The card for tonight’s (Sunday, June 23, 2019) WWE Stomping Grounds pay-per-view event has been finalized.
The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Tacoma, WA at the Tacoma Dome that will air on the WWE Network but it will most likely be WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin.
As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Friday afternoon starting at 6 PM EST. Here is the final card for the show:
Final WWE Stomping Grounds Card
WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin – Special Guest Referee TBA
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler – Steel Cage Match
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss
WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. Xavier Woods & Big E
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan vs. Heavy Machinery
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese vs. Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa – Triple Threat Match
Kofi Kingston clearly wants to be a fighting champion. The WWE Champion spoke with WrestlingAc.com whilst in Saudi Arabia for WWE’s Super ShowDown event, confirming that he wants to take on all comers, including Brock Lesnar.
“I want to to go up against the best. Everybody. I want to go up against everybody, that’s why you saw me on RAW telling Brock Lesnar to cash in his briefcase on me,” Kingston said. “And a lot of people are like, ‘Don’t do that because Brock, whoever he cashes the briefcase on…he’s automatically going to win!’ I want to be the best WWE Champion that I can possibly be, and the only way I can do that is by beating the best, so I will not shy away from Brock Lesnar.”
Kingston explained that becoming the WWE Champion is an undeniable accomplishment, but likens it to climbing a mountain only to discover there’s another, higher mountain behind it.
When asked about who he would like to face from NXT, Kingston responded enthusiastically, saying “There’s too much talent down there. Adam Cole is awesome, Johnny Gargano is awesome, Rodrick Strong is awesome, and I can’t mention names because I’ll leave names out,” Kingston exclaimed.
“Tyler Breeze, too, is amazing,” he added. “You know there’s way too much talent for me to pick one. […] I’m hoping all of those guys make it up to the roster at some point in time.”
Kofi Kingston will defend his WWE Championship tonight in a Steel Cage match against long-time rival, Dolph Ziggler.
It’s hard to believe now, but there was a time when Becky Lynch allegedly had to beg to be put into matchup.
Speaking with Brian Koppleman on his podcast, The Moment, Lynch reflected on her time training at WWE’s Performance Center. She was a part of the first training class and, at the time, remembers having no confidence to help her stand out.
“I had to beg to be put in a match,” Lynch admitted. “When I went down there, I had no confidence. I humbled myself almost to a fault. Sara Del Ray was the trainer, and I had wrestled her in Japan, and I didn’t want her thinking I was full of myself or better than anybody. I mind f****d myself. I couldn’t even lock up.””
“NXT wasn’t what it is now,” Lynch continued. “You were constantly scared of losing your job. Everyone was a minute away from being fired. One wrong move, one wrong promo, one wrong thing said, everyone was walking on eggshells. Which isn’t a bad thing, but I was losing sleep because I wanted it so bad. There were girls that had never wrestled before getting on the shows before me. I remember going into Bill DeMott and begging him, please let me just prove I can connect to the audience.”
Becky Lynch would manage to persevere despite her self-doubts, eventually making history by main eventing WrestleMania alongside Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey. Lynch would win both the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championships, earning herself the short-lived moniker Becky 2 Belts.
While out in Saudi Arabia, performing on WWE’s Super ShowDown event, Seth Rollins spoke with WrestlingAc.com. One topic of discussion pertained the quality of NXT shows versus the main roster’s current product. In particular, the always anticipated NXT TakeOver events.
When asked whether the main roster are afraid over NXT’s popularity when compared to RAW and SmackDown, Rollins denied there was any fear that NXT is better than the main roster.
“There’s not really any fear. Obviously, they offer a different brand from what we do every Monday and Tuesday,” Rollins said. “They don’t nearly do it as often as we do, as well, and I would contend that my best matches are as good as any matches on those NXT shows. I don’t think there’s anybody down there that scares me.”
He continued, “At the end of the day…don’t care who you are, don’t care where you’re at or what company you work for, I’m the Universal Champion. I’m the best wrestler on the planet and they have to step up to me, not the other way around.”
