Despite all of his accomplishments and championship accolades in WWE, The Miz still feels disrespected by wrestling fans. Miz opened up about his feelings during a recent interview with Barstool Sports’ KFC Radio, where he revealed he doesn’t “get the respect” he feels he deserves.
“Even in WWE, sometimes I feel I don’t get the respect I feel like I want, maybe that I feel I deserve,” Miz said. “I’ve won every title there is to win, but yet sometimes I feel like — you know, you’ll read Twitter here and there and you’ll see all the negative comments. ‘You don’t deserve to be there, we hate you, you’re the worst.'”
The Miz then revealed that, although he sees the negative comments aimed at him, he uses them to drive him. He argued how the kind of person taking the time to embrace such negativity is probably “[…] some nerd in his basement just typing away. So, I use it as fuel.”
With Tucker’s unexpected assistance, The Miz defeated Otis at WWE’s Hell in a Cell event in October. His victory granted him the Money in the Bank contract, ensuring The Miz a future WWE Championship opportunity against a champion of his choice.
Posted November 19th, 2020 in News, WWE. Tagged: The Miz.
Zelina Vega was released from WWE recently. This was reportedly due to conflict between Vega and WWE regarding the company’s new policy of preventing members of its roster from working with 3rd parties such as Twitch and Cameo.
Just 10 minutes before Vega’s release was announced publicly, Vega Tweeted out that she “supports unionization”. The President of The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, then responded to Vega. Now, both parties have shared on Twitter that they had a “powerful conversation.” on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, SAG-AFTRA released the following statement about reaching out and working with professional wrestlers.
“Wrestling is as much about media as it is sports, and we are going to directly engage with members of this profession to help find ways for them to protect themselves.”
“As more people reinvest in unions, and as more working people are harassed by employers who don’t want to protect them, SAG-AFTRA is committed to doing what we can to help professional wrestlers secure the protections they deserve.”
Also of note, Zelina Vega wrote on her official Tumblr account that, “The truth will come out once the shackles come off.”
More details regarding the internal reaction to Vega’s release can be seen here:
The Undertaker has reflected on his initial thoughts on WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, revealing how he “didn’t care” for Michaels at first when they first met and eventually started working together.
“Early on in my career and when Shawn was there, I didn’t care for Shawn personally,” Taker told the New York Post. “I thought he was an arrogant little s**t.”
Regardless of his initial opinions on “The Heartbreak Kid,” The Undertaker couldn’t deny Michaels’ in-ring ability. He explained how there’s “[…] still no one I would rather get in the ring with it and work [with]. That’s just how good he is.”
“The Dead Man” then reflected on how problematic Michaels used to be. He recalled the night of WrestleMania XIV, where Michaels was headlining in a matchup against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. According to The Undertaker, he wasn’t sure Michaels would go through with dropping the WWF Championship to Austin. He recalled how he was ready to make sure “business was done that night” if not.
He confessed he didn’t tell Michaels the truth of what could have erupted between them for years. ‘Taker admitted he felt bad about being willing to go to those lengths as their “relationship had changed so much.”
After finally telling Michaels, the Undertaker shared how HBK later brought it up and asked him about it. He wanted to know if Undertaker would have really gone through with it. ‘Taker denied it, claiming it was all rumors, which placated Michaels.
“The whole time in my head I’m like, ‘I was gonna smash you if you didn’t drop that belt to Steve.’ But yeah, he’s a completely different person, I love him to death now. But, yeah, that’s the story. I was sitting there hands taped ready to do whatever I needed to be done.”
WWE hosts The Undertaker’s ‘Final Farewell‘ 30th Anniversary celebrations at this Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view.
Survivor Series takes place on November 22 from the Amway Center in Orlando, FL.
WWE has confirmed two WarGames matches for the next NXT TakeOver event.
