It appears that after the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka, another popular Japanese wrestler may be signing a contract with WWE soon.

According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there have been a lot of talks of popular wrestler Jiro Kuroshio signing with WWE and he will likely begin his tenure with the company in NXT.

Kuroshio had taken part in the WWE tryouts held in Shanghai, China back in July and NXT’s Twitter account had posted a clip of the Japanese wrestler from the tryouts.

The video also featured WWE Performance Center Head Coach Matt Bloom who praised the Japanese star for his performance. You can check out the footage WWE posted below:

Jiro Kuroshio started his wrestling career in 2010 and the 27-year-old wrestler has been working for various Japanese promotions since his debut.

He is probably best known for his work with the Wrestle-1 promotion in Japan. He debuted for the company in July 2014 and since then; he has won over half a dozen championships in the promotion.

Jiro announced his departure from the promotion in March this year and in an interview, he revealed that he will be moving to the United States, which is another strong indication of his possible signing with WWE.

The news of former Intercontinental Champion John Morrison signing a new contract with WWE left the wrestling world buzzing and people have been talking about it since the reports came out.

However, both WWE and Morrison had been quiet about it so far and it left fans wondering if the report of the former Star returning to the company is not accurate.

Now John has broken his silence and commenting on the matter on Twitter, he implied that the reports of him re-signing with the promotion are not true:

John Morrison left WWE back in 2011. WWE had offered him a new contract at the time but he chose not to re-sign with the promotion because he wanted better control over his time.

Since then, the former Champion has returned to the independent circuit and competed for a number of well-known promotions in America and Mexico.

He competed for promotions such as Lucha Underground and AAA. He also made his debut for Impact Wrestling in 2017 and started pursuing the Global Championship.

He went on have a long stint with the promotion which culminated in him wrestling his final match for the company at the Slammiversary XVII PPV in July this year.

It would be interesting to see how things develop after Morrison’s comments and we will have to wait to find out if he actually returns to WWE or not.

Former NXT Star Elias has been away from the ring from the past few weeks due to an ankle injury, though latest reports suggest that he won’t remain out of action for very long.

Dave Meltzer provided some update on the Drifter’s status in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter and revealed that he is expected to return to action in late October.

Despite the injury, Elias has not been off TV completely and this week’s episode of SmackDown Live saw him starting a new feud with Chad Gable.

The former NXT star appeared on the titantron after Gable’s match with Mike Kanellis and started talking trash. However, due to his injury, these two stars are not expected to face each other inside a ring in the near future.

Prior to his injury, Elias was competing in the King of The Ring tournament and he had made it to the semi-finals after defeating Kevin Owens and Ali in different matches.

However, on September 10, WWE announced that the SmackDown star was dealing with an ankle injury and so he was not cleared to compete in the tournament further.

Shane McMahon then replaced him in a semi-final match against Chad Gable. Gable went on to defeat Shane but he lost in the finals to Baron Corbin.

It looks like The Universal Champion Seth Rollins’ Twitter account is no longer accessible to the public and he has either deactivated or deleted his account.

The Architect’s account was active until afternoon today but in the evening it was noted by several fans that they were no longer able to see tweets from the @WWERollins handle.

It looks more likely that the account has been deactivated since instead of showing a 404, page does not exist error, the Twitter page of his account shows the following message saying that the account doesn’t exist:

Rollins’ last interaction on his Twitter was with the Boss Sasha Banks. The Universal Champion had posted about his upcoming match with Rey Mysterio on Raw and Sasha had mocked him for the tweet.

Replying to Banks, the current Universal Champion wrote  “This is a match I’ve been looking forward to as much as every other match you’ve ever had…aka, not at all. Luckily for me, you’ll underdeliver like you always do and continue to wonder why you’re not in more main events.”

No word yet on if this exchange played any part in the deactivation of his account or if there is any other reason behind the same. Seth’s Instagram account is still live.

Seth Rollins’ is currently scheduled to defend his Universal Championship against Rey Mysterio on the season premiere episode of Raw this Monday.

Yet another match has been booked for the WWE Friday Night SmackDown FOX premiere episode. 

That contest is Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan. The match was first revealed by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. 