When asked to name some NXT talent he would love to face off, Rollins reeled off a list of some of the brand’s top talent including Adam Cole, Johnn Gargano, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, Matt Riddle, and Velveteen Dream.
Seth Rollins will defend his Universal Championship tonight in a match against Baron Corbin on WWE’s Stomping Grounds PPV. One of the major stipulations going into this match relates to who will be the guest referee calling the action.
Drew McIntyre is preparing for his scheduled match against Roman Reigns in a singles contest at Sunday’s WWE Stomping Grounds pay-per-view event in Tacoma, WA.
This is a rematch from WrestleMania 35 where the former WWE Universal Champion went over. Now, McIntyre is looking for some retribution. He took to his official Twitter account where he wrote the following message:
Roman is the only man who’s straight up beat me like a man since my return to @WWE & I’ll admit that. We’re both a rare breed in wrestling but he’s not my kryptonite. @ShaneMcmahon has shown me my purpose & at #StompingGrounds I’m not gonna beat Roman, I’m going to brutalize him pic.twitter.com/91wq6SCADy
Dana Brooke and Sarah Logan continue their exchange of words on social media. The two stars have taken an accident into a feud on Twitter to get some buzz and reaction from fans.
It all started when Brooke was working a singles match against Logan at Monday’s Main Event TV taping and Brooke was busted open during the match when she took a knee strike on the apron that led to her hitting the ring post with her face.
As a result, the referee put up the “X” signal. She was taken to the back to get checked by the trainers. You can see the full exchange below:
Oh hunny YOU are lucky they stopped it, I know you love war but when I taste & see blood, a WHOLE OTHER ANIMAL is let loose! Let’s just say they did you a favor & you have been warned! This scar will always remind me I AM AFTER YOU! Let the WAR begin #viking ! @WWE#wwe
? You ignited something inside me & got yourself a war Ms. little ol Viking- I see blood & I rage.. I have my battle scar from this & got right back up.. wait till I give you yours… there will be no getting back up!! #WWEhttps://t.co/dPcHWSY1zO
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels made some interesting comments when he made an appearance on the ‘Challenge Mania’ podcast. This is where he talked about his experience with his latest and likely last pro wrestling match.
“No, there are no regrets. So again, honestly, and no one will ever believe me but I’ll tell you anyway, but honestly, again, it’s not a WrestleMania, it’s not a this… to me it wasn’t coming back as the Heartbreak Kid. It was a tag match. I know that’s not the same and I know nobody will understand it, but in my mind, it was like a glorified house show live event.” Michaels said. “I don’t mean that to be intellectually insulting to the wrestling fan but in my mind, it was not the same. I got asked. It was almost like, as a favor.”
HBK stated that he did the tag team match as he felt like it was a totally separate entity than the other, which is why he felt okay doing it. He noted that it was done with the intent of it being a nice little fun thing to do but admitted that it didn’t turn out to be all that fun as he thought it was okay and just one of those things you have to do if you’re a company man.
He teamed up with Triple H to beat The Undertaker and Kane in a tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel on November 2, 2018, at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This match ended up being the main event of this show.
It marked the first time that Michaels had wrestled a match since losing a retirement match to Taker at WrestleMania 26 in 2010.
Matt Hardy took to social media on Saturday to post an update on the new child he and wife Reby Sky are currently expecting.
The future WWE Hall Of Famer revealed that the two are expecting a third boy together in a tweet he posted this afternoon.
“The NEW Baby Hardy is a…. BOY!” wrote Hardy via his official Twitter page (@MATTHARDYBRAND). “The #BabyHardyBoyz Trio is coming!”
Hardy and Sky were married back in October of 2013 and already have two children together — boys — Maxel (3) and Wolfgang Xander (2).
Hardy’s Build-Up To Gender Reveal
Earlier this week, Hardy broke the news via Twitter that he and Reby were expecting a third child together.
“Super excited to announce that a brand new Hardy [will be] debuting soon to join #HouseHardy,” Matt wrote via Twitter on Tuesday. “Will it be another Hardy Boy? Or will it be a Hardy Girl? What I do know is that it shall be absolutely WONDERFUL!”
