As expected, Samoa Joe made his return to WWE television on Monday’s episode of RAW in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the USA Network.
While Joe didn’t return to in-ring action, he did rejoin the announcement team. Earlier in the day, his return was reported by Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet. He replaced WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler.
Joe had done commentary for the flagship show of WWE before. Last year, he replaced Dio Madden on the team.
It was reported back in November that Joe, who received rave reviews from fans, was being recognized backstage for how good he is in that role.
The reason that Joe was chosen for this role was due to him being out of action after suffering a thumb injury back in September. It turns out that injury also put him back in the chair as a color commentator in 2020.
The “RAW: Must Be Monday” commercial was filmed in February and released in March.
It turns out that this is the same commercial where Joe suffered a concussion while filming it. At the time, it was reported Joe suffered the concussion while taking a bad table bump during a commercial shoot.
As recent as last week it was reported that Joe wasn’t medically cleared from his concussion.
The April 27th edition of RAW aired from the Performance Center in Orlando. Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins signed the contract tonight to make their WWE Championship match official for the Money in the Bank PPV on May 10th.
WWE RAW Results (4/27)
Apollo Crews, Rey Mysterio, Alesiter Black def. Andrade, Angel Garza, Austin Theory
Bobby Lashey def. Denzel Dejournette
Liv Morgan def. Ruby Riott
Jinder Mahal def. Akira Tozawa
Andrade def. Apollo Crews to retain the United States Championship
Cedric Alexander & Ricochet def. Ever-Rise
McIntyre & Rollins signed the contract to make their WWE Championship match official for Money in the Bank
Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
Apollo Crews, Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black Picked Up A Win
MVP kicked off the show and welcomed Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black, and Apollo Crews to the VIP Lounge. Crews defeated MVP to qualify for the MITB Ladder match. Samoa Joe was on commentary instead of Jerry Lawler.
MVP said that winning the Ladder match will cement Rey’s legacy. MVP asked Apollo Crews if he has what it takes to win the MITB Ladder match.
Apollo was about to answer but was quickly interrupted by Zelina Vega, Angel Garza, Austin Theory, and United States Champion Andrade. Vega said that nobody in the WWE Universe wants to hear what Apollo Crews has to say.
Vega claimed that the WWE Universe cannot get enough of Andrade, Angel Garza, and Austin Theory. They wanted Rey, Aleister, and Apollo to give up their MITB slots and Rey laughed at that notion. A brawl then broke out and it led to a match.
Match Recap: Black dominated early and trapped Garza in the corner. Apollo and Austin tagged in and Crews planted Theory with a massive Suplex. When RAW returned from a break, Austin Theory had Black trapped in a Headlock in the middle of the ring. The action went back forth until Apollo Crews planted Andrade with a Powerbomb for the pinfall victory. After the match, Apollo Crews and Andrade traded words backstage. Crews wanted a title shot and slapped Andrade in the face to end the segment.
Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, and Asuka were supposed to compete in a Triple Threat match tonight but it wound up not happening.
A brawl broke out before the bell rang and Shayna dominated early. Nia Jax battled back and was the one left standing. Nia’s music then played and the match never began.
Opinion: I understand that WWE wants to make Nia Jax look unstoppable again but this sucked. RAW is three hours and we just watched a 6-man tag team match for 45 minutes. I’m not sure why we couldn’t just get the advertised Triple Threat match.
Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal made his return on this week’s episode of RAW. Jinder battled Akira Tozawa.
Match Recap: Mahal and Akira locked up and Jinder immediately slammed him to the mat. Mahal stood over Tozawa with a grin on his face before launching him out of the ring. Jinder followed Tozawa outside and slammed him into the ring apron.
Jinder threw Akira into the barricade before bringing him back into the ring. Mahal then hit the Khallas for the pinfall victory.
Andrade Retained Because Apollo Crews Couldn’t Continue
Andrade defended his United States Championship against Apollo Crews tonight on RAW.
Match Recap: Andrade controlled the action early and applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring. Crews broke free but Andrade sent him to the canvas and stomped on him several times. Andrade hit Crews with a couple chops in the corner before stomping him back down to the mat. Andrade sent Crews back to the outside and leveled him with a Clothesline as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, Andrade was still in control and focused his attack on Apollo’s knee. Andrade applied a Half Crab but Crews was able to escape. Apollo hit a Belly to Belly Suplex and perched Andrade up on the top turnbuckle. Crews slammed Andrade to the mat and hit a Standing Moonsault for a near fall.
Andrade connected with Double Knees and went for the cover but Apollo kicked out at the last moment. Andrade followed it up with a DDT for another near fall. Crews connected with an Enziguri and then a Slam for a two count. Andrade and Apollo battled on the top turnbuckle.