This will come just two days before the WWE Hell In a Cell pay-per-view where Reigns will team with Daniel Bryan to face Rowan and Luke Harper in a tag team match. 

Teddy Long Comments On SmackDown’s Move To Fox

Next Friday’s SmackDown FOX premiere episode takes place from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. WWE could add more matches to the show in the coming days. 

Here is the updated line-up for the episode, which will also be the SmackDown 20th Anniversary special:

• Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Champion Kofi Kingston
• RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks
• Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon in a Ladder Match
• Erick Rowan vs. Roman Reigns
• Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Sting, Ric Flair, Booker T, Lita, Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, Bill Goldberg, Trish Stratus, Mark Henry, and Jerry Lawler are all advertised to appear. 

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

Fans should expect to see various changes to WWE television starting next week. 

Not only the return of pyro has been confirmed but also the rumors of new sets, theme music and graphics are on the way next week. 

The New York Post’s Joseph Staszewski confirmed the news after speaking with longtime WWE employee Kevin Dunn. 

Staszewski tweeted saying, “Talked with #WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn about [WWE on Fox]. Confirmed there will be new sets, openings, logos, graphics & theme music for both #Raw and SmackDown. Pyro is also returning including “flames, lasers.” More details next week on [NY Post Sports] about #WWEPremiereWeek.”

WWE Draft Set for SmackDown & RAW (10/11 & 10/14)

WrestleVotes was the first to report that pyro returning and new sets being constructed. 

These changes come in line after the news of the RAW new announce team next week will consist of Vic Joseph, NXT wrestler Dio Maddin and Jerry Lawler while Michael Cole and Corey Graves will now be on SmackDown in the commentary booth with Renee Young serving as a special contributor. 

You can see a photo of the new logos with the current logos for both RAW and SmackDown below: (H/T CBS Sports)

WWE MENA (Middle East and North Africa) announced on Friday that the company will present Crown Jewel 2019 on Thursday, October 31st. Yes, Halloween. 

The show will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Tickets go on sale this Monday, September 30 at 6pm local time via TicketMX.com. 

This event marks the fourth show that WWE has aired from Saudi Arabia. The original target date was November 1st. 

A promo was released for the show that features WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. You can check it out here: 

Brock Lesnar, WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, WWE United States Champion AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, Big E, Xavier Woods, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Mansoor Al-Shehail are all advertised. 

Mansoor Believes WWE Women Will Wrestle In Saudi Arabia

PWInsider reports that WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will also be going on the trip as well. It was hyped that the event will take part during “Riyadh Season” that runs from October 15 through December 15. 

The country is slated to hold 11 festivals during these two months as a way to boost domestic and international tourism in the country.

WWE started their deal with Saudi Arabia last year as the company signed a 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority.

A new report has sparked speculation regarding the status of CM Punk. 

It was previously reported that Punk’s representative went to FOX to try to get him as a co-host of the new “WWE Backstage” studio show on FS1. The show will be hosted by Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T.

Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has an impression that Punk wants to be back with the company but the two sides have yet to talk. 

Pwinsider.com then reported that Punk was at FOX Studios earlier this week in Los Angeles to discuss a potential on-air role for the show. While it’s not known what all went down at the meeting, it was noted that Punk did film test material for it and Young was also present for the meeting.

As of this writing, it has not been confirmed that Punk has signed a deal to work on the show. 

CM Punk Talks Possible WWE Return, Fans Asking If He’ll Make Comeback

We do know that FOX brought in several WWE and non-WWE personalities this summer to try out for the show including the likes of Taz and WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman. 

There’s no word yet on what all went down at the meeting, but Punk did do some on-camera testing. Renee was also present for the meeting. Paige and Rey Mysterio were considered. 

After dealing with injuries and not wanting to wrestle anymore, Punk decided to walk out of the company on the Monday following the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in 2014.

The stars of All Elite Wrestling are doing the media rounds ahead of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite premiere on TNT.

Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes spoke with Scott Fishman of TVInsider this week about AEW’s plans to change the wrestling landscape, the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, her in-ring training and more.

Rhodes spoke in-depth about the AEW women’s division, including her close relationship with Awesome Kong and her overall vision for the female roster. She says AEW has around 16 women under contract, including some surprises.