Check out photos below of Matt Hardy and Reby Sky together with their Ultrasound results in a special photo shoot the two did together this weekend.
Right off the bat, Angle was asked about if he sees any scenario that would bring him out of retirement for another match.
Angle lost his farewell match and ended his run as an active in-ring performer to Baron Corbin at the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium.
“I don’t see any scenario that would force me to come out of retirement, I plan on staying retired. You need to give Goldberg and Undertaker credit for getting in there and doing what they did. Both are big guys and “power” wrestlers. I believe they both still have the ability to wrestle again if given the right opponents. I believe they both would have great matches with smaller wrestlers. Especially at their age. That’s my opinion.”
Angle has mentioned interviews that he signed a contract to remain with WWE in a backstage role.
The legendary pro wrestler was also asked about if he ever got into a backstage fight with a fellow talent. This is where he told his story about getting into a scuffle with Eddie Guerrero.
“Yes. Eddie Guerrero. It was short. Big Show broke it up. There was no winner in the fight. Eddie and I had a love/hate relationship. Just like my real brothers. We would fight and then hug 5 minutes later.”
An injury update on WWE NXT star Bobby Fish has surfaced as Dave Meltzer reported in the latest Daily Update on F4WOnline Fish suffered a jaw injury during a match at last week’s NXT TV tapings while working a match.
The injury happened when Velveteen Dream did a quebrada and it looked like his knee connected with Fish’s nose, but it was actually a jaw injury. As a result, Fish’s eye started to swell shut during the match. Currently, there’s no word yet on when he’ll return to in-ring action.
Fish is no longer slated to work upcoming EVOLVE events as he has been pulled from in-ring action. This is when news of him being injured first surfaced. He’ll just appear for the meet & greets at the EVOLVE 129 event on June 29 from Queens, and EVOLVE 130 on June 30 from Brooklyn. Here are the updated cards:
EVOLVE 129
Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly of The Undisputed Era vs. WWN Champion JD Drake & Anthony Henry
EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory vs. Leon Ruff
Shotzi Blackheart vs. Brandi Laure
Josh Briggs vs. Arturo Ruas
Babatunde vs. Harlem Bravado
AR Fox with Ayla & The Skulk vs. Stephen Wolf
John Silver vs. Sean Maluta
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. Anthony Greene & Curt Stallion
EVOLVE 130
EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory vs. Roderick Strong – Non-Title Match
WWN Champion JD Drake vs. Babatunde
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Josh Briggs
Anthony Henry vs. Arturo Ruas
EVOLVE Tag Team Champions Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds – Non-Title Match
Carmella and Corey Graves are finally going public with their relationship.
The two WWE performers have been dating for some time now. Their relationship first became public knowledge when the two were accused of being involved in an affair by Graves’ ex-wife. The two would ultimately deny the claims.
This week, Carmella took to social media to finally post the first public photo of the two together. She posted a photo of the two laughing together on her official Instagram page on Friday with a caption that reads as follows:
“The goal is to laugh forever with someone you take serious.”
Check out the first public photo of the happy WWE couple below.
Adam Cole may be the current NXT Champion, but his girlfriend, Dr. Britt Baker, is an active member of WWE’s competition, All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Speaking with talkSPORT, Cole talked about Baker’s performance during AEW’s recent Double Or Nothing event. She competed in a Fatal 4 Way matchup against Kylie Ray, Nyla Rose, and surprise entrant, Awesome Kong.
Unsurprisingly, he’s incredibly proud of what she has achieved.
“So proud of her. Britt, and she’s going to kill me, but I think she’s been wrestling close to four years now, and she works so incredibly hard. At anything she does – I mean she’s a doctor!” he exclaimed. “So she’s a dentist, then she wrestles on the weekends, so for her to get this cool opportunity and wrestle on a cool stage like that was really a lot of fun for me – I’m so proud of her.”