The United States Champion went for a Superplex but Crews knocked him down with a headbutt. Crews went for a Splash but Andrade got out of the way. Apollo grabbed his knee in pain and the referee checked if Crews could continue. The referee ruled that Apollo couldn’t continue and called for the bell.
The referee determines @WWEApollo can no longer continue with the knee injury.
Later on the show, Crews was interviewed backstage. Apollo was on crutches and got choked up. Apollo didn’t answer a question and the announcers played up that his status for Money in the Bank is unknown.
Opinion: The finish sucked but it made sense because Apollo’s knee was the story of the match. I didn’t really want to see Crews win the United States Championship a couple of weeks before competing in the Money in the Bank Ladder match.
Jerry “The King” Lawler moderated the contract signing between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre for their WWE Championship match at Money in the Bank.
After the introductions, McIntyre suggested that Jerry leave the ring given how all the contract signings end in a fight. Drew quickly signed the contract and slid it over to Rollins.
Seth paused before signing as McIntyre said time is ticking. Rollins claimed that he doesn’t want this, he has to do this. Seth added that the WWE Championship needs to be with him and that Drew will be a great champion some day.
Rollins claimed that McIntyre was not a leader and that the industry needs someone that can guide them. Seth vowed to be the “light in that darkness”. Rollins added that he suffered for the title and he doesn’t want to see that happen to McIntyre.
Seth told McIntyre that he doesn’t want to be the one to crush McIntyre’s dream but that is a sacrifice he is willing to make for the greater good. Rollins claimed that this will all make sense to Drew in time and when it does, he will lead McIntyre as well.
McIntyre thanked Rollins for his speech and said that things are clear now. Drew changed his tune and told Seth that he is full of shit. McIntyre wondered where Rollins’ followers were now and noted how Rollins never accepted any fault for the fans turning on him.
Drew added that nobody ever wants to hear Rollins and he somehow is able to get his foot stuck in his mouth and up his ass as well. McIntyre told Rollins to go for the throat at Money in the Bank because he sure as hell is going for Seth’s. Rollins stated that the big picture will become clear at Money in the Bank and Drew will be better off for it.
Rollins was about to tell McIntyre to have faith in him but Drew didn’t want to hear it. McIntyre bounced Rollins’ head off the table and set up for a Claymore Kick. Murphy attacked Drew from behind and beat him down in the corner of the ring. Seth and Murphy shared a hug before McIntyre leveled Murphy with a Claymore Kick to end the show.
Opinion: I really enjoyed this segment and it was by far the most entertaining part of tonight’s show. Overall, I thought this week’s RAW was painfully boring and I sincerely hope the go-home show next week is better. It is damn near impossible for it to be worse.
Luke Gallows is attempting to gain the trademark rights to the term “Sex Ferguson.”
He did so under his WrestleMerica promotion on April 22nd with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). WrestleMerica had filed trademarks for Good Brothers, Big LG and Talk’n Shop in the past as well.
The filing for the trademark notes that it is for the following:
“G & S: Hats; Hooded sweatshirts; Pants; Shirts; Sweatshirts” as well as “G & S: Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, providing podcasts in the field of professional wrestling, sports entertainment, and pop culture; Entertainment services, namely, providing video podcasts in the field of professional wrestling, sports entertainment, and pop culture; Presentation of live show performances; Presentation of live comedy shows; Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; Providing online interviews featuring a professional wrestler, sports entertainer, and podcaster in the field of professional wrestling, sports entertainment, and pop culture for entertainment purposes”
The former WWE star had previously filed for the trademark in July 2017. However, in April of the following year, he allowed it to expire. He previously used the Sex Ferguson gimmick on Colt Cabana’s Wrestling Road Diaries.
Once he went to WWE, he changed it to “Tex Ferguson” as more of a PG version of the character in order to use it for WWE’s Southpaw Regional Wrestling mini-series.
Gallows and Karl Anderson were released from WWE two weeks ago when the company decided to make mass firing of staff and talent.
Longtime WWE employee Gerald Brisco has been furloughed by WWE.
Brisco has been with WWE since 1984. He’s been key figure behind the scenes for decades. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer noted on Monday night that Brisco was released. However, the 73-year-old legend set the record straight that he is not officially gone from the company.
What a writer made a mistake, to set things right. I have not been let go yet I’ve been placed on furlough don’t know who leaked the wrong news. I hope get back to helping young folks find there dream. If not it been on heck of a run #cantkeepawrestlerdown
Earlier this month, WWE decided to release or furlough several wrestlers as well as producers from their contracts with the company.
Brisco worked with McMahon at the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT and later became one of McMahon’s most trusted advisors. In fact, he was only a few people who knew ahead of time about the 1997 Montreal Screwjob on Bret Hart at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event.
Brisco also served as a character on WWE RAW during the Attitude Era and later became the company’s top talent scout.