During Wednesday’s NXT broadcast, a promo video aired of Shotzi Blackhart calling out Candice LeRae. Blackheart spoke about going to war with LaRae. The two have been feuding since this summer, around the time of NXT’s Great American Bash.
LeRae and Indi Hartwell took out Blackheart on NXT after LeRae had picked up a victory over Toni Storm. (Full Results). It was later announced that the two women will captain two teams inside the WarGames double steel cage match.
The second WarGames match will see Undisputed Era battle Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan. NXT General Manager William Regal made the official announcement after NXT went off the air in this WWE Network exclusive:
Roderick Strong tweeted this video late Wednesday night of Undisputed Era reacting to the news that they’re going to war with Pat McAfee and company.
The 4th annual NXT Takeover: WarGames takes place Saturday, December 6th. The event airs live on the WWE Network. WWE has yet to confirm the host venue, but it will likely take place from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, FL.
Major League Wrestling presented its first new episode of Fusion in several months this week. The MLW World Heavyweight Championship and MLW Middleweight Championships were both on the line as the MLW restart kicked off.
MLW Fusion 11/18 Quick Results:
Alexander Hammerstone defeated Jason Dugan
MLW Middleweight Championship Myron Reed (c) defeated Brian Pillman Jr.
MLW World Heavyweight Championship Jacob Fatu (c) defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Alexander Hammerstone Calls Out Jacob Fatu After Convincing Victory
MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone kicked off the MLW restart in a big way by making short work of Jason Dugan. He landed the Nightmare Pendulum on his opponent in just seconds.
After the match, Hammerstone made it clear he wants a shot at Jacob Fatu and the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.
The main event of MLW Fusion this week was an MLW World Championship match between Jacob Fatu and the winner of the 2019 Opera Cup, Davey Boy Smith Jr. The story of this match was that Smith is still feeling the effects of Contra Unit’s attack back in the spring. His back was broken in the raid of MLW’s head offices and this factored heavily into this week’s main event.
Smith’s lower back started to become a factor after hitting a suplex on the big champion early in the match. It would continue to play a factor thought the match, especially as Smith went for power moves. When the challenger went for his patented power slam, his back wouldn’t allow it. Fatu then delivered a thrust kick to the back of the challenger followed by a Samoan Drop and his patented springboard moonsault for the win.
After his victory in the main event, Fatu got on the mic and called out Alexander Hammerstone in response to comments the National Champion made earlier in the show.
As Hammerstone made his way to the ring, however, he was attacked by a masked man. Earlier in the show, we learned that Josef Samael is currently in the badlands of Tunisia but it appears he arranged for Fatu to have some backup at the restart. Fatu and the mystery new member of Contra Unit stood tall on the stage to end the show.
The first of two title matches on the show featured Injustice’s Myron Reed defending the middleweight championship against Brian Pillman Jr. The middleweight division has a weight limit of 205lbs which the champion makes without having to cut weight. The challenger in this match, however, had to cut 15lbs to get down from 220lbs. His music played multiple times before Pillman finally came out. Before the commercial break, it was noted on commentary that Pillman “did not want to come to the ring area” but we were not told why.
Following the commercial break, Pillman did make his way to the ring but it was noted on commentary that he looked distracted by something. It was never made entirely clear what was going on with Pillman here.
Reed’s chest protector came into play multiple times throughout the match. Early on, Pillman’s offence was interrupted after he hurt himself attempting to deliver a chop to the protective vest. It would be the end of the match where it would make the biggest impact, however. Reed removed the vest and placed it in the corner. Pillman then charged at the champion with a running knee but missed and hit the vest. This allowed Reed to hit Captain Crunch for the win.
Before the restart, several allegations were levied against the leader of Promociones Dorado, Salina de la Renta. Konnan got a hold of Salina’s phone and discovered she had been working as a mole on behalf of Contra Unit and helped the group seize control of the promotion during the raids on MLW offices this spring. As a result, MLW has revoked her manager’s licence and fined her. Salina de la Renta will speak on her actions on next week’s show.
