With WWE officially announcing that NXT will be moving to USA Network on Wednesdays, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Executive Vice Presidents, The Young Bucks, have stated that they “aren’t scared” of the competition.
Now AEW’s Chief Branding Officer, and head of AEW’s Women’s Division, Brandi Rhodes has offered her thoughts on the announcement, WWE’s supposed counter programming efforts, and her approach to the impending competition.
Speaking with TribLive, she stated that AEW are “all for it.”
“I definitely can’t speak for them [WWE] and their business planning and thinking, but as far as AEW is concerned we’re all for it,” she admitted. “We are excited to be on Wednesday night. We’ve got amazing things lined up. We can’t wait to get to air.”
Brandi continued, “We’re actually on the TNT campus right now with a ton of meetings and going over all sorts of aspects of rolling into Oct. 2. It’s a wild and great time for everyone. Our fans are going to be shocked, satiated and I think they will keep coming back for more.”
Although AEW debut on TNT in October, their next major event, All Out, will take place at the end of the month on August 31st from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin has previously shared his love of the way Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would sell his finishing move, the Stone Cold Stunner.
In an interview with KFC Radio, Austin recalled how The Rock would be “flip-flopping” around there ring, his legs careening off the ropes and hitting him in the head as he sold it.
“I hit him with that damn stunner, and half the time I’d have to watch out because he’d crash over me,” Austin said. “And The Rock, I mean he’s always been like 275, and when his legs or whatever careened off the ropes and hit you in the head, it’s like, ‘Goddamn, that hurts!'”
Since then, Austin uploaded a Gif to his Twitter account showcasing The Rock’s selling skills, accompanied by the following:
“And the Academy for best selling of a Stunner goes to @TheRock. #goodtimes TCB. RT @90sWWE: Legendary. @steveaustinBSR @TheRock”
This post led to a social media interaction between himself and a fan, with Austin ultimately sharing his take on modern-day kayfabe attitudes.
A fan decided to share their opinion on the video, highlighting his dislike of Austin’s usage of the words “academy” and “selling.”
“Love SCSA but hate this tweet. ‘Academy,’ ‘selling ‘… ugh. Yes, I realize kayfabe is dead, but can’t you just say it’s a devastating move and that’s why it f****d Rock all up?”
Steve Austin responded, writing:
“Wake up bruh. It’s almost 2020. People kinda know what’s up.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the KFC Radio transcription.
Wake up bruh. It’s almost 2020. People kinda know what’s up.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Executive Vice President and wrestler, Cody Rhodes, recently spoke about portraying the character of Stardust in WWE.
When a fan suggested on Twitter that the blame could be attributed to Vince McMahon, Cody was quick to shoulder blame as to why Stardust didn’t work in the way WWE had hoped.
“I don’t really blame him more than I blame myself. I worked hard, but at the time…not hard enough. To go from undesirable to undeniable took a lot sacrifices, reality checks, & most importantly I had to do the damn work. I don’t want to be anything less than the guy at the top.”
I don’t really blame him more than I blame myself. I worked hard, but at the time…not hard enough. To go from undesirable to undeniable took a lot sacrifices, reality checks, & most importantly I had to do the damn work. I don’t want to be anything less than the guy at the top. https://t.co/aQfdZgMSOo
The Stardust conversation stemmed from a question asking why he doesn’t use the Bionic Elbow—a move synonymous with his father, Dusty Rhodes. Cody replied that as the move isn’t his, he doesn’t want to use it and he has no interest in being a “tribute act.”
“It’s not mine. I can’t be a tribute act. However, I do save it for the rare occasional moment when I really feel it in my bones/heart. Not sure if I can really pull it off even.”
Cody Rhodes is scheduled to face off against Shawn Spears at AEW’s next major event All Out on August 31st.
During a WWE Live Event in Lima, Peru on Saturday night, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan decided to incorporate the GTS into their matchup. The decision was based on the crowd’s chants of CM Punk after Bryan asked them who the best was.
