Becky Lynch not only revived herself in the past year but
you can argue that her character work was one of the biggest reason why women
got to main event WrestleMania.
Now that The Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion has achieved
this glory which seemed impossible to many even a couple of years ago, she has
a new goal in her mind.
Becky talked to People recently and revealing her new goal after her victory at WrestleMania, the double champ said that she wants to make her titles the most talked about ones in all of WWE:
“The goal now is to make these titles the most talked about ones in all of WWE. It’s to make these the most relevant titles in all of WWE. So that’s double duty, and its one thing to get to the mountain top, but it’s a whole another thing to stay there. And now I’m going to have a lot of people trying to knock me off.”
With her incredible win at the Show Of Shows, Becky Lynch is already living this goal as the Women’s titles are one of the most relevant titles in the company right now.
The interesting thing to see now is for how long the SmackDown Star holds both the belts and if she drops any of the titles anytime soon.
Sam Roberts provides color commentary on this week’s edition of WWE Main Event on Hulu.
Roberts, who called the matches alongside Renee Young and Byron Saxton, opens up about the experience on his wrestling podcast this week.
“To be sitting at that commentary booth, at that broadcast booth, next to Byron Saxton and Renee Young, and doing commentary for WWE, is about as nuts as it gets,” says Roberts.
“The Last Professional Broadcaster” has been appearing as a panelist on WWE pay-per-view pre-shows for some time, but the move to the commentary table is new to him.
In preparation for his opportunity, Roberts says he spent some time studying at the WWE Performance Center.
“I was in Orlando for an afternoon, just kind of learning a couple tricks of the trade,” Roberts says.
Roberts drew the ire of some fans for his comments about Bianca Belair on an NXT pre-show earlier this year.
Whether or not Roberts will be a regular on Main Event going forward is uncertain.
For now, Roberts says, this was simply a one-week experiment.
“WWE invited me to be a guest for one episode,” he says. “I was there simply to give my opinion.”
Earlier this week, WWE confirmed that we haven’t seen the last of the Shield just yet and the trio will be teaming up for “The Shield’s Last Chapter” this Sunday.
At the time WWE hadn’t announced their opponents, leaving
fans wondering about the team that will face these three in what is being
dubbed as their final match together.
Now a new report from Pwinsider has revealed that the obvious team of Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin are going to be the ones the Shield will be facing at the show.
This is disappointing news for fans who were hoping for a
more high profile or mysterious opponent for the trio but it makes sense
considering the setup of a regular Live Event.
As we noted before, Dean Ambrose’s current WWE contract
expires at the end of this month and he is not advertised for any shows after
this Sunday’s Live Event.
There is no word yet on what Ambrose will be doing after
leaving the company but it’s likely that he’ll take some time off to wind down
instead of rushing to his next endeavor
“The Shield’s Last Chapter” will air live on the WWE Network
this Sunday from a live event at the Tax Slayer Center in Moline, Illinois.
Lars Sullivan has revealed his lofty yet realistic goal in WWE now that he’s on the main roster.
He was a force while in WWE NXT, which is considered the third brand alongside Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live, and now that he’s on the main roster, it appears that won’t change.
The company is giving him a big push currently on television by attacking notable wrestlers. According to “The Freak,” it’s only a matter of time before he’s WWE Champion.
He made it known that he predicts “Within 18 months is my realistic goal” to become WWE Champion. This answer came after responding to a fan who asked when he’d become WWE Champion on his official Instagram account.
This led to another fan bringing up how Lars is now in Roman Reigns yard on SmackDown Live. He answered, “I’ll take a dump in his yard.”
The former NXT star made his debut on WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night RAW, in Brooklyn, New York last week during a segment with Baron Corbin and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle.
Back in January, it was reported that Sullivan was supposed to appear with several other WWE NXT stars, but he never appeared.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has given his prediction for a potential fight that would see UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier make his next title defense against former champion Brock Lesnar.