“You’re going to see in the first few weeks of TV a heavy focus on the familiar names,” said Rhodes. “There will probably be some you haven’t seen before, but they were actually signed for some period of time. So, it’s going to be new to you, but we’ve been planning to use them for a long time.”

The ‘Roster’ page at AEW’s official website lists 11 female competitors. The Casino Battle Royale at last month’s All Out pay-per-view featured 21 women.

“I was really excited for and impressed with a lot of the girls,” Rhodes said of the Casino Battle Royal match. “I think the fans were too. Just wait and see. You will probably see some of those involved in there again.”

Head over to TVInsider.com to read Scott Fishman’s complete interview with Brandi Rhodes.

• Cody Confirms AEW Dynamite Will Be TV-MA

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay recently answered several fan questions for a piece on NJPW1972.com. During the interview, Ospreay listed his favourite opponents, matches, and more.

Ospreay listed a match from Progress in 2015 as one of the most important in his career.

“There’s been so many that I think are historic and that helped me along the way. The first time I felt I was getting somewhere was my match with Jimmy Havoc in PROGRESS in the UK, 2015. After that I was going to America and going on to bigger places. I felt that match opened a lot of doors for me.”

He would then refer to Marty Scurll has his greatest rival.

“I think in all of wrestling, my biggest rival has to be Marty Scurll. He doesn’t like me, I don’t like him. We’re very different guys, like the Batman and the Joker,” Ospreay said during the interview.

Ospreay was also asked during the interview which wrestler he has the most respect for.

“Respect? Tanahashi. For everything that he’s done for New Japan. The slogan on my shirt, ‘attack for the next generation’ came from him. He did so much and put his body through so much to get New Japan out of the dark ages and into the golden era that we’re calling it now. I love his wrestling philosophy and I respect him a huge deal. If I can be like any wrestler, I want to be like him.”

He would continue to talk about his stablemate in CHAOS, Kazuchika Okada as well.

“He’s my big brother. He’s looked after me since day one. Anything personal, medical even, he’s helped me out. He met my mum and dad in the UK and was lovely to them. He’s absolutely my big brother.”

Ospreay would continue to say he believes Okada is the best wrestler in the world.

“I do think he’s the best in the world right now. I don’t think anyone can match his style, technique, power, presence. You know when his music hits and he’s in a singles match, he’ll have the best match of the night. Wherever you are in the world, nobody can beat him.”

Ospreay also mentioned that it was a TNA event which helped inspire him to become a pro-wrestler.

“I’ve always watched wrestling, ever since I was a baby. But I was channel surfing once and found TNA, the three way between Chris Daniels, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles. AJ grabbed the top rope and hit a springboard Shooting Star Press. I was 14, 15 years old and I instantly thought ‘I want to be a pro-wrestler. AJ Styles is the reason I wanted to be a pro-wrestler.”

The full interview with Ospreay can be read here.

Keith Lee picked up a big win over Dominik Dijakovic to kick-off NXT this week. The win avenges a loss Lee suffered at the hands of Dijakovic earlier this summer. The heavyweight spoke with WWE correspondents following the match.

“I’ll be honest with you, I can’t tell you about the match importance but what I can tell you is that for awhile now Jordan Myles and I have been talking back and forth and the first thing he said to me was ‘you just got to keep going Keith’ or as he would say ‘you just got to go the distance, put in the miles,’ no pun intended. And so today I proved that and sir, the grind continues.”

As for Lee’s opponent from Wednesday night, Dijakovic was listed as day-to-day in the latest NXT injury report with a cervical strain.

• 5 Takeaways From WWE NXT (9/25)

Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic are now 1-1-1 against each other on NXT programming. The two went to a double count-out against each other in February and Dijakovic won an early match they had which was taped in August.

• Adam Cole Listed As Questionable For NXT Next Week

A full recap of this Wednesday’s edition of NXT is available in the player below:

WWE is stating than NXT champion Adam Cole is currently listed as questionable for next week’s show on the USA Network. For the second straight week, the promotion released an injury report following their live show. This week’s report says that there is concern Cole’s arm was fractured by Matt Riddle on Wednesday night.

“It is suspected that Cole has a radius fracture of his right arm and was sent to the emergency room for X-Rays,” WWE digital correspondent Matt Camp stated in the update. “Cole is scheduled to defend the NXT championship against Riddle live on the first 2-hour edition of NXT on USA Network next Wednesday at 8pm/7 central but will Cole be able to compete in his questionable condition?”