During his time as a scout, he had connections in the amateur wrestling world as a former Oklahoma State wrestler.
In fact, he discovered Brock Lesnar as a junior at Minnesota. Not only did he sign Lesnar to a WWE deal but also did so for various top amateur wrestlers of the last 25 years who worked for WWE.
AEW commentator Taz is also hosting a Q&A session this week. The Taz Q&A streams live on Facebook and YouTube this Thursday night at at 8pm (Eastern). Use the hashtag #AskTaz on social media to submit your questions.
Here is your chance to ask @OfficialTAZ your burning questions as he will be doing a live Q&A on our Official YouTube & Facebook pages on Thursday, April 30th at 8 pm EST.
Here is AEW’s latest Road to the TNT Championship Tournament update. This week’s installment hypes the two tournament Semifinal matches taking place this week on Dynamite:
The 201st episode of Being the Elite was released on YouTube today. At the start of the episode, Matt and Nick loosely address rumors that BTE was finishing soon.
“When are we going to end it, who knows?” Nick asked.
Nick then said he had some bad news he had to deliver. Last week, the show ended with a tease that the brothers “had something else to do” and as it turns out, Nick went back to the hospital to get checked out. He went straight to the hospital and doctors told him his health is only at 15%. Far from what he’ll need to be to return to the ring.
Matt then said he also went to the hospital and doctors told him his back is hurt for another 2 years. He lamented that fans might get tired of him selling the injury for that long.
As they were sitting around talking, they noticed a message in the sky. At the conclusion of the episode, the message in the sky was revealed and displayed, “FTR.”
The episode also features an update on Luchasaurus searching for his tail. This week he turned to “Dr.” PJ Black for help. He ended up going on quite the psychedelic journey as a result. Brandon Cutler is starting the “kick out challenge” in an attempt to improve his losing AEW record. Colt Cabana also gets himself on the show again. Private Party is also trying to solve the mystery of who threw an exploding bear at them.
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
Major League Wrestling presented a new episode of Fusion this weekend on YouTube and BeIN Sports. The show featured the 5th and 6th matches in the MLW vs AAA Super Series.
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
MLW Fusion 4/25/20 Quick Results
Caribbean Championship Richard Holiday (c) defeated Chessman
Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brian Pillman Jr.) defeated Texano Jr. & Rey Escorpion Jr.
Hart Foundation Give MLW A 4-2 Lead In Super Series
Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. teamed up for the first time in many months this week. They took the early advantage in their match against Texano and Rey Escorpion Jr. but the members of Injustice would change that. The trio caused a distraction while Pillman was in the ring, allowing the AAA team to take control of the match.
There was several examples of referee bias toward AAA wrestlers in this match as well. Davey Boy was prevented from tagging in during a key moment for his team. Eventually, Pillman fought off both opponents and tagged in Davey Boy right in front of the referee. Davey Boy cleared house and Pillman hit a plancha to the outside. The Hart Foundation then hit a modified version of the Hart Attack (with Pillman springboarding off the ropes and Davey Boy holding up Texano) for the win!
With the win, MLW goes up 4-2 in the MLW vs AAA Super Series.
Richard Holliday Retains “His” Caribbean Championship
In previous episodes, we’ve seen that Holiday didn’t even know who he would be defending his title against in Tijuana. It should also be noted that the Caribbean Championship doesn’t actually belong to him. Savio Vega is the rightful holder of the title that Holliday is in possession of. Despite this, Holliday’s lawyer/father continues to lobby for the belt to be made an official MLW title.
Holiday informed the fans in attendance that they likely would not be able to afford his air pods, ingratiating himself to them. Chessman then took the early control of the match before Holiday hit him with a chair. Chessman would battle back but would miss a top-rope move allowing Holiday to hit the Market Crash for the win.
Low-Ki Interrupts Team Filthy Press Conference
A press conference featuring the members of Team Filthy was planned for this week. It never happened, however. Low-Ki is reported to have gone after Dan Lambert and then Team Filthy left before the press conference could begin. Lambert played an instrumental role in King Mo’s controversial victory over Low-Ki a few weeks back.
Low-Ki was filmed in the parking lot telling Team Filthy and American Top Team that they are the ones who started this war.
The officiating during the MLW vs AAA Super Series has been suspect at best. Douglas James was denied a victory over Averno after a long 2-count during his match. Tom Lawlor and Dominic Garrini were denied a blind tag in their match last week as well. It was noted on this week’s MLW broadcast that the league has issued a formal complaint to AAA regarding the officiating.
Last week on Fusion, Mance Warner shoved Alexander Hammerstone’s face into Alicia Atout’s birthday cake. This week, Warner apologized to Atout and offered her a light beer as a gift. Atout told Warner she was happy he sent MJF out of the territory and suggested he could turn his attention to other members of the Dynasty as well. Warner said he’d like to get some gold like Hammerstone’s National Openweight title.