There was a report that the promotion was hoping to book this fight in August. However, the fight isn’t even in the works according to UFC President Dana White. The UFC boss stated that he doesn’t know if Lesnar will fight again as they don’t have a date with him now.
The legendary announcer gave his take during a recent episode of his podcast, The Ross Report. Ross would start out by stating that he thinks that if Lesnar leaves WWE to go back to UFC then “DC will kill him.”
The reason for his mindset is due to his belief that striking defense is not Brock’s forte and DC knows that. Ross doesn’t think Cormier would take him down because that’s where Lesnar is best at.
“So you don’t want to get in that game with Lesnar, but the main thing is I think the punching power of DC is going to be too much for Brock.” Ross would add, “I don’t think he has to win. I think the way to winning is knocking him out.”
WWE NXT TakeOver: New York was a memorable show that many fans consider one of the best specials in the history of the NXT brand. Part of that is due to the storylines heading into the show but more importantly the quality of matches that took place.
Along with the wrestlers, producers have an influence in the match and the story that they want to tell. During the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported the list of producers for the matches at this event.
Michael Hayes produced the headliner of the show, which was Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole in a vacant WWE NXT Title 2 of 3 Falls Match. WWE Performance Center Head Coach Matt Bloom produced WWE NXT North American Champion The Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle.
WWE NXT TakeOver: New York took place on Friday, April 5, 2019 in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center during WrestleMania 35 weekend. Here is a full list of producers for the matches:
Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole – Vacant WWE NXT Title 2 of 3 Falls Match – produced by Michael Hayes
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane vs. Io Shirai vs. Bianca Belair – Fatal 4 Way Match – produced by Sara Amato
WWE NXT North American Champion The Velveteen Dream vs. Matt Riddle – produced by Matt Bloom
WWE NXT Tag Team Champions The War Raiders vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet – produced by Terry Taylor
WWE NXT UK Champion Pete Dunne vs. WALTER – produced by Johnny Moss
The Roast of Ric Flair has been announced as the headline attraction of next month’s Starrcast II convention in Las Vegas.
The Nature Boy will be in the hot seat Friday night, May 24th at Cesars Palace. Comedian Ron Funches will host. The pay-per-view event will stream live at FITE.tv.
Starrcast II promoter Conrad Thompson tells CBS Sports, “Well, I wanted to turn the volume up, and we are here at Caesar’s Palace, and there is no bigger name in the history of wrestling than Ric Flair,” Thompson told CBS Sports. “So, the ‘The Roast of Ric Flair’ is happening.”
Flair will be roasted by some of the biggest names in professional wrestling and comedy. The 16-time-world champion has cleaned up his hard-partying ways, but he still has fond memories of running wild in Sin City.
“I’ve got a lot of history with Caesar’s Palace,” Flair tells CBS Sports. “Oh God, it was a regular stop in the 80s and 90. I’m lucky to be here and every day is a blessing. But one of those reasons is Las Vegas. I’ve had a couple of drinks in that town!”
Starrcast II is the wrestling convention taking place in Las Vegas, NV during AEW: Double or Nothing weekend. For more details on the convention, visit Starrcast.com.
Ronda Rousey is reported to have undergone surgery on her right pinky finger on Tuesday. Photographers spotted the former RAW Women’s Champion heading into a “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” taping sporting a large black cast on her hand recently.
Rousey’s future with WWE was addressed in today’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“While she has two years left on her contract, there is no timetable for her to return and no guarantee she will,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “The writing team was told going into Mania (even though most of the Rousey stuff was Vince McMahon, Rousey and Paul Heyman) to treat this like WrestleMania is Rousey’s last match.”
Ronda Rousey and her husband Travis Browne are on a vacation of sorts. Rousey posted the following to Instagram shortly after WrestleMania with the caption “#ImpregnationVacation:
Rousey’s future in WWE has always seemed dependant on her future plans to start a family. In an interview with ESPN last year, however, Rousey expressed a desire to continue her pro-wrestling career.