Baker is a legitimate doctor and is employed by private dental practice in Winter Park, Florida. She was one of the first wrestlers to be revealed as a part of AEW and is seemingly primed for a top spot within the company.
The promotion plans to unveil their AEW Women’s Title at their All Out pay-per-view, which takes place on August 31st.
Original Los Ingobernables member, Rush, has been tearing through the ranks in Ring Of Honor (ROH) since his debut for the company. Most recently, he defeated former ROH World Champion Dalton Castle in 16 seconds at G1 Supercard.
His burgeoning popularity has sparked some discussion over where Rush could go once his initial ROH contract expires.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE officials have been interested in signing Rush for a while.
The only thing that could complicate their plans is Rush’s contract with Mexico’s CMLL. This contract doesn’t expire until early 2021.
WWE Warning
Earlier this year, it was reported that current SmackDown Superstar, Andrade, had essentially warned fellow luchadors, Rush and Dragon Lee. He allegedly warned them against signing with WWE. Rush would eventually sign with ROH.
Andrade’s warning would have come at a time of unhappiness with his position within the company. At the time, the company weren’t utilizing him much since moving him to the main roster.
Things have changed dramatically since this time for Andrade. He has since faced noteworthy opponents, often stealing the show as he did with Rey Mysterio, and is now dating Charlotte Flair.
Despite his unfortunate real-life losses, Andrade is in a much better place professionally than when he first issued his warnings.
Posted June 22nd, 2019 in News, ROH. Tagged: Rush.
WWE Superstars and former Sanity members, Killian Dain and Nikki Cross, were officially married this past week. Their ceremony took place in Cross’ hometown of Glasgow, Scotland.
The happy couple have been together for a number of years, and got engaged in 2018. They announced their relationship in January when Cross uploaded a social media post containing a picture of their wedding bands. This was accompanied by a picture of her and Dain from 2008.
Nikki Cross is currently a member of the RAW brand. She will be accompanying Alexa Bliss for her championship matchup this Sunday at WWE’s Stomping Grounds PPV.
Like Tyler Breeze, Killian Dain has recently returned to NXT. This comes after a brief stint as a SmackDown Live Superstar.
Superstar Attendance
Several NXT UK Superstars and WWE officials were in attendance for the ceremony. Joe Coffey, and NXT Performance Center coaches Robbie Brookside and Johnny Moss were all there.
Moss uploaded a photo of himself with the newlyweds, accompanied with the caption:
“Very rare 2 genuine people achieve their dreams together! So pleased to have been a witness to their success! @killiandain @nikkicrosswwe #happilyeverafter”
This week also saw 205 Live General Manager, Drake Maverick and former Mae Young Competitor, Renee Michelle, get married. Their ceremony would be crashed by R-Truth, who would successfully reclaim the 24/7 Championship from Maverick.
Alexa Bliss recently suffered a number of concerning concussions. These would force her out of active competition until WWE medically cleared her return.
In an interview with NYPost.com, Bliss opened up over her concern that her wrestling career may have been over after suffering a second concussion.
“I think after the second concussion I was very worried about not being able to get back in the ring, especially because I didn’t know what was going on with my brain,” Bliss said. “There’s so many different types of concussions and I didn’t know that at the time. Each one had to be treated differently and the fact that I didn’t know what was going on with my brain and didn’t know until I saw the concussion specialist, it made me very scared.”
She explained that, “The stuff that he [Dr. Collins] taught me about concussions and injury has been so mind opening and mind blowing, actually. It made me feel like for the first time that I actually was in control of my own injury and actually well aware of what was going on in my brain and it made me feel so much better about returning to the ring because concussions are a scary thing.”
Thankfully, Bliss has since made her in-ring return. She is scheduled to compete this Sunday at WWE’s Stomping Grounds PPV. She will face Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Mojo Rawley has reportedly signed a new contract with WWE.
According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, Rawley has signed a new deal with the promotion. There are no further details as of the time of writing. It has been noted the contract is a “multi-year deal” at the very least.
Rawley joins other mid-card Superstars Mike and Maria Kanellis, who also signed new long-term deals with WWE. The Kanellis’ new contract will see them stay with the company for another 5 years.