A video was shown featuring Hammerstone saying the Openweight title is like his birth certificate, as in it always has his name on it. These two are bound to clash for that belt sometime soon.
Inustice will get a shot at the AAA Trios titles next week when they take on Los Jinetes del Aire (El Hijo del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. & Octagon Jr.). This match came about after Injustice and Konnan had a backstage run-in previously. Brian Pillman Jr. may be watching this match closely. The members of Injustice came out to distract him this week and Pillman still wants revenge for the faction’s recent attack on him. Pillman is also said to be losing weight in order to qualify for a middleweight title shot against Myron Reed.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is the new video game is development.
Following the recent confirmation that WWE 2K21 has been shelved, 2K has announced the launch of WWE 2K Battlegrounds. The game will be an arcade-style action experience easy for newcomers to pick-up. The tagline reads, “Brawl Without Limits.”
“We’re thrilled to introduce you to WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a completely new WWE gaming experience that will feature arcade-style action and over-the-top Superstar designs, environments and moves,” 2K’s press release reads. “We’re focusing on social pick-up-and-play fun, but with plenty of depth for those who want to get way into it.”
WWE 2K Battlegrounds will be released for home video game consoles this fall.
A trailer for the upcoming game can be viewed below.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds Trailer
As for the future of WWE 2K games, the press release confirmed again there will be no WWE 2K21 game. The company announced they have extended the development timeline for the next game.
“We are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in 2020 (T2 fiscal year 2021). We want to ensure the development team at Visual Concepts can create a great game that will entertain grizzled WWE 2K veterans, as well as newcomers who want to climb through the ropes and step into the ring for the very first time.”
2K also announced that they have hired Patrick Gilmore as the next Executive Producer.
Marty Scurll was the first guest on the new ROH Strong podcast. During the conversation, Scurll talked about the company’s decision to cancel shows and mentioned that ROH has filmed a handful of empty arena matches.
ROH was forced to cancel its planned 18th Anniversary PPV on March 13th and television taping scheduled for the next night. The company then announced on March 17th that they were canceling all shows up to May 31st.
“It broke my heart but I was like ‘we can’t run these shows,'” Scurll said on the show. “This is way bigger than pro-wrestling, like, that would be so irresponsible for us to run a wrestling show.”
Scurll continued to talk about how the predicament was particularly upsetting for him as he is just starting in his new position with the company.
“No one was more heartbroken then myself,” Scurll continued. “Even though I’ve sort of been hands-on with the show since January, I felt like these were really my first shows that I had full control of.”
“I put so many hours of time and thought into these shows.”
Marty Scurll On Canceled ROH Shows
Scurll continued to say he had a lot planned for the weekend.
“I had a lot of surprises in store for that weekend, a lot of new and exciting things,” he continued. “I wanted so badly for those shows to happen but ultimately, it wasn’t worth putting people’s lives at risk.”
He continued to say that ROH did film a few empty arena matches in Vegas. The matches involved talent who had already arrived in Vegas before the shows were canceled.
“We discussed about doing empty arena shows and everything else. We actually did film a handful of matches with no fans with some of the talent that was there just to see how it would look and if we can make something from it,” he continued. Ultimately, Scurll says the decision was made to save the “Past vs Present” concept until a time when they can do it right.
All Elite Wrestling’s Dustin Rhodes recently participated in an online Q&A session via Twitter. Some of the questions he answered regarded his interest in being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He was also asked whether he missed portraying Goldust at all.
Although his father, Dusty Rhodes, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame back in 2007, an induction isn’t something that Dustin is overtly concerned about.
Despite this confession, he remains open-minded to the idea. He shared that “If it comes, it comes.” Until then, however, he remains focused on AEW and helping to grow and develop their “talented kids.”
That is not what I concern myself with. If it comes, it comes. I am focused on @AEWrestling and growing our talented kids.
Having first portrayed WWE’s Goldust back in 1995, Dustin has an undeniably long history with the character. When asked if he missed Goldust at all, he admitted that he didn’t.
That being said, he remains thankful for the years he was able to bring Goldust to life through his various iterations.
Dustin Rhodes recently defeated Kip Sabian to advance in the AEW TNT Championship Tournament. He is scheduled to face off against Lance Archer on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite in the semi-finals. If successful, Dustin would advance to vie for the championship against either Darby Allin or his brother Cody Rhodes.
WWE NXT Superstar Io Shirai has opened up about the differences between wrestling in Japan and the United States.
Speaking with WWE show The Bump, Shirai detailed how wrestler win/loss records have an impact on how promoters decide on contenders in Japan.