“I love this way more than I ever thought I would. We had a set timeline set, and now we aren’t so sure about it because I love it so much,” she said. “I guess that’s the best thing that could’ve happened, that I would love it so much, it would be so hard to stop. I can see why people have a hard time leaving this industry because it’s such a joy to be a part of every day.”
Ronda Rousey’s current hiatus from WWE comes after arguably the greatest rookie year in pro-wrestling any performer has ever had. She performed in her first professional match at WrestleMania 34 and in her latest in the main event of WrestleMania 35.
Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a new National Championship.
This will be an “open weight” title, making MLW’s entire roster will be eligible to compete for it. MLW boasts a diverse roster of fighters of all sizes. From super heavyweights down to middleweights, the potential match-ups are endless.
A 4-man tournament will be held to crown the first MLW National Champion kicks off next month. The finals take place at Fury Road 2019 on Saturday, June 1st from Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Waukesha County Expo Center.
Tournament participants will be announced later this month.
“The new championship means bigger fights with greater regularity,” said MLW CEO and founder Court Bauer.
Visit MLWTickets.com for details on how you can attend Fury Road on June 1st.
MLW’s Current Champions
The new openweight National title will be the fourth championship sanctioned by Major League Wrestling. Current champions include:
World Champion: “Filthy” Tom Lawlor
Tag Team Champions: The Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Brian Pillman Jr.)
Fans of CM Punk’s who wish to follow his post-wrestling career in 2019 have several options. Punk stars in the horror film “Girl on the 3rd Floor” released earlier this year. The film holds a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes currently, albeit with only a few reviews. He also appears regularly as a guest commentator for various comic books, TV shows, or films he is interested in.
About to hit the live stage @starwars to talk about @starwars because I love @starwars there’s a link to the live stream and I forgot it because @starwars
Punk also recently commented on the WrestleMania 35 main event and Shane McMahon referring to himself as “the Best in the World.” He spoke to the Stadium’s Sauce & Shram show following the event.
“Those three women last night, put it all on the line, for everybody’s entertainment,” Punk said. “And I think the best thing to come out of all of that is the little girls that can watch that and aspire to be something greater than what we all are.”
On Thursday, the official trailer for “Hobbs & Shaw” was released.
This is a spin-off film of the Fast & Furious series that stars former WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham. It’s set to be released in theaters for fans to watch around the world on August 2nd.
The film is produced by Chris Morgan, Johnson, Statham and Hiram Garcia. The executive producers are Dany Garcia, Kelly McCormick, Steven Chasman, Ethan Smith and Ainsley Davies.
It’s directed by David Leitch, who presented Deadpool 2, and a script written by longtime Fast & Furious narrative architect Chris Morgan.
The promotional material reads, “Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Johnson), a loyal agent of America’s Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down.
But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever — and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister — these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves. Hobbs & Shaw blasts open a new door in the Fast universe as it hurtles action across the globe, from Los Angeles to London and from the toxic wasteland of Chernobyl to the lush beauty of Samoa.”
Gail Kim is coming out of retirement for a match against Tessa Blanchard at Rebellion later this month. She spoke to reporter Chris Van Vliet recently about Impact, her history with WWE, AEW, and more.
“Right now I believe that Impact Wrestling’s creative is better than WWE and I’m not lying,” Kim said. “I truly believe that. It’s not just because I work for them, all I hear from the general fan base is how badly the creative is right now in WWE and how they’re not really enjoying the show and I get the opposite response from people who watch Impact.”
Gail Kim Interview Highlights
Kim also spoke about how her two stints in WWE were not an enjoyable time in her life or career.
“I experienced (WWE) twice and I know it’s a place that I would never want to return to,” she continued. “It was not a great time both times in my life, not just my career. So if I’m in a position where I’m able to speak up then I’m going to and wrestling fans are very passionate and the majority of them are very supportive but of course you’re going to get the fans that don’t want to hear the bad things. But at the same time, they have to realize that I’m speaking for the people that they’re watching and love.”