However, another wrestler has taken issue with their usage of the move—one he claims to own.
Former WWE Superstar and current New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star KENTA tweeted his reaction to the usage of the GTS:
Both Kingston and Bryan would nail each other with the move CM Punk popularized in WWE. Bryan would hit Kingston twice with the move but would be unable to get the three count. With the crowd wanting more, Kingston would also utilize Punk’s former finisher.
Bullet Club
KENTA has been actively using the GTS now that he has returned to NJPW. He ended numerous matches during the promotion’s recent G1 Climax 29 tournament with the finisher. He would finish the tournament with 8 points based off of 4 victories.
During the G1 Climax finals, KENTA shocked fans by aligning himself with Bullet Club. Alongside his new affiliates, he attacked his friend Katsuyori Shibata, posing cross-legged atop Shibata’s chest once they were finished with the attack.
For many WWE Superstars, winning the King of the Ring tournament acted as the catalyst for their career, propelling them into main event status.
In a recent Q&A session conducted on his Facebook page, former WWE Champion and Hall of Famer, Kurt Angle, shared his thoughts on WWE bringing the vaunted competition back.
He explained how the winner of the tournament may end up in the championship picture, like so many Superstars before them.
“The winner of the King of the Ring will most likely be in the hunt for the World Title,” Angle said. “I’m not going to mention who needs to win it because every single athlete in the tournament will need to win it. If you look at previous winners, most of them conquered the WWE after they won the King of the Ring.”
Angle would know. He previously won the tournament back in 2000, defeating Rikishi in the tournament finals.
The King of the Ring tournament is already underway, with brackets taking place on both RAW and SmackDown Live. The finals are reportedly set to take place during WWE’s upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view on September 15th.
At the time of writing, Samoa Joe and Cedric Alexander have advanced on RAW. Andrade and Elias have both advanced on SmackDown.
Braun Strowman has previously admitted how being left off SummerSlam was a “tough pill to swallow” for him.
With WWE not having anything for him at the time, he knew there was no narrative reason to include him on their big summer pay-per-view. Now in an interview with Sam Roberts, Strowman has opened up about his creative frustrations with WWE. He even revealed how Vince McMahon reacted when he shared them.
“I was like, ‘Vince, what is going on? I’m miserable.’ And he talked me off a ledge. He was like, ‘Look, big man, I want you for the long haul. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing right now. I care about what you’re doing ten years from now. I’ve invested in you, you’re one of my guys. Don’t worry. You’re fine.’ And just hearing that, coming from that man … I dunno …”
“I’ve Had Enough”
Strowman recalled being so fed up with his lack of momentum that he marched into a production meeting. Instead of having a future meeting scheduled, Vince McMahon instead took the time to clear the room and speak with him for 45 minutes.
“[…] legitimately I walked into the production meeting one day, and I was like, ‘I’ve had enough.’ I was just mad about everything. He kicked everybody out of the production meeting — like two hours before Raw was about to start, the show wasn’t even done — and talked to me for forty-five minutes, heart-to-heart, man-to-man conversation and opened my eyes to the picture of like ‘wow, why am I worrying about this?’ Vince doesn’t get the credit that is due to him. And if he hears this, he’s gonna get pissed off that I’m saying his name and putting him over.”
Strowman is supposedly primed for another major push in WWE. The intention is for him to once again become a hulking force. He has previously predicted that he will headline WrestleMania and that it is inevitable he will become Universal Champion.
Alexa Bliss has opened up about her issues with concussive damage. She also spoke about the understanding she now has of how to better protect herself in the ring.
She divulged the information in an interview with SkySports.com. Bliss spoke openly on how, having suffered one concussion, it’s easy to become re-concussed if not careful.
“Once you have a concussion it’s easier to get re-concussed and I found that out very clearly,” she explained. “It’s the brain, it’s not like an ankle you can tape up and you know the time frame that it’s going to heal – the brain is a completely different thing.”