Shirai noted how in the United States, wrestling is “more than the win or the defeat.” She highlighted how the story and process that leads into the matchup is what makes an American audience react.
When she wrestled in Japan, Io Shirai was only focused on winning. After arriving in America, however, “I realized that just winning the match won’t make me supported by the audience. It’s more about the process and the story that leads to the win or the defeat.”
It’s a moment she believes it shared between wrestler and audience. She explained how, upon realizing this, she was able to immerse herself deeper into pro wrestling.
Io Shirai is the current number one contender to Charlotte Flair’s NXT Women’s Championship. She won the right to face off against Flair after winning a #1 Contender’s Ladder Match on the 4/8 episode of NXT. Shirai defeated Mia Yim, Chelsea Green, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Tegan Nox for the right to challenge Flair.
All Elite Wrestling announcer Jim Ross has addressed the recent ratings drop Dynamite has experienced for the past few weeks. Dynamite competes head-to-head on Wednesday nights against WWE’s black-and-gold brand NXT. Speaking with Wrestling Epicenter, Ross shared how there has been “no knee-jerk reaction” to NXT winning two of the last three weeks.
Jim Ross stated that he isn’t worried about the recent numbers. “You said the numbers are going down – True statement. In certain demographics… This is far from a disaster.”
He explained how Dynamite is “sandwiched” between WWE shows on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which he believes means their “audience is still finding us.”
Jim Ross On AEW’s Audience
Jim Ross acknowledged how the coronavirus pandemic has forced AEW to put on empty arena shows. It’s a situation that “affects everybody.” Ross pointed out how the fans are a big part of the show and that an AEW crowd is “very young, defiant, and make a lot of noise. All of us really miss that!”
Ross juxtaposed the current ratings war with WWE and WCW’s Monday Night Wars during the ‘90s. He stressed how they “didn’t have time to worry about the ratings” as, by the time you got them, you were busy doing it again.
He shared how that didn’t leave a lot of time to moan or celebrating the numbers either way. With that in mind, Jim Ross reiterated how he isn’t worried about AEW’s current ratings as “we’re doing just fine and we know where we’re going.”
All Elite Wrestling World Champion Jon Moxley has addressed competing in front of zero fans. Speaking with Uproxx.com, Moxley stressed how the audience is a “critical element” of pro wrestling. He noted how, without them, there is a noticeably missing energy that makes performing challenging.
“Everybody’s kind of finding different ways to work around that, whether that’s the way you shoot it on camera, or lot of people are doing different cinematic style matches and stuff. It’s definitely tough.”
Jon Moxley On Being More Physical
According to Jon Moxley, when a crowd is going crazy it can be “like a mask and stuff.” Their energy helps to feed the energy of the performers so, without them, he believes talent has to up their physicality. Without that mask in place, Moxley noted how important it is for wrestlers to “keep everything tighter.”
Jon Moxley was proud of his recent matchup against Inner Circle member Jake Hager. The two competed in a No Holds Barred Empty Arena match. He pointed to how their clash was “real physical” and “realistic” because of how they beat each other up for real.
He acknowledged how it’s not ideal for anyone to wrestle in empty arenas. Jon Moxley then stressed that “as long as everybody’s safe and so forth” and it helps entertain fans during the coronavirus pandemic, then it’s worth it.
When Kofi Kingston first debuted for WWE in 2006, his character wore Jamaican colors and spoke with a Jamaican accent. Speaking with Muscle & Fitness’ Reps Podcast, the New Day member reflected on how happy he was to be able to drop the accent. He also revealed Vince McMahon’s reaction to an interview that revealed Kingston wasn’t actually Jamaican.
Kingston shared how Vince McMahon instructed him to do all of his interviews with the Jamaican accent. Any time he was on screen or being interviewed, he had to reply with the accent. He explained how WWE Magazine would calm him from a regular number. Kingston would answer with his regular voice, only to be asked if Kofi was around to take a call. “I would say ‘Oh hold on’ and then answer in Jamaican.”
Keeping up the accent was, admittedly, “really annoying.” Kingston reflected on how the only other Superstar who could relate was Santino Marella.
Kofi Kingston On Being Revealed
The Superstar then spoke about how a BBC interview pressed him for an answer regarding his name and accent. Kofi Kingston revealed how they confronted him over Kofi not being a Jamaican name. They asked him why he was playing a Jamaican character, forcing him to come up with a variety of answers.
“So finally I get off the phone and I’m sweating and I’m like it’s over. Then all of a sudden maybe an hour later my mom calls me up and says ‘Somebody from the BBC just called and they asked me about your Jamaican heritage and I told them you were from Ghana and this,’ and I was like ‘No! Mom, kayfabe, kayfabe!’ Eventually, I told Vince about it and he said not as many people are going to read that article as you think, and then in a year I ended up being able to drop it.”