WWE are aggressively attempting to keep as many Superstars as possible away from potential competition from All Elite Wrestling. Long-term, big money deals appear to be the contributing factor as Superstar contracts come up for expiration.
Mojo signed with the company back in 2012. Originally a part of NXT, he would receive his main roster call up in 2016.
Despite not being utilized to any real degree since then, the Superstar has achieved some notable wins, winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2017 during WrestleMania 33.
Although he has had opportunities at titles during his time in WWE, he has yet to secure that elusive championship gold.
Since leaving his ‘Hype’ persona behind, he now sports fractured facepaint and has adopted more heel manerisms.
One new match was made official last night on Impact Wrestling and another official challenge was made.
Last night’s Knockouts championship match between Su Yung and Taya Valkyrie ended after interference from James Mitchell’s newest monster, Havok, leading to a 4-way match (also involving Rosemary) being booked for Slammivesary.
Earlier in the show, Taya had enlisted Rosemary as her insurance policy against Mitchell’s group and she came out to prevent Yung and Havok from attacking the champion post-match. This led Mitchell to announce Havok vs Su Yung vs Rosemary vs Taya Valkyrie (c) in a Monster’s Ball match at Slammiversary.
Also last night on Impact, Sami Callihan issued a challenge to Tessa Blanchard for an inter-gender match on the PPV. Blanchard has yet to respond, however.
Impact World Championship: Brian Cage (c) vs Michael Elgin
X-Division Championship: Rich Swann (c) vs Johnny Impact
Moose vs Rob Van Dam
Monster’s Ball – Knockouts Championship: Taya Valkyrie (c) vs Havok vs Su Yung vs Rosemary
Impact Tag Team Championships: Santana & Ortiz (LAX) vs Dez & Wentz (the Rascalz)
Assuming Blanchard accepts Callihan’s challenge, their match would make six confirmed bouts for the card. Eddie Edwards and Killer Kross appear to be building to a potential match as well.
Impact Wrestling presented a taped show last night on Pursuit, Twitch, and their international broadcast partners. The show was filmed inside New York’s Melrose Ballroom.
Here are 7 Takeaways from Impact Wrestling 6/21.
Brian Cage Is Back
Rich Swann pinned Johnny Impact in the night’s main event, which was a triple threat also involving Michael Elgin. Following the match, Elgin and Impact attempted to deliver a post-match beatdown to Swann but were interrupted by the returning World Champion Brian Cage.
Cage would throw Impact out of the ring before turing his attention to Elgin and leaving him laying to end the show.
Monster’s Ball Match Booked For Slammiversary
Su Yung was disqualified this week in her Knockouts championship match with Taya Valkyrie. James Mitchell’s newest monster, Havok, hit Taya right in front of the official causing Josh Matthews to wonder if Mitchell has any control over her.
Earlier in the show, Taya had enlisted the help of Rosemary as her insurance policy against Mitchell’s group. When Rosemary came out, however, Mitchell announced that all 4 competitors would face each other in a Monster’s Ball match for the Knockout championship at Slammiversary.
Sami Callihan Challenges Tessa Blanchard For Slammiversary
Tessa Blanchard defeated Jake Crist in this week’s opening match, enraging Sami Callihan. Later in the show, Callihan would issue a challenge to Tessa for Slammiversary. Blanchard has yet to respond.
Ace Austin cut a promo this week mentioning that he has never been defeated in Impact Wrestling. He then issued an open challenge which was answered by the former Manic, now known as TJP. The returning TJP then ended Ace Austin’s undefeated streak in the promotion.
Rob Van Dam Rescues Tommy Dreamer From Moose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvBxAbPkjTI
Moose wanted to send a message to Rob Van Dam ahead of their Slammiversary clash this week. After defeating Tommy Dreamer, Moose set him up in the corner and looked as though he was going to deliver a Coast to Coast, one of RVD’s patented moves, but RVD himself came out to make the save.