Kim spoke fondly of AEW and what the new promotion appears to be bringing to the industry.
“I think that it’s great that there’s another place for wrestlers to go or for people who are in the wrestling business. I think it’s great that they’re standing for things like equal pay from what I’ve heard and things that maybe we don’t get in other places in the wrestling industry, they’re trying to provide for us.”
The full interview can be viewed in the player below:
The Boss N Hug Connection has been broken up on WWE programming. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the plan had always been to take the titles off the team and split them up but neither Banks or Bayley were informed of this until the day of WrestleMania.
“It should be noted that the decision to put the women’s tag titles on The Iiconics was not a last minute decision,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “Banks & Bayley weren’t told until the day of the show. They were also told at the time that the company was going to drop them as a tag team.”
It is not known if they were told they would be placed on separate brands or not at the time.
It is believed that Banks and Bayley were told they would be given a chance to make the tag team titles matter by having a long run while defending the belts on RAW, Smackdown, and NXT.
The report would continue to say that Bayley was upset but did not quit and Banks was given a few weeks off after attempting to quit. Banks has not been booked for television but WWE is hopeful she will be back in time for the Money in the Bank PPV.
Becky Lynch will have to defend the RAW women’s championship against Lacey Evans. On RAW this week, Evans defeated Natalya in a #1 contenders match. Lynch took to Twitter recently to compare Evans to another of her rivals, Charlotte Flair.
Evans has wrestled in 3 matches on WWE programming since being called up to the main roster. She participated in the women’s Royal Rumble in January, lost to Natalya on Main Event in February, and then defeated Natalya on RAW this past Monday.
Lynch and Evans have not wrestled against each other previously aside from both being in the Royal Rumble this year.
A fan account for Toni Storm posted a series of Lacey Evans wearing outfits which bare a resemblance to different trash cans. The post can be viewed below:
With her double-championship win at WrestleMania, Lynch is now a 3x Smackdown Women’s Champion (and inaugural title-holder) and a 1x RAW Women’s Champion. She’s defended the Smackdown Women’s Championship on WWE programming 4x during her previous 2 reigns as champion, once in her first reign and 3 in her second.
Despite her official retirement still being relatively new, Nikki Bella clearly still has an interest in pro wrestling, and the allure of an in-ring return remains an attractive prospect to her—but only if she can wrestle the right person.
In a recent episode of her podcast, The Bellas Podcast, hosted with twin sister Brie, Nikki divulged that there is one thing that would bring her out of retirement and get her back in the ring despite how busy she is now with her other endeavors.
That one thing? A matchup with Stephanie McMahon.
“Yes, everyone, I am retired,” she reiterated. “Right now I feel like I need to prioritise my life and my companies: Bella Radici Winery, Birdiebee Clothing Line and Nicole and Brizee. They’re number one, as well as this podcast, because I love connecting with you in my life.”
Nikki explained that, although she can no longer connect with her fans in the ring or on TV, she loves that she can maintain a connection through their podcast.
“I can’t connect with you guys in the ring. I can’t connect with you guys on TV, but I can connect with you on this podcast, and that is prioritising that my fans come first. But I’m thinking [about] my life in a different way,” Nikki confesses.
“I’m 35, and that is how I want to think of it, so yes [I’m still retired]. But if Stephanie McMahon wants to call me out, you damn right I will get back in that ring and take my boss on.”
Nikki Bella would wrestle her last matchup in a losing effort to then RAW Women’s Champion, Ronda Rousey. The two competed on WWE’s first ever all women’s PPV, WWE Evolution. She would make her official retirement announcement during the March 24th episode of her reality show, Total Bellas.
Paige delivered on the promise she made last week on SmackDown Live this past Tuesday. During the show, she brought in new challengers for the IIconics’ Women’s Tag Team Championships. She would reveal the new team of Asuka and (now former) NXT Superstar, Kairi Sane.