Kofi Kingston admitted that dropping the accent was a relief. Kingston believed that playing that character was only going to allow him to reach a certain level. He thinks that those who can get to the top of the business are playing a version of themselves “just turned way up.” Although he liked certain characteristics of that version of Kofi, he was grateful to “have that lid popped up” so he could continue climbing the ladder in WWE.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre believes that Vince McMahon is seemingly able to “predict the future.” Speaking with Rebellious Noise, McIntyre opened up about Vince labeling him the “Chosen One” during his first run with WWE. According to him, he never felt the pressure of the recognition at the time due to his age.
Drew McIntyre explained how “[…] when I was younger, nothing fazed me, so I didn’t see it as pressure. I saw it as something that was really cool, but I did learn a lot.” He admitted how, looking back with hindsight, he knew he wasn’t ready. He stressed how he wouldn’t change a thing as it was all part of his journey—a journey that eventually led him to claim the promotion’s top prize in the main event of WrestleMania.
Drew McIntyre, “The Chosen One”
Drew McIntyre still remembers the promo that Vince McMahon cut where he referred to him as a future world champion. He shared how he didn’t know Vince was going to say that. “I was supposed to just go out there and talk, then Vince comes out and says something.” McIntyre revealed how he was watching alongside everyone else and how it was surreal to have to consider the situation “normal.”
With Drew McIntyre defeating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36, Vince McMahon’s early predictions finally came true. McIntyre stated how Vince has a crystal ball and is seemingly able to predict the future. He shared how Vince would talk about the WWE Network long before the WWE Network existed. He highlighted how Vince had claimed he would be a “future world champion” without specifying exactly when that was going to happen.
Former WWE Superstar Christian has shared his thoughts on Edge’s Last Man Standing Matchup at WrestleMania 36. His longtime friend and former tag team partner faced off against Randy Orton at “The Show of Shows.”
When asked on WWE show The Bumpwhat he thought of their clash, Christian joked how “It was alright.”
He highlighted how it’s unheard of for anybody to come back from the kind of injury that forced Edge to retire back in 2011. Christian noted how “it wasn’t in the setting or the environment that […] they both had hoped it would be in” due to the coronavirus pandemic. To him, however, it doesn’t matter if there was a crowd present or not: as soon as Edge’s music hit and he walked down the ramp, it became one of WrestleMania’s “greatest moments.”
Christian considered match itself to be the “[…] hard-hitting, a–kicking streetfight match that it needed to be. That’s what this match was built up to to be, and I think they delivered.”
Looking to the future, Christian shared who he’d love to see Edge feud with going forward. He joked about wanting to see Braun Strowman “kick his ass.” He then listed some of WWE’s top Superstars including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and even “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler found himself in hot water with fans after making a joke during an episode of RAW earlier this month.
Lawler was on commentary for the show that included a match that saw Austin Theory score a win over Akira Tozawa. During the match, Lawler referred to Tozawa’s senton as the “Ramen Noodle Moonsault.”
Towards the end of the latest episode of his podcast (around the 53-minute mark, Lawler addressed the joke that was controversial.
“Are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room from last week? I said the word ramen noodles on Raw. [The] next thing you know, the internet blows up and I’m a big racist. Let me go back and explain what I was doing and why being racist was the furthest thing from my mind.”
Lawler recalled a situation in 2016 where he was doing commentary with Mauro Ranallo and they were calling a match. Ranallo called a move that was like, orange crush Tiger Bomb blah blah senton.
Lawler points out despite his history in the business, he doesn’t know the names of these crazy moves being performed. At the time, he thought somebody was making up crazy names for these moves.
This is when he wrote down some names of what he thought would be funny moves to go back to Mauro when he called one of these moves. He stated that he was doing it just to play devil’s advocate with Mauro.
He also stated that if he was still doing commentary with Michael Cole or Jim Ross, they had the chemistry to where each one of those guys would have known that he was almost making a fool out of himself by claiming like he knew what the move was.
Lawler continued by noting that at that point Cole or Ross would’ve made light of the situation by saying that Lawler knew better than that. However, it’s different from working with Bryon Saxton and Tom Philips because they don’t have the chemistry of working together yet.
Thus, with them working together for a short period of time, they didn’t even acknowledge it so it kind of went out, and they just kept talking and he kept talking.
The Point
“I didn’t think anything about it either.” That’s where me, Bobby Heenan, Jesse Ventura, and all of the heel commentators do that sort of stuff. The joke is on yourself. The people out there say, look at that idiot, he doesn’t even know what he’s talking about and he thinks he does.’”