Thankfully, WWE partnered her up with “the best doctors possible, the best neurologists, [and] physiologists” in their efforts to help her recover.
“I feel a lot better now with the information and the education I was given when it comes to concussions because of what WWE provided for us and I feel a lot better about being in the ring and it makes me appreciate the time in the ring a lot more than maybe I did before.”
Having this new information has helped Bliss protect herself better when it comes to in-ring competition.
She admitted that it’s been a long year, but is “happy that I was given the information I was because now I can be more pro-active when it comes to protecting myself when it comes to a concussion and be safer in the ring.”
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defeated The IIconics to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions earlier this month.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) wrestler Chris Jericho doesn’t believe WWE will be granting anymore releases to its Superstars.
Speaking with Busted Open Radio, Jericho discussed AEW’s acquisition of Shawn Spears (formerly known as Tye Dillinger in WWE). He highlighted how he championed Spears into AEW, believing him to be a main event player.
“I don’t know why [Shawn Spears] sat on the sidelines for eight months,” Jericho said. “I don’t know why a lot of guys sit on the sidelines for eight months. But you know how it works up North, brother. If you fall out of grace, you’re finished being played with as Vince’s toy, you get put in the corner.”
He continued, “Thankfully, Shawn got his release. He’s the last one that will. Nobody will ever get their release from WWE again. Nobody. He got his release, Cody and him are friends. Cody knew what he was capable of. I knew what he was capable of. I championed to get him. The guy is a tremendous heel. He’s an old school heel. He looks the part. Putting him with Tully Blanchard is a great idea. He’s a main eventer. We’re going to make him into a star, just by putting him with Cody Rhodes.”
Spears would make a major impact in AEW after striking Cody Rhodes in the head with a steel chair at Fyter Fest. This assault not only saw Spears adopt the ‘Chairman’ moniker, but also set up an anticipated grudge match between himself and Rhodes at AEW’s All Out event at the end of the month.
Mark Henry is one of the few stars that came into
professional wrestling with an impressive background in sports and his
achievements look even better when you consider the fact that he had no
experience of pro wrestling before joining WWE.
Henry recently had an interview with WrestlingInc where he spoke about a number of different things and also discussed how he started his professional wrestling career.
Henry first talked about how inexperienced he was before making his TV debut and recalling how he got into the world of professional wrestling, he revealed that Vince McMahon persuaded him:
“I had no experience whatsoever; I was just a fan, and
Vince McMahon saw me mention that I was a fan and they came after me. (and)I’m
really glad they did.”
The WWE Hall Of Famer also discussed what is needed to
succeed in the world of pro wrestling and claimed that more wrestlers need to
be extroverts.
He said that you have to transcend whatever sport you’re in and gave the example of NXT star Bianca Belair, mentioning how she wears bright colors and tutus.
Mark Henry started his WWE career in 1996. He played a
number of other sports including football before joining WWE and he had made
some impressive records in weightlifting.
Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston had an interesting way of handling chants of CM Punk from fans during a recent match.
For years now, fans have been known to chant the name of the former WWE star during matches or segments that they don’t have a ton of interest in seeing.
That was a bit different when WWE held a live event on Saturday night in Lima, Peru at the Jockey Club del Peru.
In the headliner of the show, Kofi Kingston defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the WWE Title. During the contest, Bryan asked the fans who’s the best, which led to the fans chanting for CM Punk.
This proceeded to have Bryan then hit Punk’s finisher, GTS, twice on Kingston and went for the cover to only get a two count. The crowd asked for a second one, which led to Kingston hitting Bryan with it.
PCO might not be human but his face still requires stitches after being busted open. The Villain Enterprises team of PCO and Brody King kicked off last night’s ROH show in Atlanta in a tag match against Tracy Williams and Mark Haskins from Lifeblood.