After their first matchup on the blue brand, Kayla Braxton caught up with the three backstage. She asked Paige why she wanted to bring Asuka and Kairi together as a team.
“Uh, they’re both incredible athletes,” Paige said. “I mean, she [Asuka] was a SmackDown Women’s Champion already; Kairi, you were NXT Women’s Champion too, right? And they’re absolutely killing it. I mean, why wouldn’t you put them together? I mean, this is genius, right? Are you guys having a good time already? They won their first match already, hello?”
When asked about their motivations and goals on SmackDown, Paige revealed they were “[…] going to become WWE Women’s tag team champions, that’s all I’m going to say. Right? You’re going to be tag team champs, ladies. 100%, there’s no doubt in my mind.”
The team partnered with other SmackDown newcomers, Ember Moon and Bayley, emerging victorious in an 8-woman tag team match. They defeated the IIconics, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.
He may have only recently returned, but Sami Zayn is already making an impact for himself. These past few weeks have seen Zayn lambast the WWE Universe on Monday Night RAW, insulting the crowd as he has highlighted the “toxic” environment that he has returned to.
Not content with just utilizing his TV time, Sami has now harnessed his social media to continue spreading his message.
Writing via his Twitter account, he picked up his attack against the WWE Universe. He claimed it would be “SO easy to publicly rip the idiots that fill my mentions to shreds,” referring to the people reaching out to him“idiots.”
He explained that if he were to “rip” into them, he would probably get “thousands of likes, retweets & affirmations like “yaaas drag him king!” […], because Twitter is mainly scum who live for public degradation of others.”
Zayn signed off with a promise that he wouldn’t “sink to your level.” He was even kind enough to include a few Xs and Os to end the tweet.
It'd be SO easy to publicly rip the idiots that fill my mentions to shreds.
I'd get thousands of likes, retweets & affirmations like "yaaas drag him king!" for it too, because Twitter is mainly scum who live for public degradation of others.
This past Monday, Sami Zayn was the guest on Alex Bliss’ show, A Moment Of Bliss.
After soaking in the adulation from his fellow countrymen, he would compliment the city of Montreal before launching into a tirade about its citizens. He expressed how they, and the WWE Universe, should be “ashamed” of themselves for projecting their unaddressed issues, anger, and insecurities onto him—baggage he has stated he will no longer accept.
April 6th saw New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring Of Honor (ROH) put on a historic co-promoted show at Madison Square Garden in New York. One of the major stories to take place during their G1 Supercard show saw Enzo and Cass ‘invade’ the show.
The two— now known as nZo and CaZ XL, respectively—jumped the barricade during the ending of the tag team match that would see the Guerrillas of Destiny become the IWGP and ROH tag team champions. The ensuing chaos wasn’t shown on TV, leading people to initially believe that the former WWE Superstars were legitimately trying to make a name for themselves at the expense of the show. It wasn’t long, however, for the angle to be revealed as a work.
One of the men in the matchup, ROH’s PCO, recently spoke with Wrestling Inc.During their conversation, he would reveal that he had no idea about the controversial invasion.
“There was a lot of controversy about what happened. For me, I was just worrying about my back because I took a double powerbomb from 12-14 feet in the air straight to the concrete floor,” PCO confessed. “I didn’t know what was going on because nobody knew nothing about this [invasion]. I just came back from TV tapings in Pittsburgh and Columbus…and I got back yesterday, and there was no Enzo and no Cass at those events. I haven’t heard anything from the office, so I don’t know what’s going on with that. Are they signed? Are they not signed?”
“I’m In The Middle Of This And I’m Confused”
PCO admitted that he didn’t want to get “politically involved” with the situation when asked if he felt their involvement detracted from the match itself. He then alluded that the ROH office may even be working their own roster.
“It seems like sometimes the dressing room is getting worked by the office. I’m in the middle of this and I’m confused. I think everything will unfold and we’ll see what’s going on in the future. Maybe it was planned. Maybe it wasn’t planned. We’ll see how everything will evolve.”