NXT Injury Report

Raul Mendoza suffered a rib injury via the double foot stomp from Cameron Grimes this week. He’s listed as questionable for upcoming weeks and will also be going for X-Rays.

After dropping the opening match Wednesday night to Keith Lee, Dominic Dijakovic is listed as day-to-day with a cervical strain.

KUSHIDA is also listed as questionable for future shows with a wrist injury.

• 5 Takeaways From WWE NXT (9/25)

A recap of NXT on USA from 9/25 is below:

The card for Friday’s (September 27th, 2019) ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view event has been finalized. 

Ring of Honor is slated to hold their latest pay-per-view event of the year in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Live. The show will be headlined by ROH World Champion Matt Taven vs. Rush

Other top matches featured on this card include ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe vs. Mark Haskins and Bandido and ROH Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein vs. Angelina Love. 

The event can be purchased via traditional pay-per-view and the FITE app.

Final ROH Death Before Dishonor Card

• ROH World Champion Matt Taven vs. Rush
• ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe vs. Mark Haskins and Bandido
• ROH World TV Champion Shane Taylor vs. Tracy Williams vs. Flip Gordon in a three-way
• ROH Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein vs. Angelina Love
• Kenny King vs. PCO in a Final Battle No. 1 contenders tournament match.
• Colt Cabana vs. Marty Scurll in a Final Battle No. 1 contenders tournament match.
• The Bounces vs. Silas Young and Vinny Marseglia – Barroom Brawl
• Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham
• Jeff Cobb vs. Brody King – Pre-Show

What are your thoughts on this match card? Do you plan on buying the pay-per-view and watching? Sound off in the comment section.

Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff recently spoke with Newsweek regarding ROH World Champion Matt Taven as well as ROH’s plans in attracting and securing future talent.

Referring to Taven as “a little bit arrogant,” Koff explained that despite not having a size advantage, the ROH World Champion isn’t afraid to take on bigger men.

“Matt is a really good ring technician, and he’s a really smart wrestler and a really good athlete,” Koff said. “[….] he has good instincts, and that’s what I think separates Ring of Honor from a lot of promotions. Just that tacit knowledge and the instincts that our wrestlers have inside the ring and how they respond and tell a story. Matt is really at the top of his game.”

ROH Culture

A lot of ROH talent are signed to contracts that permit them to wrestle for different promotions. Koff explained how this mindset applies at different levels, depending on the wrestler.

“[Exclusivity] is pretty standard in the industry right now, and there are different levels of contract,” Koff said. “But you protect your top stars because it’s your brand and you want them representing that brand. Journeymen wrestlers or guys breaking in who need work and want more work, we don’t mind that. But it’s at different levels.”

Regarding ROH’s future plans to attract and keep talent, Koff pointed to the culture that ROH wants to provide and whether talent wants to be a part of that.

“It’s your culture, it’s what you provide to that culture and what part they play in that culture,” said Koff. “Ring of Honor has traditionally been a collaborative culture where input from its wrestlers is greatly appreciated and accepted. It really matters what you want as a lifestyle.”

He continued, “Wrestling is a very hard business on the body. We don’t wrestle 200 nights a year, and obviously we have big stars who are happy with that. And I’d imagine that the money is good for them to maintain that life and their bodies. We look for people who are interested in that, because that’s what we provide. We provide a warm, stable atmosphere that’s serious, athletic has a ton of integrity… But there are people who still want more, and there are other promotions that can offer that.”

ROH’s next pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor, airs tonight. The show takes place from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Ring of Honor (ROH) tag team The Bouncers have admitted they are aiming to prove themselves as a legitimate threat. The team, comprised of The Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas, spoke with Wrestlezone ahead of ROH’s pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor about their ambitions. They also discussed the current ROH landscape.

“We firmly believe we are one of the best tag teams on the face of the planet and we’re serious contenders for the ROH World Tag Team Titles,” Milonas said. “We’re out to show the world, to prove a point not only to Silas and Vincent, but to prove a point to the world at Sam’s Town.”