MLW will present a special Thanksgiving day episode next week. We’ll see the 2020 Opera Cup begin, the arrival of Calvan Tankman, comments from Salina de la Renta, and more.
AEW Dynamite aired live from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. Cody Rhodes & TNT Champion Darby Allin teamed up to face Ricky Starks & Brian Cage in the main event. In addition to the takeaways below, Jade Cargill attacked Brandi backstage and stomped on her arm inside of a steel chair.
Serena Deeb def. Thunder Rosa to retain the NWA Women’s Championship
Brian Cage & Ricky Starks def. Cody & Darby Allin
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Young Bucks Defeated Top Flight
Young Bucks battled Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin) in the first match of the night.
Match Recap: Nick Jackson and Darius started off the match. Nick connected with a chop and went for an Arm Drag but Darius landed on his feet. Dante and Matt tagged in and Dante connected with a kick for a two count. Dante followed it up with a Dropkick and a Clothesline.
Top Flight did a flip and posed in the ring as the Young Bucks regrouped outside the ring. Matt and Dante locked up in the middle of the ring and Nick tagged himself in. Nick connected with a Superkick that sent Dante to the corner. Young Bucks followed it up with a Bulldog/Superkick combo and Matt tagged back in.
Matt locked in a Half Crab but Darius broke it up. Matt then Powerbombed Dante on top of Darius in the corner. Nick tagged in and delivered a Double Stomp and followed it up with a Backstabber on Dante. Dante avoided the Meltzer Driver and tagged in Darius.
Darius leveled Nick with a Clothesline and a couple chops to the chest. Darius connected with a Spanish Fly but Matt broke up the cover at the last moment. Top Flight flipped onto the Young Bucks outside the ring and knocked them to the floor.
Back in the ring, Dante hit Matt with a Hurricanrana for a near fall. Matt battled back and hit Dante with a Spear. Nick tagged in and booted Darius in the face. Young Bucks followed it up with Sliced Bread and went for the cover but Dante broke it up at two. Dante rolled up Nick for a near fall. Young Bucks knocked Darius out of the ring and hit Dante with the BTE Trigger for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Jack Evans and Angelico (TH2) attacked Top Flight outside the ring. The Young Bucks chased them away and helped Top Flight up.
Inner Circle went to Las Vegas this week. Sammy Guevara and Ortiz were not having a good time as MJF kept winning everything. MJF and Jericho argued over what drinks to order and settled on Everclear. They downed a shot and shouted “son of a bitch!”. MJF and Jericho stumbled around as Santana and Ortiz laughed. Konnan showed up as the party continued. Sammy told MJF that he hates him and everyone started laughing as Wardlow went to punch Hager. Security guards broke it up and Hager & Wardlow beat them up.
Inner Circle partied with an Elvis impersonator as they continued drinking. MJF had his scarf wrapped around his head and stated that he always considered himself to be a lone wolf but wanted to find a wolf pack. MJF got choked up and said that they are blood brothers now. Sammy pulled out a knife and offered to cut himself to make it official but Elvis talked him out of it.
Jericho woke up the next morning with Elvis in his bed. MJF stumbled out of bed and found Sammy laying in a fountain. It was revealed that MJF had marker all over his face as Sammy learned that he got married three times last night. Jericho and Santana found Swoggle crying in a diaper to end the absurd segment. Jericho & Hager versus SCU was announced for next week.
Jon Moxley cut a backstage promo tonight and said that he is motivated by his dad. Moxley said his father kept him in line and always let him know that they are the good guys. Moxley noted that he has a pregnant wife at home and his body feels like crap. Moxley vowed to walk in to the ring tonight and sign the contract for the AEW Championship match against Kenny Omega on December 2nd.
A fight is a fight and when it comes down to it – Jon Moxley is ready to fight tooth & nail for his AEW World Championship.