Killer Kross Waterboards the Sandman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW3IDDLMRYU
The second match of the episode featured Madman Fulton from OVE going up against Eddie Edwards. Edwards went to the outside to grab his Kendo stick when Killer Kross appeared on the big screen. Kross had the Sandman captured and under a hood. He then began waterboarding the ECW legend.
The distraction allowed Fulton to gain the advantage and pick up the win.
Later in the show, Edwards went looking for Kross. When Edwards found who he thought was the Sandman, it turned out to be someone completely else entirely. Edwards and Kross then brawled, with Edwards getting the upper hand. Alisha Edwards tried to tell Eddie that this is not who he is but Edwards disagreed.
Quick Results:
Tessa Blanchard defeated Jake Crist
Madman Fulton defeated Eddie Edwards
Moose defeated Tommy Dreamer
Knockouts Championship: Taya Valkyrie (c) defeated Su Yung via DQ
TJP defeated Ace Austin
Rich Swann defeated Johnny Impact vs Michael Elgin
The person behind the idea for this may title change surprise you as it wasn’t Vince McMahon.
According to PWInsider, it turns out that Drake Maverick pitched the idea himself to WWE Creative.
WWE officials loved the idea and obviously gave the segment the go-ahead. And so Maverick’s special day became a nightmare for the 205 Live General Manager and now former 24/7 Champion. This isn’t the first time that Maverick has gone above and beyond for the company.
The segment itself was filmed after the wedding ceremony had taken place. NXT creative team member, Joseph Belcastro, was the individual playing the pastor for the title change. Additional material has allegedly filmed. There is no word yet on whether WWE intends to release more over the next few days or weeks.
Maverick has a number of friends within the pro wrestling industry. Many were in attendance for his wedding to Renee Michelle, herself an indie wrestler and former Mae Young Classic participant. She was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Candice LeRae.
Guests included EC3 and Braun Strowman, Matt Hardy and his family, Jeremy Borash, former Impact wrestler, Cheerleader Melissa, Tyson Kidd and Natalya, Diamante, and Kiera Hogan.
Timothy Thatcher is on his way to Major League Wrestling. MLW confirmed today the former EVOLVE champion will be the card when they present MLW: Never Say Never 19 on July 25th. The event will be held inside New York’s Melrose Ballroom.
“Journeying around the world and winning championships in the United Kingdom, Germany and North America, Timothy Thatcher is one of the most feared and respected scientific grapplers in the sport,” an MLW press release reads.
MLW confirmed that Thatcher’s match on the card has been signed but they have yet to reveal who his opponent will be.
Thatcher is perhaps best known as the longest-reigning EVOLVE champion in the history of the promotion. He won the title from Drew Galloway on July 10th, 2015 and would carry it for 596 days. Thatcher defended the title successfully 22x before dropping it to Zack Sabre Jr. on February 25th, 2017.
“With a reputation for believing he is superior to all in wrestling, Thatcher proudly represents the “die matte ist heilig” Ringkampf ideology. This globe traveling grappler is notorious for smashing opponents with a pulverizing European style; adding a crippling dimension to his fight game,” MLW’s press release continues.
MLW Upcoming Schedule
MLW’s next event will be Kings of the Colosseum on July 6th from Chicago’s Cicero Stadium. Scheduled matches for that event are as follows:
MLW World Championship: Tom Lawlor (c) vs Jacob Fatu (Contra Unit)
Ross & Marshall Von Erich vs Josef Samael & Simon Gotch (Unsanctioned)
LA Park & El Hijo de LA Park vs Dr. Wagner Jr & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.
Following the July 6th event, MLW will present Never Say Never 19 from the Melrose Ballroom in New York. The promotion will then head to Dallas on September 7th for “War Chamber.”
During his ring introduction from MLW’s Fury Road event on June 1st, Sami Callihan spit a mouthful of water at Jim Cornette. Callihan also did damage to the venue during his hardcore match with Mance Warner that night, leading to his dismissal from the promotion. He recently appeared on Konnan’s “Keeping it 100” podcast and explained his altercation with Cornette.