It was initially reported that only the NJPW roster wasn’t made aware of nZo and Caz XL’s appearance—with Tama Tonga expressing how unimpressed he was with the situation. This interview with PCO definitely changes that, adding questions over why ROH would hide it from their own talent.
We noted before how NXT’s War Raiders were renamed to ‘The Viking Experience’ for their Raw debut, a name which has attracted a lot of criticism in the last few days.
Though latest report reveals that this wasn’t the first choice for their name and according to Pwinsider, WWE was originally planning to name them ‘The Berzerkers’ for their move to the main roster.
No word yet on why the company decided to drop this name and went with the Viking Experience instead but it was noted that this call was made by Vince McMahon.
Kofi Kingston Reacts To Roman Reigns’ Tweet
This week’s episode of SmackDown Live saw Roman Reigns
returning to the show and joining the Blue Brand for the first time since the
reintroduction of Brand Split.
Roman commented on this switch via a tweet saying that SmackDown is his new yard and the WWE Champion Kofi Kingston reacted to this with a thinking emoji:
This week’s episode of the show makes it seem like Reigns
will be engaging in a rivalry with Elias in near future while there is no word
yet on who will be challenging Kofi Kingston for his title.
While this move has not been made official by WWE, all signs point to Samoa Joe being drafted to Raw and it appears that WWE has a big feud planned for Joe at the Red Branded Show on his arrival.
Last week’s episode of SmackDown saw Braun Strowman making
an appearance at the show to promote Superstar Shakeup and he had confronted
the United States Champion during the segment.
During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer talked about this angle and revealed that it wasn’t just to promote the shakeup.
According to Meltzer, WWE is planning a rivalry between
these two stars and the segment on SmackDown Live was the start of their feud.
As we noted before, Samoa Joe was expected to make an
appearance at this week’s episode of Raw which would have made his move to the
Red Brand official.
However, this segment was nixed because the United States Champion was down with a bad case of flu. This change of plans left many people wondering about the former TNA Star’s future.
Though the Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor joined SmackDown Live during this week’s episode of the show which was a very strong indication of the mid-card titles and their holders switching brands.
Now with this new report, we can be sure that Samoa Joe will be competing on Monday Nights going forward and it’d be interesting to see when he returns to WWE TV.
WWE Closely Guarding Details Of Daniel Bryan’s Injury
We noted before how the former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan suffered some sort of injury during WrestleMania. He was sent home after the show, and the former NXT Star has not been on the road since then.
Now PWinsider is reporting that WWE is closely guarding the details of his status and people who know about him are trying to prevent any information on the situation from coming out.
Considering Daniel Bryan’s history, his status being kept secret is not a good sign. We’ll keep you posted if any other details regarding his condition come to light.
Another Star Injured
Former WWE Champion Sheamus is dealing with an unknown
injury and this is the reason why he didn’t appear on this week’s episode of
SmackDown Live, according to Pwinsider.
Sheamus wrestled at last week’s episode of the show where the Bar teamed up with Drew McIntyre. However, this week’s episode saw his partner Cesaro teaming up with Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura, with no mention of the Celtic Warrior.
So far there is no word on how serious his injury is or how long the former Champion will stay out of action but we should get a better idea about his health in coming days.
Impact Wrestling star Gursinder Singh who was a part of the
Desi Hit Squad faction in the company has revealed that he has asked for his
release from the promotion.
Singh revealed this news in a statement he released from his
Twitter account, saying that he is in a comfortable spot but has a mindset of
never settling and always working towards his future.
In addition to this, he thanked Scott D’Amore for noticing him at the Impact tryout and also thanked the other Impact Officials for helping him during his time there:
On a related note, Kevin Matthews who was known as KM during
his recent Impact run also clarified his status with the company on Twitter
recently.
Kevin was moved to the alumni section of Impact’s website and a fan asked him about reports of him being unhappy with the promotion for not being re-signed.
Replying to it, Matthews revealed that he was working on per
appearance basis with the company and the Officials had actually booked him for
their last tapings.
