Seth Rollins is set to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal title at WrestleMania 35. As such, it was surprising to see the babyface challenger pinned in the main event of Monday’s Raw.

Rollins was distracted by Lesnar’s entrance music being played, then ate a Claymore Kick from Drew McIntyre, leading to the pinfall.

Jim Ross takes issue with Rollins’s portrayal in his loss to McIntyre, and lays out his reasoning on this week’s Jim Ross Report.

Jim Ross on Drew McIntyre Defeating Seth Rollins on RAW

“I didn’t like the way that Raw went off the air, where, again, a music interruption causes the decision of a match to be determined,” says Ross.

“It happens over and over again: Interrupt, distraction, screwjob. Interrupt, distraction, screwjob.”

Ross continues, saying that Rollins was made to look foolish, in a way that the top babyface stars of another era would not have been.

“Can you imagine Steve Austin or The Rock falling for that music interrupt piece of business? No. Because it wouldn’t happen,” says Ross.

JR goes on to discuss the perils of trying to maintain parity among talent.

“I have a big problem with trying to protect everybody on the roster,” Ross says.

“It’s not a game of protection. It’s a game of execution. If you can execute well, and you’re given the tools to execute well, there’s absolutely no reason that a loss to a talent that is already ‘over’, is going to significantly damage the persona of that individual.”

“Seth Rollins was made to look silly,” says Ross. “His best side was not on display there.”

“Seth is a magnificent athlete, we all can see that. And his match with Lesnar at WrestleMania can be a classic.”

“But you can’t make your babyfaces, your heroes, your protagonists, look dumb, and get them over to the top of the mountain,” Ross says.

Do you agree that Rollins was made to look foolish on Raw?

Undertaker is set to appear at the next WWE Saudi Arabia event on May 3, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The report does not list a potential opponent for Undertaker. It also does not mention whether or not he will be appearing on television in the build to the event.

Rather, it merely states that The Phenom has been confirmed as wrestling on the show.

The business relationship between Taker and the WWE has reportedly been strained of late. WWE is said to not happy with his upcoming appearance at Starrcast.

It would appear that the differences between the two sides have been put aside, at least temporarily, allowing for Undertaker to make his first in-ring appearance since Crown Jewel, in November.

Undertaker appeared on both Saudi Arabia events in 2018.

He took on Rusev in a casket match at Greatest Royal Rumble. Following that, he teamed with Kane to face Triple H and Shawn Michaels at Crown Jewel.

Although he is appearing in some promotional material for this year’s WrestleMania, The Deadman does not have a match announced for the show.

If that holds true, this year will mark the first time since 2000 that Undertaker will not wrestle at WrestleMania.

Are you surprised by the report of The Undertaker appearing at the next WWE Saudi Arabia event?

Kofi Kingston was recently screwed out of an opportunity to face Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35. This led the team to briefly discuss the idea of quitting — an idea that Kofi quickly nixed.

Big E, however, chose to vent his frustrations. In a video uploaded to Twitter, he sadly states that “people like us will only get so far. […] You can climb the mountain. They’ll let you climb the mountain, but as far as getting to the peak and staying at the peak – it’s not a thing that people like us, historically and moving forward clearly, can only get so far.”

Now Xavier Woods has provided his thoughts on their current situation.

“Its Definitely Showed Me Which Direction I Need To Go In”

Speaking from the Game Developers Conference (GDC), Woods addresses the unfair actions of Vince McMahon from Tuesday night. He also highlights that, like Big E, he needs to do what’s best for him and his family. He’s just not sure WWE fits into that anymore.

“I’m sure you guys saw what happened this past Tuesday to Kofi. You probably watched the video that [Big] E did and he, kind of, said it best, so I’m just gonna echo those sentiments,” he said.

“We have other things that we enjoy doing. We have other skills. Me? I love video games. I’m a part of this community and I love this community with all of my heart, and this community loves me back. That’s a relationship I’m willing to be in.”

“Constantly being treated in the way that we, New Day, has been treated and will most likely be treated from here on out…I just want to say that I appreciate what you did Vince, thank you very much. Because its definitely showed me which direction I need to go in to take care of myself and to take care of my family.”

With the New Day teasing quitting, and both Xavier Woods and Big E uploading videos to their personal accounts to address the unfair situation, this blending of reality and fiction adds a new dynamic to the story as people continue to clamour for Kofi-Mania on April 7th.

The WWE Universe is still reacting to Kurt Angle’s announcement on Monday Night RAW. During this week’s episode, Angle would reveal his WrestleMania 35 opponent to be Baron Corbin.