Callihan was upset at comments Cornette made during his review of AEW’s Double or Nothing about Sonny Kiss.
“Sonny Kiss, who apparently got off his day job at the drag show at the f**king Tropicana,” Cornette said on his YouTube channel. “And I don’t know, but they’re not explaining any of this … the transvestite, or Exotico as they would say at AAA. Did anyone bother to explain why he looks like that? No! They just accepted that, ‘Here’s another member of our roster, no reason to — nothing to look at here, folks.”
Sami Callihan on Jim Cornette’s Comments About Sonny Kiss
Callihan had the following to say on Cornette’s comments while on Konnan’s podcast:
“In 2019 we don’t have to explain what someone of homosexuality or anything is because it’s 2019, everything is accepted on that terms,” Callihan said. “And then he wanted to just call him a transvestite, not even knowing what he was, and say ‘he got off, looks like he just got off from working a day shift at the f**king Tropicana as a drag queen.’”
“I’m like, that’s just ignorant, like that’s speaking ignorant,” Callihan continued.
Callihan would continue to give his opinion on why Cornette is so often critical of modern day wrestling:
“He goes after anyone that has any sort of notoriety because he hasn’t done anything in his career in the last 20 years to be worth s**t. So he wants to make money off of other people.”
Sometimes, you have to let people’s words and actions speak for themselves. Good & bad.
With that being said, I want to thank everyone for their support. ?As a person who’s been publicly open about their sexuality since childhood, his “attack” was a complete fail. I’m good.
R-Truth is once again the 24/7 champion. He defeated Drake Maverick recently at the former champion’s wedding. Maverick and his wife had just said “I Do” (with Maverick wearing the title around his waist at the time) when Truth crashed the event.
WWE cameras were on-hand and posted Truth’s title victory to their YouTube channel:
R-Truth Defeates Drake Maverick For The 24/7 Title
Truth is now a 6x champion. Maverick’s 2-day reign with the title leading up to his wedding is the longest any performer other than Truth has had so far in the title’s short existance.
Other former champions include: Elias (2x), Jinder Mahal (2x), Robert Roode, and Titus O’Neil (inaugural).
Although perhaps not listed as an official title change, Matt Hardy’s son Maxel was in possession of the 24/7 title for a period during Maverick’s wedding.
Mick Foley introduced the title belt on the May 20th episode of RAW. The following day on Busted Open radio, Foley had the following to say regarding his promo introducing the new championship:
“I would have changed so many things,” Foley said. “I wouldn’t have come out with a real serious intent when it’s going to be a humorous belt.”
“I could have declined,” Foley admitted. “Sometimes I do decline things because I want to make an impact when I come back. I do believe…I do believe it’s going to catch on.”
Tama Tonga recently took to Twitter to offer his opinion on WWE presenting “the Club” on their upcoming shows in Tokyo. WWE will present two back-to-back live events from Ryogoku Arena on June 28th and 29th. AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows will team up with Triple H to take on Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Baron Corbin, and Samoa Joe on the first night.
Tama Tonga commented on “the Club” being reunited in Japan:
Wwe Japan trying to come on our territory with “ The Club”. Cool story bro. “Get the fuck outta here”
AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows & Triple H vs Bobby Lashley, Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, & Baron Corbin
June 29th, 2019:
Cesaro vs Ricochet
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Robert Roode
the Revival vs Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Becky Lynch vs Asuka vs Alexa Bliss
Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman vs Drew McIntyre, BobbY Lashley, & Baron Corbin
Tama Tonga Upcoming Schedule
The 36-year-old Tama Tonga is currently on the Kizuna Road tour with NJPW. Tonga and his brother Tanga Loa successfully defended their IWGP Heavyweight tag team championships at Dominion against EVIL & SANADA.
CM Punk posted a question on Twitter recently which garnered a strong reaction from fans. Punk asked his followers why they continue to watch something that they don’t seem to enjoy very much.
Since I can’t have fun and tweet about movies or baseball without you telling me about rasslin’, question for you: Why do you spend your time on something you hate? If it’s soooooo bad, leave it. I did. Works wonders. I look forward to the intelligent discourse.