However, he pulled from the appearance due to his health issues claiming that his knees are completely shot and he is not sure about his future in the business:
That's definitely a good sign have you tried….DDPY….also btw there's some tweets i have read that you are upset that impact didn't re-sign with this being said and what you just said it was mostly your decision to leave right!?
We reported the news of WWE signing Japanese Star Kushida recently, and he made his in-ring debut for the company during the most recent TV tapings of NXT.
After his debut, the company published an article on their website in which they confirmed that Kushida and two other long-rumored international stars have joined the WWE performance center.
The names that have joined the WWE PC alongside the Japanese
star include indie star Stephon ‘Shane’ Strickland and third-generation
luchador Humberto Garza aka Garza Jr.
Shane Stickland started his wrestling career in 2011 and he
has since wrestled for a number of known wrestling promotions like Combat Zone Wrestling
and Major League Wrestling.
Shane also worked for Lucha Underground with a mask where he was dubbed as Killshot. Stickland has been rumored to join the promotion for a while but his contract with LU is believed to be a reason for the delay in his signing.
On the other hand, Garza Jr made his name while wrestling
for various Mexican promotions. He is the nephew of WCW’s Hector Garza and
cousin to the current 205 Live star Humberto Carrillo.
So far there is no news on when these two will make their in-ring
debut for the company but considering their experience, it shouldn’t take very
long.
Velveteen Dream Retained The NXT North American Championship
Velveteen Dream defended his NXT North American Championship against Buddy Murphy on this week’s episode of NXT. Buddy Murphy controlled the match early and trapped Dream in a Headlock in the middle of the ring. Dream broke free and applied a Headlock of his own.
Murphy escaped and shoved Dream across the ring. Buddy connected with a Headscissors that sent Velveteen to the outside. Dream rolled back into the ring and posed right in Murphy’s face. Buddy connected with a knee to Dream’s face for a near fall.
Buddy knocked Dream to the outside and Moonsaulted onto him. Back in the ring, Murphy climbed to the top rope and connected with Double Knees for a two count. Dream battled back with a Superkick out of nowhere and both Superstars collapsed to the canvas.
Dream connected with a Codebreaker and went for the cover but Murphy was able to kick out at the last moment. Velveteen lifted Buddy up in the Fireman’s Carry but Murphy escaped. Buddy hit a boot to the face and made his way up to the top rope.
Velveteen caught Murphy with a right hand to the face and then battled with him on the top turnbuckle. Both Superstars connected with punches and fell to the floor outside the ring. Back in the ring, Murphy planted Dream with a DDT for another near fall.
Velveteen connected with the Dream Valley Driver but Murphy was somehow able to kick out at two as the crowd chanted “fight forever!”. Murphy hit a Powerbomb off the second rope for another near fall. Murphy connected with a knee to Dream’s face and then broke the ref’s count at nine before rolling Velveteen back into the ring.
Dream connected with a Fameasser and followed it up with another Dream Valley Driver. Velveteen then hit the Purple Rainmaker Elbow Drop for the pinfall victory. Velveteen Dream is still the NXT North American Champion. It was announced last night that Buddy Murphy will be joining WWE SmackDown’s roster.
NXT Champion Johnny Gargano came down to the ring sporting a “Johnny Champion” shirt. Gargano stated that this was a long journey, but he stands here proudly as Johnny Champion.
Undisputed Era interrupted and Adam Cole said he is not going stand here and endure another love fest with the NXT Universe. Cole shouted that Johnny got lucky and the crowd responded with “you tapped out!” chants directed at Cole.
Adam called Johnny an idiot for pretending to be proud of his victory and added that Gargano was a punk. Johnny told Adam that he was emotional and there must be trouble in his little boy band.
Gargano asked if everything was NSYNC with Undisputed Era and boasted about tapping out Cole in the final two falls at NXT TakeOver: New York. Gargano added that is not just definitive, that is undisputed.