PCO and King would pick up the victory but PCO was busted open during the bout. He required 17 stitches to close the wound and cameras were on-hand backstage to document him getting stitched up.
PCO signed with Ring of Honor in late 2018. The 51-year-old has won the promotion’s 6-man titles along with Marty Scurll and Brody King and the 2-on-2 tag titles along with Brody King. King and PCO also won the Tag Wars tournament held earlier this year in ROH.
PCO Championship Statistics
PCO and Brody King also won the 2019 Crockett Cup tournament with NWA. The win also earned them the NWA World Heavyweight Tag Team Championship titles.
Other championships won by Pierre Carl-Oulette throughout his career include the WCW Hardcore Championship and the WWF tag team championships. He was awarded the WCW Hardcore title by Lance Storm during the Team Canada angle in the summer of 2000. PCO and Jaques Rougeous won the WWF tag titles 3x as the Quebecers.
Posted August 25th, 2019 in News, ROH. Tagged: PCO.
Jon Moxley was forced to pull out of AEW’s All Out PPV due to an infection in his elbow. Moxley will be replaced by PAC on the show. The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion was in-studio filming promotional content for All Out when he heard the news regarding Moxley.
AEW posted the following footage to this social media followers:
Kenny Omega Reacts To Jon Moxley Having To Pull Out From AEW All Out
At around 1:30 into the video, the lights in the studio are turned on and Omega is informed that Moxley is off the card. A producer tells Omega they’ve hard from Cody that Moxley’s out due to a staph infection.
“We might as well talk about it,” Omega said as the cameras were still rolling. “I don’t have much content for you guys and we might as well talk about Jon Moxley…”
The video then cuts out at that point and will be continued tomorrow on “Being the Elite.”
The 24/7 title has changed hands a couple of times so far this weekend. R-Truth brought the title with him onto a Fox College Football broadcast yesterday when analyst Rob Stone decided to take an opportunity to become a WWE champion himself.
WWE posted the most recent 24/7 title changes to their YouTube channel:
Truth appeared to slip or was tripped from behind, allowing Stone to pin him and win the title.
Unfortunately for Stone, however, Elias was waiting in the wings with a referee. Elias then scored the roll-up victory to win the title mere moments after Stone had won the belt.
Stone was still happy enough with his brief title run to post the following to Twitter, however:
The WWE 24/7 title has changed hands a total of 38 times since its inception this spring. Only four people have held the title for longer than a day, however:
R-Truth (13x) 61 combined days as champion.
Drake Maverick (4x) 16 combined days as champion.
Elias (4x current) 13+ days as champion
Maria Kanellis (1x) 7 combined days as champion.
If Elias can make it through Wednesday as champion, he’ll pass Drake Maverick as the second most successful 24/7 title champion in history.
Kenny Omega will be returning to the comedy-based Japanese promotion DDT Pro on November 3rd, 2019. The promotion announced that Omega will be returning early this morning during a show from Korakuen Hall:
Omega wrestled in DDT from 2008-2014. He is a former DDT Extreme Division champion, 2x KO-D 6-Man champion (2x w/ Kota Ibushi & Gota Ihashi, 1x w/Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki), KO-D Openweight champion, 3x KO-D Tag Team champion (2x with Kota Ibushi, 1x with Michael Nakazawa), and won the King of DDT in 2012.
Omega also formerly held the Nihonkai 6-Man tag team championships once along with Mr. #6 and fellow AEW wrestler Riho.
What Is DDT Pro Wrestling?
Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) Pro-Wrestling is a comedy-based promotion based out of Japan which was founded in 1997. It has gained popularity worldwide from their over-the-top comedic bouts.
Following his pro-wrestling debut a few weeks ago, Cain Velasquez has quite the demand for his services inside of the squared circle.
Although he’s currently under contract with AAA, ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reports that the UFC star had an informal meeting with New Japan Pro Wrestling officials on Saturday night.