Orange Cassidy faced Kip Sabian tonight on Dynamite. Penelope Ford was ringside and Miro joined commentary.
Match Recap: Kip controlled the action early and applied a Headlock. Cassidy went to put his hands in his pockets but Sabian booted him in the midsection. Kip connected with a Slam for a two count. Cassidy put his hands in his pockets and went for a Dropkick but Kip dodged it. Orange then hit the Dropkick and posed for the crowd.
Cassidy connected with a Suicide Dive and Penelope Ford got in his way. Cassidy gave her a high five and Sabian capitalized on the distraction with a Gutbuster for a near fall as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
When Dynamite returned, Sabian hit Cassidy with a kick to the face and perched him on the top rope. Cassidy hit a Crossbody and followed it up with a DDT for a two count. Orange bounced Sabian’s head off the turnbuckle and followed it up with another DDT for a near fall.
Sabian tripped up but recovered and planted Cassidy with a Brainbuster. Kip followed it up with a Falcon Arrow for another two count. Kip hit Cassidy with a knee to the face but Orange recovered and rolled up Sabian for the pinfall victory. After the match, Miro leveled Cassidy with a Clothesline. Miro and Sabian then retreated as Best Friends rushed the ring.
Tony Schiavone moderated the contract signing between Kenny Omega and AEW Champion Jon Moxley. Jon’s music played but he didn’t come down to the ring. The cameras cut to the back and Moxley was knocked out. Kenny laughed into the microphone and said he was not one for this psychology type stuff. Omega said last time it was the elbow and this time it looks like a broken nose. Kenny signed the contract and left the ring.
The November 18, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Leon Ruff def. Johnny Gargano via disqualification to retain North American Title
Dexter Lumis vs. Cameron Grimes ends in no contest – Blindfold Match
Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell def. Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro
Kushida def. Arturo Ruas
Ember Moon & Toni Storm def. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez
Timothy Thatcher def. August Grey
Io Shirai def. Rhea Ripley to retain NXT Women’s Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Finn Balor Update
Finn Balor gave a live address to his fans for the first time since suffering a broken jaw and undergoing surgery to fix it.
Of course, he broke it in two places while retaining the NXT Championship against Kyle O’Reilly in the main event of TakeOver 31 last month. Following the match, it was revealed that he suffered the injury.
On the post-edition of NXT from that special, WWE noted at the time that they were going to give it a few weeks in order to see how Balor recovers before deciding what to do with the NXT Championship. That’s exactly what happened.
On this show, WWE saved Balor’s appearance for the very end of the show, He got in the ring to grab a microphone and congratulated Io for the win. He said that he has three plates in his jaw that says he’s bad SOB. Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Onley Lorcan, and Danny Burch interrupted. Pat recapped what they’ve done since Balor has been gone.
Patt demanded that Balor hand over the NXT Title to them or he would end up like everyone else that stood in their way. Balor brought out Undisputed Era and the two groups brawled to close the show.
NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai defended the title against Rhea Ripley.
WWE gave these ladies plenty of time to tell their story. The match took place in the last hour of the show.
Ripley brought a fighting effort and a challenge to the champion. She shined for the majority of the contest. In the end, Io rallied back. Ripley was bleeding from her left ear. Io countered the Riptide into an armbar at one point. The finish saw Io hit a moonsault for the win. A really good match.
These are the top two stars in the promotion and when WWE first announced the contest it came as a surprise. Not because of booking the match, but just doing it on an episode of NXT TV as the brand has an upcoming special taking place on December 6th.
Plus, WWE has been building up Ember Moon as the next title contender. Perhaps this is what WWE has in mind for the next TakeOver special.
NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff defended his title against Johnny Gargano.
This rematch came after last week’s shocking title change when Gargano was distracted by Damian Priest and lost the title to the former EVOLVE star.
WWE played this up as Gargano wanted to break his title defense curse by retaining the championship against a “worthy opponent.” Of course, WWE had Gargano’s Wheel of Challengers land on Ruff’s name.