Maxwell Jacob Friedman is currently on the shelf with a hangnail. He updated fans on his condition during the latest episode of AEW Dynamite. Recently, MJF took a shot at both EC3 and Drake Maverick on Facebook. Friedman said that EC3’s new gimmick appears to be a Jon Moxley rip-off and he told him and Maverick to sign with Impact Wrestling since they are the only promotion who would take them.
“Hey Essential Character III (EC3) or whatever name you call yourself these days, why don’t you take your loser gimmick back to Impact Wrestling, the only company that will take your new Jon Moxley rip off character and take that irritating little weasel Drake Maverick/Rockstar Spud with you!” MJF wrote on Facebook. “Extended an olive branch to you and what did you do with it, spat in the face of someone who is better than you and you know it!”
EC3 had mentioned MJF in a recent video he posted.
“The Top 1% is a character that could garner a reaction, to entertain you, and its a character I could do better than anybody else, MJF,” EC3 says in the video. “It was a reality, though, that I simply imitated.”
ec3 character synopsis?? ?? Created by a perfect storm of frustration, angst, restraint, solitude and the sense of losing everything, the character of ec3 forced himself to consider the inconceivable.?? ?? That he was defeated.?? pic.twitter.com/63vA5avDgg
Chelsea Green is currently a part of the Robert Stone Brand on NXT programming. Green’s WWE career is just getting started but for many their time in the company came to an end earlier this month. Green was recently interviewed by WCSN and commented on the releases which included her partner, Zack Ryder and her friend, Deonna Purrazzo.
“This has been happening all over the world in every profession,” Green said. “It’s really, really unfortunate that two of the people who are closest to me in my life were released, but on the other hand, both of them are going to go on to do so much more, and I would feel terrible if that wasn’t the case, but that’s the case.”
Green continued to talk about how she is looking forward to seeing what both Ryder and Purrazzo do outside of WWE.
“Deonna has so much potential,” Green continued. “She was not used in the capacity she should have been used in. Matt has so much potential and has continued to prove that throughout his entire career. So, whatever Matt does, he’s fine.”
Green also noted during the interview that Lance Storm was a big influence on her career. She trained at the Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary. Storm shut the school down last year in order to work on the road with WWE as a producer. He was then one of the many producers who were either furloughed or released earlier this month.
“He really is like a dad to me, and to PeytonRoyce, and to Rachael, and everyone who’s gone through his school,” Green said about Storm.
Green last competed in the #1 contenders ladder match for the NXT women’s championship. She almost won the match as well but a knee injury prevented her from climbing the ladder. Highlights of the match can be seen below:
Dark Side of the Ring’s second season continues this week with an episode focussed on Dr. D David Schultz and his run-in with reporter John Stossel. The Rock recently commented on the upcoming episode.
The Great One noted on Twitter that he has already seen a cut of the episode and recommends wrestling fans watch. He tweeted, “This man was one of my all time fav heels (bad guys) in pro wrestling and an influence on me when I first shook his hand in Hawaii when I was 12. I’ve seen an early cut of this episode and highly recommend you watch, if you have any squared circle DNA in your blood. #DrD”
Schultz and Stossel were involved in an altercation backstage at Madison Square Garden in 1984. Stossel stated that he believed pro-wrestling was fake and Schultz physically assaulted him in response.
The episode will air Tuesday night at 10 pm on Vice TV and on Crave in Canada.
Schultz was fired from the WWF in 1984 possibly because of his altercation with reporter John Stossel. There are those who believe he may have been let go due to an altercation backstage with Mr. T, however. He returned to wrestle in Memphis after the incident but retired shortly after. Schultz then opened a bail bonds company.
Schultz was awarded the men’s Wrestling Award by the Cauliflower Alley Club in 2019. He is also a former 3x North American Champion in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling from Calgary and was inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame.
Triple H is one of the last old school guys in the current WWE roster and his wrestling style shows the influence of many famous names that came before him.
The Game recently joined Corey Graves on his After The Bell podcast where he talked about things like the WrestleMania 36 event, the effects of coronavirus, and more.
During the interview, Corey Graves asked Triple H about his dream matches and names from the past which he wishes he could have faced. Replying to the question, the King Of Kings took names like Dusty Rhodes and Harley Race
“You know there are certain guys in that period of time like Harley [Race] and Dusty [Rhodes]. I did a few little things with Dusty but to get in there when he was Dusty Rhodes [would have been great].
I would have loved to have got in there with Buddy Rogers.” said Triple H. “Just cause I think he is a guy that kind of changed the business and changed the pace of it.
Andre [The Giant] obviously would have been one that would have been huge. Harley would have definitely been one for me cause he was a big influence on me and I respected him so much.”
During the interview, Triple H also talked about WrestleMania 36 being a two-night event and discussed the possibility of future WrestleMania’s being stretched to two nights as well.