This news was met with a wave of negative reactions from across WWE’s fans. At the time of writing, their YouTube video of the promo currently sits at 14k dislikes. Current and former WWE Superstars including Matt Riddle and Gail Kim have also voiced their thoughts — which seem to align with the majority of the audience.

Now, the man who was speculated to be the one to face him, John Cena, has addressed Angle’s retirement match.

Cena is known to utilize his social media in a cryptic manner. Many posts allude to or hint at news rather than outright addressing rumors. As an example, a recent post on his Instagram was a picture of a young Kurt Angle. This was uploaded on March 12th in an obvious tease that he would be back at ‘Mania to wrestle Kurt one last time.

This post, however, is more on the nose. It features a fan in a Carmella cap holding up a sign that reads “Baron Corbin Is A Dumpster Fire.”

Cena didn’t accompany the post with any thoughts or insight, allowing the image to speak for itself and, in theory, represent his feelings on the matter.

Daniel Bryan proved to be too much of an obstacle for Kofi Kingston this past Tuesday on SmackDown Live. After having endured a gruelling gauntlet match against five of SmackDown’s top Superstars, Vince McMahon would then insert “The Planet’s Champion” as a surprise sixth entrant.

It was just too much for an exhausted Kofi who, in losing the gauntlet match, has now lost his opportunity to face Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.

The New Day regrouped backstage on Tuesday night, with Big E and Xavier Woods discussing quitting WWE — an idea that Kofi shot down.

Big E recently took to his Twitter account to upload a video of his thoughts on the situation. The video covers a lot of ground, with Big E lambasting WWE as he says that The New Day finally “understand the game.”

“If This Is All We Will Ever Be? I Don’t Know If It’s Worth It”

Big E believes that it doesn’t matter how good you are, how much your hone your craft and “jump through all the right hoops,” or how respectful you are as a professional and individual — to him the idea that if “You do everything, you check all the boxes, you show up in shape—you do everything that’s asked of you in this business —that if you do all those things you have a good chance of making it to the top” is a lie.

He goes on to say that “people like us will only get so far. […] You can climb the mountain. They’ll let you climb the mountain, but as far as getting to the peak and staying at the peak – it’s not a thing that people like us, historically and moving forward clearly, can only get so far.”

Clearly deflated from all these challenges being placed in front of his friend’s dreams, Big E would tease the idea of leaving WWE, contemplating whether all this hard work and being away from family for “250 days plus a year is worth it.” He ends the video by stating, |[…] obviously proud of Kofi, proud of us as a trio, proud of what we’ve done, but if this is all we ever be? I don’t know if it’s worth it.”

Kofi Kingston is on a trajectory similar to that of Daniel Bryan’s journey leading into WrestleMania 30. With authority figures doing everything to stop Kofi getting his opportunity, it will be interesting to see how they eventually make Kofi vs Bryan official. One thing is for sure, however: the WWE Universe want Kofi-Mania.

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual New Japan Cup tournament is underway.

The winner of this year’s single-elimination tournament will earn the chance to face “Switchblade” Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This matchup will take place at their upcoming show, co-promoted with Ring Of Honor (ROH), G1 Supercard. The event takes place on April 6th and emanates from the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York.

This event took place on 3/20 from Shizuoka, Japan.

New Japan Cup Results (3/20)

Yuya Uemura, Manabu Nakanishi, and Yuji Nagata defeated Yota Tsuji, Satoshi Kojima, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan via submission.

Nagata’s Nagata Lock II onto Tsuju secured the tap out victory.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Mikey Nicholls, and Juice Robinson defeated Hikuleo, Chase Owens, and Bad Luck Fale via pinfall.

Mikey Nicholls manages to execute the Mikey Bomb on the hulking Hikuleo for the win.

Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Taichi, and Minoru Suzuki defeated Tomoaki Honma, Michael Elgin, Toru Yano, and Togi Makabe via pinfall.

Taichi would manage to see Suzuki-Gun to victory with a Gedo clutch pinning combination.

Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, and Tetsuya Naito defeated Ren Narita, Hirooki Goto, and Kota Ibushi via pinfall.

Narita would get blasted by Takagi’s Pumping Bomber lariat, allowing LIJ the win.

EVIL and SANADA defeated Toa Henare and Colt Cabana via pinfall.

Henare eats another loss following a Magic Killer finisher.

TAKA Michinoku and Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Shota Umino and Hiroshi Tanahashi via submission.

Zabre Jr. does what he does best and stretches Umino into submission.

Tournament Results

Tomohiro Ishii defeated YOSHI-HASHI via pinfall.