Ruff got some early moves that caught Gargano off guard, but the heel star took over and dominated most of the contest. Priest once again came out and watched on from the stage.
The finish saw Priest knock out Ruff with a right hand. After the match, Priest picked up Ruff and laughed at Gargano.
Did you know you can wear the #NXTNATitle as a hat?
Ember Moon & Toni Storm vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez
A tag team match saw Ember Moon & Toni Storm vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez take place.
This comes after Moon and Storm both returned to NXT at TakeOver 31 last month. In fact, their first match back saw Moon team up with Rhea Ripley to defeat Kai & Gonzalez. Just two weeks ago, Kai beat Moon in a singles match thanks to a brief distraction by Gonzalez. On last week’s show, Candice LeRae beat Storm when she put her feet on the ropes for leverage to get the pin.
WWE gave these ladies plenty of time to work. Basic match with the heels dominating until Storm got the hot tag for the comeback. Storm got the win thanks to a roll-up.
However, after the match, the heels laid out both babyfaces. Hartwell and LeRae watched on in approval.
The feud between Cameron Grimes and Dexter Lumis continues.
During this show, WWE decided to have them battle in a Blindfold Match. It’s exactly what you would think this match would be. Both guys had hoods on, which was interesting considering this is pro wrestling.
It was pure comedy with Grimes not being able to find Lumis and nearly taking out the referee and finally did. Once Grimes realized that he attacked the wrong guy, he tried to hit Lumis, who punched him before laying him out.
The two stars have been feuding for the last month or so. Grimes scored a victory in their Haunted House of Terror Match at NXT Halloween Havoc. Since that time, Lumis has been haunting Grimes.
AEW is hyping December 2nd as the biggest episode of Dynamite in history. It’s not just hyperbole, as the main event will see AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defend against Kenny Omega.
The show is being billed as AEW Winter Is Coming, indicating a new themed episode of Dynamite similar to FyterFest and the Beach Break.
AEW held the championship match contract signing on this week’s Dynamite, but it did not go off as scheduled, as these things rarely do. Challenger Kenny Omega came to the ring, but Moxley was nowhere to be found. We were taken backstage to find Moxley laid out by an unknown attacker (or attackers).
You can see the segment in the player embedded below.
AEW Winter is Coming takes place in two weeks live on TNT.
.@JonMoxley laid out backstage. However, @kennyomegamanx has signed the contract and is ready for Dec 2nd for the AEW World Championship Match.
For the fourth straight year, WWE is bringing back WarGames as an upcoming NXT TakeOver special.
During Wednesday’s episode of NXT, the company announced that the NXT TakeOver: WarGames 4 event is slated to go down on Sunday, December 6th.
WWE aired a video package featuring Shotzi Blackheart. She also was included in the video package for Halloween Havoc that served as a special themed episode of NXT TV last month.
What’s interesting is that Shotzi stated in the video that both she and Candice LeRae will be going to war. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if they will be featured in a Women’s WarGames Match, but it’s possible.
Blackheart and LeRae have been feuding in storylines dating back to before the NXT Great American Bash event. LeRae and Indi Hartwell took out Blackheart on NXT after LeRae had picked up a victory over Toni Storm.
WWE has yet to announce a location for the show, but it’s expected to take place in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
Last year’s show was headlined by Team Ciampa (Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic & Kevin Owens) defeating The Undisputed ERA (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong).
The gimmick match was originally used in the NWA and later held annually in WCW.
Renee Paquette and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley are expecting their first child together. During Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, Moxley casually mentioned during a promo that he has a pregnant wife at home. You can see the promo below:
Paquette’s new Oral Sessions podcast launches next week, so she’ll certainly have some interesting material to talk about in the coming year.