Apart from this, Triple H also talked about things like his WrestleMania 12 match with Ultimate Warrior, his favorite match, and more. You can check out his comments in the video below:
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently did a Q&A on Facebook and commented on a number of interesting topics.
Right off the bat, one fan asked him about what a dream match he thinks could take place between two WWE superstars who have never wrestled before.
This is where he named a match that could realistically happen soon perhaps taking place at WrestleMania 37. Angle picked Aleister Black challenging Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title.
Angle wrote, “Aleister Black vs Drew Mcintyre. Could be next year WrestleMania main event. Both are exceptional talents.”
WrestleMania 37 will take place on March 28th, 2021 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The stadium holds 70,000.
The belief is that seating can be expanded for an event like WrestleMania to hold upwards of 100,000 fans. Whether the event actually takes place at this venue remains to be seen.
WWE has been grooming Black as a rising star and McIntyre has been positioned as the top star on the RAW brand. Both guys are well-liked by RAW executive producer Paul Heyman.
Angle was one of the many WWE producers who were released and/or furloughed by the company last week as a way to save money.
Eric Bischoff recently responded to a fan on Twitter who asked why he does not like the term “Attitude Era.” According to Bischoff’s response, WWE’s Attitude Era was influenced by WCW Nitro and the product that the company he was President of was presenting at the time.
“Because the Attitude Era was nothing more than a derivative (I’m being elegant) of the nWo and Nitro era which forced WWE to abandon their previous creative strategy and presentation to compete with a new formula,” Bischoff Tweeted.
Bully Ray then noted on Twitter that ECW influenced both WCW and WWE at the time. The ECW alumni posted the following to Twitter in response to Bischoff’s comments:
And, the nWo, Nitro and Attitude Era were nothing more than a derivative of the ECW era.
ECW was the Napster of the wrestling business.
Both co’s may have gone out of business…but both co’s revolutionized their respective industries.
“I really do believe that they need more emphasis on story,” Bischoff said of the young promotion. “I know they have stories, I’m not suggesting that they don’t. Please don’t misunderstand me, that’s not what I mean. But what I do mean is, I think the storytelling? Could be vastly improved. I think the character development could really be improved. Not AS much as the storytelling, because they’ve got some great characters. But I do believe that the characters could be developed to be a little bit more unique. To be a little more different from each other. There’s a ‘sameness’ to the characters. It’s just the way I see things, in the way I interpret things.”
Taynara Conti was one of the many wrestlers released from WWE this month. Conti had been assigned to the NXT brand. She had been with the company since 2017.
“It’s been more than a week and I’ve said nothing yet but here I am,” Conti says in the video.
“First of all, I want to say that I’m okay. I’m happy, I’m healthy, and most important, I’m so excited for the future, for real.”
“As you guys know, I don’t work for WWE anymore. I was with the company for 2 and a half years or so, a little bit more I guess. Honestly, it was the most crazy and amazing opportunity of my whole life. I will always be grateful because WWE changed my life, and for the better. I came here to US and I had no English, I had no idea what wrestling was before.”
Conti also spoke about how her enthusiasm for WWE started to decrease in recent months.
“In the last couple of months, I was not feeling like that anymore, I was not happy,” she continued. Conti would then confirm she asked for her release a few months back.
“I asked for my release about 2 months ago and they were not able to give it to me by then and I had no option but to try again. Then in the middle of the pandemic, I got a call ‘Hey Tay, goodbye!’ They released me.”
As for what’s next for Conti, she mentioned that she wants to learn more about non-WWE wrestling.
“I want to learn wrestling more because I just know WWE and wrestling is much bigger than that,” she continued.
Hi guys, here it’s my video talking about my release from WWE and my future steps.
Former XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck is suing Vince McMahon. Luck was not listed as a creditor during the XFL’s bankruptcy filings. According to a recent statement issued by Vince McMahon’s attorneys, this was because Luck was terminated from the position on April 9th, 2020.
McMahon has issued the below statement on the lawsuit through his attorneys:
“Oliver Luck’s services as Commissioner and CEO of The XFL were terminated by a letter sent to him on Apr. 9, 2020 which explained the reasons for the termination. As to the lawsuit he filed, his allegations will be disputed and the position of Mr. McMahon will be set forth in our response to his lawsuit.”
Luck’s XFL contract was believed to be worth $20-25 million over 5 years depending on how well the league performed. The agreement stipulated he would receive all money owed if terminated without cause. His lawsuit is seeking to recoup the money owed on the contract.
The league issued the following statement to TMZ earlier this month:
“Unfortunately, as a new enterprise, we were not insulated from the harsh economic impacts and uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Accordingly, we have filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This is a heartbreaking time for many, including our passionate fans, players and staff, and we are thankful to them, our television partners, and the many Americans who rallied to the XFL for the love of football.”