A good showing for YOSHI-HASHI, but the “Stone Pitbull” would progress within the tournament after a Vertical Drop Brainbuster put his CHAOS stablemate away.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Will Ospreay via pinfall.

A close match with Okada once again showcasing that no one has a better 2.9 kick out than he does. He would emerge victorious over Ospreay following a Rainmaker.

This quarterfinal night was filled with CHAOS teammates battling one another. This trend will continue at the semi-finals when Ishii and Okada will meet.

There has been a lot of criticism surrounding some of this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame inductees. Some disagree with the likes of Torrie Wilson and Stevie Ray going into the Hall Of Fame. Despite being one of the most recognizable female competitors in WWE history, Wilson never recorded a title victory during her seven-year tenure.

As for Stevie Ray, he piled up quite a bit of accolades in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Ray is a 10-time WCW World Tag Team Champion, alongside his brother and now-two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T, but also won a WCW World TV Title. Unfortunately, Ray never got the opportunity to compete in WWE.

Recently, Booker T addressed these criticisms on a recent episode of his podcast, “Heated Conversations.” The five-time WCW Champion called out those who oppose Ray and Wilson’s inductions, and explained why they deserve the honor:

“What dictates whether you should get into the Hall Of Fame or not? I’ve had dirt sheet writers talking about, my brother shouldn’t be in the Hall Of Fame. People who haven’t done anything for this business, talking about who should or who shouldn’t get into the Hall Of Fame.

“My thing is this, if you done nothing and contributed zero as far as taking one bump on the road, you don’t know who should get in and who shouldn’t get into the Hall Of Fame. Torrie Wilson is definitely Hall Of Fame worthy. She has paved the way for so many other lovelies, just like herself, that perhaps didn’t think that they could actually do it because they didn’t fit that mold.

• Stevie Ray Reflects On Hall Of Fame Induction

“Torrie Wilson gave them that belief in themselves, to say, ‘Hey, if Torrie Wilson can do it, I can do it too.’ So Torrie is definitely a Hall Of Famer as far as I’m concerned. All the critics out there, all the pundits – who have never done anything, who have never taken one bump, who would never be awarded for anything that they’ve done in their lives, they need to step off. Torrie Wilson, you got my stamp of approval sweetheart. You stepped up.”

What do you think about Booker T’s comments regarding Ray and Wilson in the HOF?

Triple H Announced Plans For The Main Event Of NXT TakeOver: New York

WWE COO Triple H came down to the ring with the NXT Championship. Triple H said that NXT is something special because it is where dreams can become possibilities. He stated that the main event of TakeOver: New York was going to be a match years in the making, Ciampa versus Gargano. However, reality has dictated that Ciampa needed neck surgery and has had to relinquish the NXT Championship.

Triple H said that when one dream ends, another one begins. Gargano will go to NXT TakeOver to face the winner of Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle. Triple H added that the match at NXT TakeOver: New York will be 2 out of 3 Falls.

Adam Cole Will Battle Johnny Gargano For The NXT Championship At TakeOver

Adam Cole, Ricochet, Velveteen Dream, Matt Riddle, and Aleister Black battled in a Fatal 5-Way on this week’s episode of NXT. The winner of the match will go on to face Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: New York for the vacant NXT Championship.

Riddle, Cole, and Black were quickly knocked out of the ring to start off the match. Velveteen and Ricochet traded shots for a bit and Dream set up for the Death Valley Driver. Aleister broke it up with a kick to the face and then was brought back to the outside by Adam Cole. Back in the ring, Matt Riddle connected with three Gutwrench Suplexes in a row on Ricochet.

Black and Ricochet shook hands and teamed up on Cole. They went to battle each other but Cole hit Ricochet from behind and Ricochet fell into Black, sending Aleister tumbling out of the ring. Cole then hit Ricochet with a Neckbreaker for a near fall. Dream took out Cole and Ricochet but then turned around into a German Suplex from Riddle. Matt locked in the Bromission on Dream but Aleister broke it up.

Cole brought Black back outside the ring and launched him into the steel steps. Matt Riddle and Cole then traded words in the ring and started trading shots. Riddle got the upper-hand and locked in the Bromission but Velveteen Dream once again broke it up. All five Superstars battled in the corner and wound up planted Ricochet with a ridiculous Superplex.

Aleister connected with a German Suplex on Dream and bridged into a cover but Riddle broke it up with a Senton. Cole blasted Riddle with a Superkick and then a Neckbreaker over his knee. Cole hit back-to-back Superkicks on Ricochet and then went for the Last Shot but Ricochet avoided it. Ricochet planted Cole with a Reverse Hurricanrana that sent Cole out of the ring.