ROH Landscape

Addressing the current landscape in ROH, Milonas explained how there is currently plenty of opportunities for talent to shine. He believes that it is currently an exciting time for pro wrestling and ROH. Milonas added that he doesn’t give much thought to fans who are discussing the end of ROH.

“When you talk of a company like Ring Of Honor and in this company’s history—how many times has the death certificate been written by the internet wrestling community out there? But, it’s exciting cause for guys like us and for so many others it presents opportunity,” Milonas said.

He continued, “And what a better time. You can’t ask for a better time to be a pro wrestler in 2019 right now. It’s a question we get asked a lot, especially since the guys from The Elite left and went and started AEW which is a great thing as well, but it’s one of those things that I know and I can comfortably speak for The Bruiser too on this is that we looked around and Jay Lethal is still there. We looked in the other direction and The Briscoe Brothers are still there, and man, that’s the heart and soul of that locker room and that company. As long as those guys are there, to me all is right in the world.”

Beer City Bruiser agreed, adding that the ROH locker room is an amazing environment to be a part of: “Everyone gets along. There’s no egos. It’s a truly fun locker room to be a part of. The best thing about our locker room, everyone else here wants to prove all the critics wrong. Everyone wants to sign off Ring Of Honor, everyone wants to say that we’re dead, that we’re going downhill and this whole locker room wants to prove that it is not the case.”

ROH’s next pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor, airs tonight. The show takes place from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Current WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler has confessed that she is a pressure player—a fact that she believes will help her thrive as WWE and AEW prime for the Wednesday Night Wars.

Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Baszler explained “I’m a pressure player. Put me in the game at the critical time and I’ll get the job done. It’s something I’ve always done, and that won’t change when I’m wrestling on live TV.”

Despite NXT going to head-to-head with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on Wednesday nights from next week, Baszler isn’t focused on what AEW is doing. Instead, she is concentrating on delivering performances to the best of her ability every week on WWE’s black-and-gold brand. She believes that by continuing to strive to compete at their high standards, everyone on the NXT roster can continue to be proud of their work.

Baszler added, “Our locker room at NXT is very proud of the work we do. Going into Wednesdays on USA, you’ll see us outdo ourselves every week.”

Baszler is scheduled to defend her NXT Women’s Championship against number one contender Candice LeRae next Wednesday night. That night will also see the premiere episode of All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite on TNT.

Ahead of All Elite Wrestling’s TNT premiere next Wednesday, several AEW talents and personnel spoke with The Post regarding the promotion’s core values including their focus on diversity and inclusion.

WarnerMedia’s Brett Weitz, who is the general manager for TNT, TBT and truTV, spoke about AEW’s aim for their product to “look like the world does.”

“We expect the ring to look like the world does,” Weitz said. “When you open up the prism and spread the lens out wider and show people that you as a consumer are represented here… that’s really empowering for people.”

AEW’s Chief Branding Officer, Brandi Rhodes, added to this. She explained that AEW doesn’t look at race, gender or sexuality, they judge the talent purely on their wrestling ability:

“[We’re] looking at everybody as a wrestling star,” Brandi stated. “Sometimes people see wrestlers for other attributes they have — their race, gender or sexuality — we just see this person as an incredible athlete, and we need them on our team.”

Safe Space

One AEW star who is grateful for AEW’s values is Nyla Rose. Despite being a transgender competitor, AEW has never made a point of it or turned it into a storyline. Rose admits this was “huge” for her.

“That was a huge thing for me,” Rose said, before adding, “transphobic critics who say AEW is shoving [her gender] down their throats couldn’t be more wrong. Nobody said anything!”

Commenting on dealing with daily hate, Rose said, “It’s a little hard to see such hateful, spiteful vitriol being spewed daily. It doesn’t cost you anything to use my proper pronouns. That’s how I identify, that’s who I am, that’s not a character, that doesn’t go away when the camera stops rolling.”

Ultimately, Rose is thankful that AEW has her back and are taking steps to make sure AEW is a “safe space for everyone, so everyone feels welcome.”

AEW: Dynamite premieres on TNT next week, October 2nd.

‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll recently spoke with the Daily Mirror regarding speculation about his Ring of Honor (ROH) contract and where he might end up once it expires. He also discussed his time with the promotion before stressing that as one of the company’s biggest stars, he should have been World Champion a long time ago.