She posted the following the following photo on Instagram, which appears to be taken shortly after she shared the news with Moxley:
Charlotte Flair reacted to a post sent out by WWE’s Twitter account looking back on her match against Ronda Rousey.
They wrestled at the 2018 WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view that saw the former UFC star go over by disqualification. The finish of that match featured Rousey trying to attack Flair at ringside, but Flair used a kendo stick to counter.
Flair hit Natural Selection on Rousey before stomping a chair on her neck to end the post-match attack. In her response to WWE’s post, Flair noted that this was the night Rousey stopped wanting to be a pro wrestler.
As of this writing, Rousey has not responded to Flair’s tweet.
Rousey is still under contract with WWE but went on hiatus after losing the WrestleMania 35 main event in 2019 to Becky Lynch in a triple threat match that also featured Flair.
There’s no word yet on when Rousey will return to WWE. It should be noted that there have been some rumors about her potentially returning for WrestleMania 37.
On the flip side, Flair has been out of action since mid-June for a cosmetic procedure. There’s also no word yet on when she’ll return.
MLW has announced the official brackets for the 2020 Opera Cup Tournament.
This year’s competitors include former MLW World Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, 2019 Opera Cup winner Davey Boy Smith Jr., NJPW star Rocky Romero, Laredo Kid, ACH, Low Ki, Richard Holiday of Dynasty and TJP.
Here’s a look at the brackets:
The opening round of the 2020 Opera Cup kicks off net week on a special Thanksgiving edition of MLW Fusion.
The MLW Opera Cup
Below you can see MLW’s hype video for the Opera Cup, including the storied history of the prestigious event.
Darby Allin has made himself into a star on AEW television, but in the process, has drawn comparisons to various wrestlers by fans.
Most people remember Sting for the crow-inspired version of the character, but there was a bright-colored version earlier in his career.
Allin talked about the comparisons he gets to the legendary pro wrestler while doing an interview with TV Insider. He is flattered by the comparison but insists he’s not trying to be like Sting.
“My face paint just comes from my real life. That’s not really a character thing I try to rip off of anybody. I’ve always just liked the dark stuff. I’ve always been a fan of the gothic aesthetic. Just weird stuff. I’m flattered by [the comparison], it’s cool, but it’s definitely not what I’m thinking about while I’m doing it.”
Darby Allin & Sting
Allin just scored the biggest win thus far in his pro-wrestling career as he beat Cody Rhodes to capture the AEW TNT Title earlier this month at the Full Gear pay-per-view event.
Sting has been retired from the pro wrestling business after suffering a neck injury while working a match with Seth Rollins.
The Undertaker made an appearance on today’s episode of WWE’s The Bump to discuss his 30-year career in WWE and promote his appearance at Survivor Series.
During the interview, he reflected on the long driven ride he’s taken over the years and who he would want to face for one last match. This is where he noted that it would be Bray Wyatt’s alter-ego, The Fiend.
“At this iteration now, man, the possibilities are limitless. He’s really taken his character to the next level. It’s original and so different from what everybody else does.
I would have loved to be able to work a program with The Fiend. I mean, my goodness, there’s no telling what kind of matches we would have come up with.”
For those who are questioning this, yes, the former WWE Champion did wrestle Wyatt at WrestleMania 31 in 2015. However, Taker isn’t necessarily talking about the Wyatt character of old, but this new gimmick as Wyatt works matches differently.
Taker has confirmed in various interviews that in his mind he is retired as an in-ring performer after being in the pro wrestling business for 34 years.
The final betting odds for most of the matches that will take place at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place this Sunday (November 22, 2020) from Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center has likely been finalized as only six matches have been announced with WWE expected to announce a pre-show contest.