“I’ve been very honest about that door remains opened,” Cody said to ComicBook.com. “The fans have never given up on CM Punk and if he wanted to be part of AEW we would do everything in our power to make him part of it.”
“That door will forever remain open to CM Punk. He was very good to me in OVW. He was a great person to learn from in the ring. I had a good relationship with him. That door will remain open, but for All Out the main focus for me is Hangman Page and Chris Jericho to determine the very first AEW World Champion.”
Jon Moxley will head back to Japan for the second night of the G1 Climax tournament on July 13th. He’ll miss the scheduled first night of the tournament in Dallas due to AEW holding his rights in the United States. He sat down with NJPW1972.com to discuss his appearances in New Japan thus far and what he has in store for the upcoming tournament.
Moxley was asked about making his entrance through the crowd at the Best of the Super Juniors, something he often did during his time in WWE.
“That idea was presented to me and at first, I did think it was leaning a little on things I’d done in the past,” Moxley said. “But thinking a bit about it, it was definitely the right thing to do. I don’t want to be ‘too cool’ and ignore the things I’ve done. It is a cool entrance, and something I helped trail-blaze. The best thing about it was that it was a mood changer. The atmosphere instantly changed and I could feel that change.”
Moxley was also asked about changing up his ring gear from what he wore in WWE.
“I wanted to change my look, for sure. When I was in WWE, I always wrestled in jeans, and there was a reason for that; everybody else had fancy tights and I wanted to be the opposite. More grungy, a street fighter type. But wrestling in jeans, honestly, it sucks. They’re hot, sweaty, hard to move in. I’m done with wrestling in jeans! It’s so much easier to wrestle in tights.”
Moxley was also asked about his relationship with Juice Robinson when they were both in FCW together.
“Yeah, many drinks were had in FCW. He was younger than me. Like the Young Lions are in NJPW, he was like that, whereas me and my partner, Seth Rollins, were more experienced. He latched onto us, rode in a car with us and tried to learn. We were pals going through the same experience, of training, of being stressed about whether you’re getting called up… we shared that experience together.”
Moxley then spoke about what it was like wrestling Juice after not having seen him in many years.
“We hadn’t seen each other for four years (when we wrestled) and when you wrestle, business is business. I’d been playing mind games with him too, you know. So for me, business is business and when the bell rings we can go for a beer, but I don’t think he wants that. He wants to come after me, and that’s fine.”
Adam Cole recently defeated Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver XXV to become the new NXT Champion. For him, becoming champion was the only goal he had coming into WWE’s black-and-yellow brand.
In an interview withGuide Live, Cole described what it felt like to become NXT Champion. He also listed a few names he would love to have the opportunity to wrestle.
“Your Goal Is To Become The NXT Champion”
“For anyone who knows me, when I first came into NXT — really for anybody who comes into NXT, your goal is to become the NXT champion. For me, it took me about two years to achieve that goal, and getting to do it as a part of a brand that has just never been better, filled with countless top-to-bottom just world class pro wrestlers, it means even more that I’m the guy at the front of the line or the guy driving the car. I’ve been very busy, as a champion should be, traveling all over the globe defending this championship. But I wouldn’t have it any other way, man. It’s been great.”
When asked about opponents, in particular, main roster Superstars, the Undisputed Era leader feels as though he’d have excellent matches with the majority of talent from either RAW or SmackDown.
Two Superstars, however, came to the top of his list: Seth Rollins and AJ Styles.
“There’s so many guys on Raw and SmackDown that I feel like I would have great chemistry with … There’s guys that I’ve never wrestled before who I’d love to the chance to get in the ring with like a Seth Rollins. Again, same thing as A.J., I feel like we could be put in any environment, and I feel like it would be a really exciting match.”
Adam Cole proclaimed that Undisputed Era will soon be draped in gold. With him now holding the NXT Championship, and his stablemates in active contendership for the Tag Team Championship and NXT North American Championship, it may not long before his words become a reality.