The promotion was in San Francisco for the second night of the Super J-Cup. Raimondi added that “several other wrestling promotions” have interest in Velasquez. He did not say which promotions are interested.
Raimondi wrote, “Cain Velasquez is at the New Japan Super J Cup show tonight in San Francisco. Sources said he’ll be having an informal meeting with NJPW officials. Velasquez is signed on for two more Lucha Libre AAA matches, but several other wrestling promotions have interest, per sources.”
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion teamed up with Cody Rhodes and Psycho Clown in a six-man tag team match against Texano Jr., Taurus, and a mystery partner at TripleMania.
The event went down on Saturday, August 3rd, 2019, at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City and aired on Twitch.
AAA holds two shows in the United States this year. He’ll be working the September 15th show at New York City’s Hulu Theatre and their October 13th show at Los Angeles’ Forum.
For all of your latest UFC news, make sure to check out our partner site, MMANews.com
– Rock N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) do an interview in the ring. This led to a pull-apart with The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe).
– Angelina Love def. Sumie Sakai
– Felino, Okumura, & Silas Young def. Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, & Ryan Nova) in a six-man tag team match.
– Chase Owens def. LSG and PJ Black in a triple threat match. As a result of this win. Owens receives an ROH Television Title match at the Honor For All event.
– Joe Hendry debuts, interrupting a promo from Dalton Castle.
– Marty Scurll def. Bandido
– Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, Kenny King, & Rush defeated ROH World Champion Matt Taven, ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes, & ROH World Television Champion Shane Taylor in a Champions vs. All-Stars match.
The Baltimore-based promotion will also hold their Honor For All tonight in Atlanta, GA at the Center Stage on Sunday night that will air on their streaming service, Honor Club.
Rey Fenix is scheduled to wrestle again tonight for Big Time Wrestling despite seemingly having suffered a leg injury in his match for the promotion last night.
Fenix and his brother Pentagon Jr. were wrestling Jutentud Guerrera and Teddy Hart when Fenix is reported to have grabbed his leg and rolled to the outside.
Big Time Wrestling announced on their Facebook page that Fenix will wrestle tonight as scheduled on their show in Enfield, Connecticut.
“We are happy to announce Rey Fenix will be WRESTLING as schedule tonight in Enfield, CT,” the promotion’s announcement reads.
I don't know if it's gotten out but Fenix might be injured. I was at the Big Time Wrestling event in Pawtucket tonight which was headlined by the Lucha Brothers vs. Juventud Guerrera and Teddy Hart in a two out of three falls match. (continued)
Fenix is a double champion in AAA right now. He is the current Mega Champion and one-half of the AAA tag-team champions along with his brother Pentagon Jr.
Fenix is also a former Lucha Underground champion and 2x Gift of the Gods champion. He was ranked #61 in the PWI Top-500 rankings last year.
Fenix and Pentagon Jr. are scheduled to take on the Young Bucks in a ladder match August 31st in Chicago at All Out.
It appears that a certain match taking place at the upcoming AEW All Out pay-per-view event will be getting a stipulation.
Riho vs. Hikaru Shida in a singles match has already been confirmed for the show. Dave Meltzer mentioned in the Daily Update on F4Wonline.com that the contest will be an important match.
The winner will be facing the winner of the Casino Battle Royale that takes place on the same night. These two winners will square off on the October 2nd episode of AEW on TNT to crown the first Women’s Champion.
WWE has officially announced another match for Monday’s episode of RAW.
WWE confirmed on Saturday that WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Nikki Cross will take place. It will be a non-title match.
This comes after Bayley interrupted “A Moment of Bliss” last week on SmackDown Live as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were doing a segment with Charlotte Flair.
In this segment, Flair issued a challenge to Bayley for a title match at the upcoming Clash of Champions pay-per-view event.
It ended when Bayley knocked Flair off her pedestal and onto her backside. Now, Cross aims for payback when she battles Bayley one-on-one.