Regarding where Scurll may call home once his ROH contract ends, ‘The Villain’ said: “As a businessman running a huge enterprise, it wouldn’t be smart for me to discuss my potential business decisions with a journalistic tabloid. That being said, I certainly aim to make waves in the wrestling world, and continue to raise Villain Enterprises stock through the roof.”

He continued, “ROH has been a great home for me. I’ve had some of my greatest wrestling experiences here. To me it has potential to be everything wrestling should be. I’ve been the biggest star here for a long time. But there’s still a lot I need to achieve – I think everyone agrees I should have won the world championship at MSG – now it’s time to right those wrongs.”

Addressing his friends from The Elite, all of whom are now in All Elite Wrestling, Scurll was succinct with his response: “All my friends are dead. What the f*** is AEW?”

Scurll faces off against Colt Cabana tonight during ROH’s pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor. Their match is a first-round clash in the Final Battle Number One Contender Tournament. The show takes place from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WWE Champion Kofi Kingston has shared his thoughts ahead of his clash with Brock Lesnar next Friday during SmackDown’s FOX premiere.

Taking to Twitter, Kingston stated that the championship match is another opportunity for him to prove his doubters wrong. He also aims to prove those who believe in him right and show that nothing is impossible.

“One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I enjoy proving people wrong. Not as an “I told you so” but rather as a reminder that nothing is impossible. Next Friday, I get the chance to prove a lot of people wrong. And those who do believe in me, I get to prove them right!”

He continued, “When I do, hopefully believers and nonbelievers alike will see it feasible that they too can overcome the “impossibilities” they face in their own lives. 8 days…Friday night Smackdown is coming…#BeatBrock #Smackdown #Fox”

The two have wrestled one another in the past during the 2015 WWE Network special, The Beast In The East, which took place in Tokyo, Japan. Lesnar defeated Kingston during this previous exchange.

Kingston and Lesnar compete for the WWE Championship on the blue brand’s FOX premiere on October 4th. This show also happens to coincide with SmackDown’s 20th Anniversary.

Jim Johnston has composed some of the most memorable theme songs in pro wrestling. He provided the entrance music for stars such as ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, The Rock, DX, The Undertaker and The Ultimate Warrior, to name just a few. Johnston worked for WWE creating themes for 32 years before being released from his contract in 2017.

In an official statement, Ring of Honor (ROH) announced that Johnston has created a new theme for Villain Enterprises member, PCO. The theme will be debuted during tonight’s ROH pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor.

“It’s been great fun to work on a new theme for PCO and Ring of Honor,” Johnston told ROHWrestling.com. “The energy there has been all positive, and it’s been my honor to hopefully make a small contribution to their continued success.”

PCO has said he is thrilled with the final result and can’t wait for fans to hear it during ROH’s Las Vegas show.

“It really brings the essence of PCO and adds another dimension to the immortality,” PCO said. “It reinforces that PCO is not human. Adding this piece of the puzzle on top of everything else, the success of The French-Canadian Frankenstein becomes limitless.”

PCO battles Kenny King tonight at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor event. Their match is a first-round clash in the Final Battle Number One Contender Tournament. The show takes place from Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WWE confirmed the long-rumored changes to the broadcast teams of both Raw and SmackDown yesterday, alongside the official announcement of its F1S studio show dubbed WWE Backstage.

Though the reports which have come out since then have provided some interesting updates on these announcements and they reveals that some of these arrangements might not be permanent.

As part of their announcement, WWE confirmed that Jerry Lawler will be returning to Raw for commentary, however, Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting that the company only intends to use him for a short period of time.

Officials are considering other people to fulfil the position on a full-time basis. Speculation is that this is why Mickie James was featured on Main Event as one of the commentators this week, though this news is not confirmed.

The arrangement for the F1S studio show which is announced to be hosted by Booker T and Renee Young seems to be temporary as well.

According to report from PWinsider, a number of WWE Legends have been brought to Los Angeles to audition for a role on the show and the idea is to switch between these personalities on different weeks.

We can also see multi-person booths as Fox has played with different versions of the show ranging from panels of 3 to 5 people but nothing is locked yet.