Johnny noted that if he lost the match, he wouldn’t be out here crying like a little bay-bay. Gargano told Cole to grow some balls and challenged him to come down to the ring. Roderick Strong attacked Gargano from behind and beat him down as Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly came down to the ring.
Undisputed Era continued the beatdown as Cole taunted Gargano. Cole hit Johnny with a Superkick and then Undisputed Era stood over Gargano and posed in the middle of the ring.
Later on the show, NXT GM William Regal interrupted a backstage interview with Undisputed Era. Regal stated that Gargano wanted to face Roderick Strong next week and Cole was visibly pissed off that he wasn’t given another match against Johnny.
Dominik Dijakovic Challenged Velveteen Dream
Aaron Frye had the unfortunate task of squaring off against Dominik Dijakovic tonight during NXT. Dominik connected with a big boot for the immediate pinfall victory. After the match, Dijakovic grabbed the microphone and said that he is only in NXT because his family gave him that opportunity. Dominik stated that he is coming after the North American Championship before exiting the ring.
Shayna Baszler Retained The NXT Women’s Championship
Shayna Baszler defended her NXT Women’s Championship against Kairi Sane tonight on NXT. Sane was informed that this was her final opportunity at the NXT Women’s Championship. Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir accompanied Baszler and were ringside for the match.
Sane and Baszler locked up to start off the match. Kairi connected with a spinning backfist and followed it up with a sliding elbow. Sane connected with a Crossbody off the ring apron and rolled Shayna back into the ring.
Baszler and Sane traded forearms to the face but Shayna got the upper hand and connected with a knee to the face for a two count. Sane battled back with the Interceptor Spear as the crowd chanted “let’s go Kairi!”. Kairi locked in the Anchor submission in the middle of the ring but Shayna battled through the pain and reached the bottom rope to break the hold.
Kairi climbed up to the second rope and hit the Insane Elbow on Shayna’s back. Sane made her way to the top rope but Baszler hit her with an Enziguri. Sane hit Shayna with a headbutt and followed it up with a Double Stomp that sent Baszler tumbling out of the ring. Sane went for a flying elbow off the apron but Shayna got out of the way and Kairi crashed into the barricade.
Baszler quickly took advantage and rolled Sane back into the ring. Shayna bent back Sane’s elbow and followed it up with a Side Slam for a near fall. Sane rolled out of the ring and the referee called for a doctor to come and check on Kairi. Io Shirai came down to ringside to check on Kairi as well. Baszler dragged Sane back into the ring and was about to stomp on Kairi’s elbow but Io Shirai shoved her away.
The referee called for the bell and Shayna won the match via DQ. Duke and Shafir dragged Shirai out of the ring and forced her to watch Baszler stomp on Kairi’s elbow to end the show. It was announced on last night’s episode of SmackDown that Sane will form a new tag team with Asuka, with Paige as their manager.
Tuesday’s edition of WWE SmackDown Live from Montreal, QC at the Bell Centre averaged 2.219 million viewers, which is up from 2.199 million the previous week, according to ShowbuzzDaily.
This is down from the 2018 episode of SmackDown that featured the Superstar Shakeup, which drew 2.796 million viewers.
The show had to go up against Curse of Oak Island on History that did 3.159 million viewers, Rachel Maddow Show with 2.524, and Tucker Carlson Tonight that drew 2.753. WWE also had to go up against two NBA games that pulled in big viewership numbers that had an impact on SmackDown’s rating.
Matches that took place on this show include Finn Balor vs. Ali, Charlotte Flair vs. Carmella, Asuka, Bayley, Ember Moon & Kairi Sane vs. Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville & The IIconics, and Kevin Owens & The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. Cesaro, Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event.
The episode was expected to drop in viewership as last week’s show was the post-WrestleMania edition. This show was heavily hyped and it was the second night of the Superstar Shakeup for the blue brand. In case you missed the show, you can check out the 5 takeaways from ithere.
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 (4.16.19)