Riddle locked in the Bromission on Dream this time but Adam Cole pulled the referee out of the ring. Aleister connected with Black Mass on Riddle but then turned around into a Dream Valley Driver from Velveteen. Dream made his way to the top rope but Ricochet hit him with a Hurricanrana that sent him flying onto Aleister outside the ring. Ricochet followed that up with an awesome Shooting Star Press onto Riddle. As Ricochet went for the cover, Adam Cole hit him with the Last Shot for the pinfall victory. Adam Cole will now face Johnny Gargano in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: New York.

After NXT went off the air, The Forgotten Sons attacked Aleister Black and Ricochet. Those two teams will battle next week in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament. The winner of next week’s match will square off against War Raiders for the NXT Tag Team Championships at TakeOver: New York.

A new match has been announced for WWE NXT TakeOver: New York. On this week’s episode of NXT, Triple H appeared to announce that the vacant NXT Championship will be decided at NXT Takeover: New York in a 2 out of 3 falls match.

Johnny Gargano was announced as one of the challengers in that match. Gargano’s opponent was decided in a 5-way match featuring Ricochet vs. Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream vs Matt Riddle vs. Adam Cole, which saw Cole win.

NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa underwent neck surgery and was forced to vacate. The new main event of NXT Takeover: New York will be Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole for the vacant NXT Championship.

WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: New York event on Friday, April 5, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center that will air on the WWE Network. Here is the updated card:

Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: New York Card

Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole – Vacant NXT Title 2 of 3 Falls Match

NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair –  Fatal 4 Way Match

NXT Tag Team Champions The War Raiders vs. TBA

NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne vs. WALTER

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

WWE will be selling Titan Towers after 34 years of using the facility as their global headquarters. The move was announced via an official press release earlier today (Wed. March 20, 2019). WWE will move to a new location on 677 Washington Boulevard. Also, the company is leaving their leased spaces on 1266 East Main Street.

As for their production studio facilities at 88 and 120 Hamilton Avenue, WWE will “evaluate their options.” Titan Towers was built in 1981 and purchased by WWE in 1985. The building has been the location for numerous filmed angles and segments both inside and out. Now, they’re expected to make the move on from the building in 2021.

WWE’s new building will be leased for an initial 16.5-year term, beginning no later than July 1, 2019. WWE Co-President George Barrios had this to say about the move:

“One of the most important elements necessary to execute WWE’s long-term growth strategy is world-class talent collaborating seamlessly to create compelling content. Our workplace initiative will be the foundation to meet these objectives and underpins our ability to deliver long-term value.”

A new match has been announced for WWE NXT TakeOver: New York. During Wednesday’s episode of NXT UK, it was officially announced that WALTER vs. WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne will take place at this show.

Wednesday’s episode opened with NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint and assistant Sid Scala revealing the news.

Dunne made his latest title defense against Joe Coffey at the first-ever WWE NXT UK TakeOver special, NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool, that went down on Saturday, January 12 at the Empress Ballroom. Walter signed with the company back in January and then made his WWE debut by confronting Dunne at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool.

WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: New York event on Friday, April 5, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:

Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: New York Card

NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne vs. WALTER

NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair –  Fatal 4 Way Match

NXT Tag Team Champions The War Raiders vs. TBA

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

Tuesday’s edition of WWE SmackDown Live from Indianapolis, IN at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse averaged 2.208 million viewers, up from 2.198 million the previous week, according to ShowbuzzDaily.

The show had to go up against Curse of Oak Island on History that did
3.635 million viewers, Rachel Maddow Show with 2.733, and Project Blue Book that drew 2.800.

Matches that took place on this show include The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce) vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection (Bayley & Sasha Banks) in a non-title match as well as a gauntlet match that took up the entire second hour. Kofi Kingston beat Cesaro, Randy Orton and Rowan and Samoa Joe and Sheamus.

However, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon announced at the end of the show that despite Kofi winning this contest and earning the right to challenge WWE Champion Daniel Bryan for the title at WrestleMania 35, he would have to also beat Bryan to do so. However, he failed and Bryan won the match.

WWE hyped WrestleMania 35 and the matches taking place at that show. In case you missed the show, you can check out the 4 takeaways from it here.

WWE will attempt to rebound with next week’s episode, which should be interesting to see what number it pulls in.

Watch: Top 10 Moments from Tuesday’s SmackDown Live (3/19/19)