Though one name who will be a staple for the show is Cathy Kelley. She is expected to be a big part of the program and Kelley will be splitting her time between NXT and the new series going forward.

As far as the production goes, the show will be pre-taped once a week and its set is made to look like it’s inside a wrestling ring with yellow ropes.

These changes are only the beginning of things and with the scheduled drafts, we can expect the rosters of both SmackDown and Raw to be shuffled in similar fashion as well.

While WWE is gearing up for major scheduling change to its weekly programming in the next couple of weeks, one program they can’t seem to figure out the right spot for is 205 Live.

The company hasn’t made any official announcement regarding the future of the Cruiserweight Exclusive show and while it was recently suggested that it will be moving to Friday nights, this arrangement seems to be temporary as well.

Dave Meltzer talked about the future of 205 Live in the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio and he revealed that the NXT creatives are now also handling 205 Live.

According to Meltzer, WWE Vice President Triple H is in charge of 205 Live alongside NXT and NXT UK and the Network Exclusive series is described as “his show”.

Although as far as its move to Friday nights go, it’s said to be a temporary arrangement and officials haven’t decided if they want to continue 205 Live’s pairing with SmackDown after the Fox Network move as well.

So while 205 Live will air on Friday night next week from Los Angeles, it’s possible that the officials decide something different for the show and it either moves nights again in near future or gets canceled altogether.

Wednesday’s edition of WWE NXT averaged 1.006 million viewers, which is down from the 1.179 million viewers that the show drew last week that marked its premiere episode on the USA Network, according to ShowbuzzDaily. 

To compare, this week’s RAW drew 2.210 million viewers (down from last week’s 2.272 million viewers) and Tuesday’s SmackDown drew 2.099 million viewers (up from last week’s  2.064 million viewers).

The episode was expected to draw big viewership numbers because it was the second episode of NXT on network television. 

The show had to go up against that Basketball Wives did 1.134 million viewers, Tucker Carlson Tonight with 3.715, and Anderson Cooper 1.638. Suits that followed NXT on the USA Network did 861,000, which is down from the 955,000 viewers from the prior week.

Matches that took place on this show include Keith Lee defeats Dominik Dijakovic in a singles match that opened the show, Dakota Kai defeats Taynara Conti, and Matt Riddle defeats Killian Dain in a WWE NXT Title #1 Contendership Street Fight that served as the main event. 

In case you missed the show, you can check out the 6 takeaways from it here.

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

Another title match has been announced for next Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, which will mark the season premiere of the flagship show. 

RAW Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode will make their next title defense against Heavy Machinery on this show. 

The company announced the news on Thursday. This will be the first title defense for Roode and Ziggler. 

WWE RAW Viewership Down From Last Week

Heavy Machinery has been working squash matches on SmackDown Live for the past few weeks. They were last seen competing on RAW when they worked a Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Turmoil Match. 

The match joins a stacked lineup for the show. RAW takes place at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. 

WWE is loading up the show and hyping it as a new season of RAW, they have done in the past. Below is the updated announced line-up:

• WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio
• Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman appear
• The Miz hosts MizTV with WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan
• Sasha Banks vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Alexa Bliss
• WWE United States Champion AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander
• RAW Tag Team Champions Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler vs. Heavy Machinery

There have been lots of speculations and rumors of WWE shuffling their announce teams with the upcoming schedule changes. Now the company has confirmed that major change is coming to the commentary booth of both their premier brands.

The promotion recently released a press release on their official website where they confirmed the new announce teams for both Raw and SmackDown Live ahead of the upcoming drafts.

According to the announcement, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler will be returning to WWE programming as the analyst for Raw and he will be joined by 205 Live’s Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin on the commentary booth of the show.

On the other hand, Michael Cole, who has been the voice of Raw for more than a decade will be moved to SmackDown Live for the play by play duties of the show and he will have Corey Graves and Renee Young by his side.

No changes have been made to the commentary team of NXT and the Black and Yellow brand’s programming will continue to feature Mauro Ranallo with Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuiness.

This is only the first of the many major changes we might see on the WWE programming in the next couple of weeks as the company reshuffles its weekly schedule.

With The Blue Branded Show moving to Friday nights on Fox and the drafts shaking up the roster for both the premier shows in Raw and SmackDown, one can only imagine what the brands will look like once its all said and done.