WWE has also confirmed that the King of the Ring tournament will continue on the episode. RAW’s last two King of the Ring first-round matches are set as Ricochet is facing Drew McIntyre, and The Miz is taking on Baron Corbin.
The winner of Ricochet vs. McIntyre will face Samoa Joe in the quarterfinals while the winner of Miz vs. Corbin will face Cedric Alexander.
WWE holds this show in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center. No other matches or segments have been confirmed for this show.
Impact Wrestling this week took place from California for Cali Combat as it was filmed during the promotion’s recent 3-day tour of the state. The promotion will head to Mexico City next week. This week’s episode was headlined by a No DQ match between Tommy Dreamer and Sami Callihan.
Here are 10 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 8/23:
Ken Shamrock Is Returning To Impact Wrestling/Feuding With Moose
Ken Shamrock is returning to Impact Wrestling from September 5-6 in Las Vegas. His return was mentioned frequently by Melissa Santos during commercial breaks on Twitch. It looks as though Shamrock, who is promoting his new bare-knuckled MMA promotion, will be moving into a rivalry with Moose.
Sami Callihan Beats Tommy Dreamer, Ends Show Standing Tall Over Tessa Blanchard
Callihan is owed a world title match as a result of his victory over Tessa Blanchard at Unbreakable. He got the win over Tommy Dreamer in this week’s main event after delivering a piledriver on top of a wood board. Callihan looked to continue the beat-down of Dreamer after the match but Tessa Blanchard made the save. Jake Crist then ran from the back and hit Blanchard from behind, allowing Sami to hit Tessa with a piledriver and end the show standing tall.
Rhino and Michael Elgin Brawl To A Double Count-Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThRyilzvFKM
Rhino and Michael Elgin’s rivalry has been building since Slammiversary. This week, the two rivals were too distracted with brawling on the outside to notice the referee’s count. They were both counted-out as a result.
Security was needed to separate the two big men but the brawl would continue in the back as well. Later in the night, it was announced the two will face each other again next week in Mexico. To prevent another count-out, however, it will be a Falls Count Anywhere match.
Knockouts Champion @TheTayaValkyrie is going to defend her Title next week in Mexico City and if she wins, she'll be the longest reigning champ in history!
Taya Valkyrie stood at a podium and delivered a somewhat statistically-challenged promo this week. Valkyrie is saying that she will soon pass the record for longest single-reign of the Knockouts title at 238 days. It’s not entirely clear where the 238-days number is coming from but she’s not far from breaking the actual record.
Here are the longest single reigns of the Knockouts title according to the wrestling-statistics website, Cagematch.net.
Taryn Terrell 279 days – 2014-15
Rosemary 266 days – 2016-17
Gail Kim – 232 days – 2015-16
Taya Valkyrie 230+ (current)
Taya reacted on Twitter to a fan mentioning Wikipedia also has the longest Knockouts title reign at 279 days:
You realize wiki is a site where I can say I’m 15 yes old and born on the moon right?? https://t.co/u318TlBaI8
Regardless, Taya promised to defend her title in Mexico City next week against someone new. In storyline, if she wins, she’ll pass the record for longest reiginging Knockouts champion.
Tenille Dashwood Says Taya Valkyrie Should Get Ready For Her
A short backstage promo featuring Tenille Dashwood was shown this week. Dashwood said she doesn’t plan on starting at the bottom of the Knockouts division and will be gunning right for Taya Valkyrie.
Jake Crist Pulls Tights, Retains Title Against Rich Swann
The X-Division champion Jake Crist defeated the former champion to retain his title this week. The OVE member pulled off the victory only after grabbing ahold of Swann’s trunks, however.
The North Defend Tag Titles Against Reno Scum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K41NOsvqlLA
Josh Alexander and Ethan Page put out a challenge to any team from the west coast to meet them this week. Reno Scum answered the call but it would be the champions who would pull out the victory in the end. The North don’t plan on losing the tag belts anytime soon.
Havok Destroys Alisha & Eddie Edwards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNhAkOXtqYE
Havok defeated Alisha Edwards in single’s competition this week. Alisha’s loss brought out Ace Austin, who has been making advances toward Eddie’s wife, to comfort her. Eddie came out to confront Ace but ran into Havok, who gave him a chokeslam for his trouble. This allowed Austin to leave with Alisha.
Su Yung Talks In Unknown Language Again
Su Yung cut another promo after Havok’s match last night. Once again, the promo was in no known language. It’s possible Yung’s promos are being played backwards. A devoted fan could probably even decipher them.
Willie Mack Defeated Trey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnV6C9uTY-8
Trey from The Rascalz pulled out all the stops this week trying to defeat Willie Mack. In the end, a dive off the top rope was countered into a stunner and Mac picked up the victory, however.
Quick Results:
Rhino vs Michael Elgin – double-count out
Impact Tag Team Championships: the North (c) defeated Reno Scum
Nikki Cross is currently one-half of the women’s tag team champions along with Alexa Bliss. The pair won the titles on the August 5th RAW from Pittsburgh. They defeated the Iconics, Kabuki Warriors and Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville in a 4-way elimination match to win the belts.
Cross recently spoke with RondaRousey.com about her team with Bliss and her former team of Sanity.
“Working with those guys was such an amazing experience because, obviously, I was working … alongside my husband, which is always fun,” Cross said regarding working with Sanity. “He’s also got such a fantastic mind [for the business]. And then I was working with [Alexander Wolfe], who’s a really, really good friend of mine. Working with him was amazing because he’s got such a creative mind. He would help me in so many different ways. And then there was Eric Young, and … all three guys have been in the business for such a long time.”
“It was so much fun working with SAnitY. … It was such an amazing time to look back on and it was so much fun,” she continued.
Nikki Cross on Teaming With Alexa Bliss
Cross was also asked about her current team with Alexa Bliss during the interview.
“Me and Alexa discovered that we have really good chemistry, in terms of [how] our personas very much bounce off each other very well. And we just have so much fun together—we’re having a lot of fun right now. Like I was just saying … anything where we just get to show different elements of the characters—which people might not have necessarily seen before—there’s nothing more exciting than that to me. I think a lot of people are enjoying that. I think people are really compelled by it. They’re intrigued by it and I’m excited to see what’s next.”
Is she crazy? Brilliant? Both? Walk the thin line between genius and insanity with @NikkiCrossWWE in our newest exclusive!https://t.co/z69SsHxfuz
One-half of the Lucha Bros, Fenix, suffered a leg injury last night at a Big Time Wrestling show. The Lucha Bros were taking on the team of Juventud Guerrera and Teddy Hart at the time.
Fenix is said to have just delivered a super-kick to Hart when he grabbed his leg and rolled out of the ring. He motioned that he was hurt and Guerrera pinned Pentagon in the ring shortly after.
I don't know if it's gotten out but Fenix might be injured. I was at the Big Time Wrestling event in Pawtucket tonight which was headlined by the Lucha Brothers vs. Juventud Guerrera and Teddy Hart in a two out of three falls match. (continued)
Fenix and Pentagon are scheduled to face Matt & Nick Jackson for the AAA tag team championships on August 31st at All Out in Chicago. Taya Valkyrie spoke with Fenix and Tweeted out the following update, noting that he did not suffer a broken leg:
Just spoke to Fenix and he is going to be ok. Thank god ?? No break thank god
The scheduled ladder match between the Lucha Bros and Young Bucks at All Out will be the latest in a long-running rivalry between the two teams. In 2019, the teams have met five times already.
The Bucks defeated the Lucha Bros for the AAA tag titles in an impromptu match at Rey De Reyes and then again at Double or Nothing earlier this year. The Lucha Bros then won the titles back at Verano De Escandalo. At Fyter Fest, the Bucks teamed with Kenny Omega and defeated the Lucha Bros and the Laredo Kid but then dropped a rematch between the same teams at TripleMania.
Ken Shamrock won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on the first-ever TNA Wrestling PPV. He defeated Malice in the finals of a Gauntlet match on June 19th, 2002 in Huntsville, Alabama. Shamrock will be returning to the promotion and has been announced for Impact Wrestling’s TV tapings in Vegas next month.
Impact will tape inside Sam’s Town Casino in Vegas on the 5th and 6th of September. Shamrock was involved in an online interaction with Moose leading to the announcement of his return to Impact.
Hottest star in Pro Wrestling? @TheMooseNation I speak for everyone when I tell you, that you are a Nasal Strip away & short 75% of the talent, from being the next Ahmed Johnson. But I’ll show you what will happen if you keep running your mouth… https://t.co/Gh8a4DO57Cpic.twitter.com/QydvnCcexV
Shamrock most recently took part of a tour of Australia with Battle Championship Wrestling this spring. John Morrison and Taya Valkyrie were also on the tour.
The 55-year-old Shamrock was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame Pioneer wing in 2003. His rivalry with Tito Ortiz was voted the “Feud of the Year” by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in both 2002 and 2006.
In WWE, Shamrock is a former Intercontinental champion, a former WWE tag-team champion (along with the Big Bossman as part of the Corporation) and won the King of the Ring tournament in 1998.
Jon Moxley has been pulled from All Elite Wrestling’s upcoming PPV. Moxley announced today that he would have to miss the show due to an infection in his elbow. He posted the following to Twitter:
I'm absolutely gutted to have to deliver this news but I'd rather it come directly from me. In a nightmare scenario, a serious case of MRSA has returned in my elbow. The timing couldn't be worse. In this circumstance I am forced to pull out of the fight 8/31 vs Omega at All Out .
“I apologize to all involved, most importantly the fans. I am incredibly frustrated and pissed off. I’ll have surgery this week to remove the bursa sac in my elbow and be done with it for good. Should be a quick recovery so I will be 100% for AEW Wednesday nights on TNT,” a follow-up Tweet from Moxley reads.
“Still, I expect All out to be an amazing ppv and hope all the fans out there looking for an alternative tune in. You will be blown away by AEW and be excited to be a wrestling fan. I’m looking forward to watching as a fan myself”
Cody Rhodes issued the following in regards to Moxley having to miss the PPV:
Very heartbreaking news. Jon’s health and safety is paramount to all of us. We will actively try and reschedule this match down the road. A replacement match for All Out will be announced soon. Our thoughts are with Jon. https://t.co/EHoNpNrHwP
Cody Rhodes recently did an interview with Bleacher Report to talk about AEW and the competition that they face in the way of WWE NXT.
Back in May, All Elite Wrestling officially announced a television deal with WarnerMedia to air live weekly show on TNT. The show is slated to premiere on October 2nd.
Fast forward to this week, WWE announced that NXT would be moving to the USA Network starting September 18th.
In this interview, Rhodes talked about the move involving WWE NXT as well as what the change will bring for fans.
“I’m oddly intrigued to see what Vince McMahon does with NXT,” Rhodes said. He continued by noting that his father was instrumental in building the NXT brand and for a long time it was a developmental project.
“For Vince to now bring it to the USA Network as if it’s a full brand, I’m just intrigued by it.” Rhodes would talk about how he thinks the most important night in all of wrestling is now Wednesday nights.
“The best wrestling is going to be happening on Wednesday nights.” Rhodes would note that it’s destination TV and must-watch so he won’t complain about that. He added that wrestling fans now have a choice, and he hopes fans choose AEW.
NXT will be extended from a one-hour program to two hours and it will be a live show that will fill in the 8 pm ET – 10 pm ET time slot on Wednesday nights. The show will air from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, which has been the home of television tapings for years now.
AEW has already announced that they will travel to different cities each week to host their weekly television shows.