Survivor Series Betting Odds
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Odds call for all three titles to change. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre +150 vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns -200
RAW Women’s Champion Asuka +120 vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks -160
WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley -325 vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn +225
RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day -120 vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits -120
Team RAW -180 (Keith Lee, AJ Styles, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, Matt Riddle) vs. Team SmackDown +140 (Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, Baron Corbin, TBA) – Men’s Traditional 5-on-5 Elimination Match
Team RAW +140 (Team Captains: WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax, Peyton Royce, Lacey Evans, and Lana) vs. Team SmackDown -180 (Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, TBA) – Women’s Traditional 5-on-5 Elimination Match
Make sure to join us this weekend for match recaps and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated debuted the inaugural top-50 tag-team list today. The official edition of the magazine is now available for pre-order. Topping the list this year are the former AEW World Tag Team Champions, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, FTR.
The Top 5 ranked tag teams include:
FTR
Kenny Omega & Adam “Hangman” Page
The Golden Role Models (Sasha Banks & Bayley)
The North (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page)
The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)
Cash Wheeler reacted to the news on Twitter. He wrote, “Love us. Hate us. Agree. Disagree. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. That doesn’t take away the pride we take in our craft. It doesn’t take away the passion we put into our profession. In our hearts, we’re the best tag team on Earth, so this is special to us.”
Love us. Hate us. Agree. Disagree. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. That doesn’t take away the pride we take in our craft. It doesn’t take away the passion we put into our profession. In our hearts, we’re the best tag team on Earth, so this is special to us.”
FTR & Tully Blanchard
The evaluation period was from October 1st, 2019 to September 30th, 2020. PWI announced that the following criteria was used to rank the teams:
Momentum
Wins & Losses
Chemistry
Activity
It Factor
FTR held the AEW tag-team championships for 63 days from All Out to Full Gear. They defended the titles 3 times successfully during their reign. Those matches came against the Hybrid 2, SCU, and the Best Friends.
Omega and Page held the same titles for 228 days in 2020. They won them from SCU on the Chris Jericho cruise in January and held them until losing to FTR at All Out.
Sasha Banks and Bayley dominated WWE programming this year. They won the titles for a second time and held them for a total of 96 days. More than that, however, they dropped the Boss N Hug Connection name and went with the Golden Role Models.
A contract signing has been announced for this week’s AEW Dynamite. AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and #1 contender Kenny Omega will put pen to paper and formalize their upcoming title match.
Moxley vs. Omega is scheduled for the December 2nd edition of AEW Dynamite. It’s a match so big that many fans are wondering why AEW is not saving it for Revolution February. Giving it away on Dynamite will help AEW finish out the year strong with strong television viewership.
In addition to the contract signing, we have four matches signed for Wednesday’s broadcast:
PAC vs. The Blade
Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian
Darby Allin & Cody Rhodes vs. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks
The Young Bucks vs. Top Flight (Non-Title Match)
The newly crowned AEW World Tag Team Champions the @YoungBucks take on hot independent tag-team Top Flight!
We will also see the Inner Circle ‘slay’ Las Vegas. Inner Circle members have been posting teaser photos of the Vegas trip on social media. It looks like it’s going to be another memorable segment for Chris Jericho’s growing band of compadres.
AEW has been going ‘old school’ to promote this week’s Dynamite. Over the weekend, they dropped this retro-themed promo featuring Tony Schiavone and Cody Rhodes:
Sasha Banks is having a good month so far. 2 weeks ago, she retained the Smackdown Women’s title against Bayley on Smackdown in a segment that pulled in huge ratings. The following Friday, she made her Star Wars Universe debut in the Mandalorian. And now today, a shoe designed by Sasha Banks and husband, Kid Mikaze, has sold out in minutes.
Mikaze noted on Twitter that the shoes have officially sold out online.
The shoes are part of a charitable effort between Banks, Foot Locker, and charity Soles4Souls. 19,000 sneakers will be donated to people in need and a $250,000 donation will go to the charity.
Banks was also interviewed by Variety recently regarding her role in the Mandalorian.
“Not only to be part of ‘Star Wars,’ but one of legit the greatest episodes in the history of television like that. I could watch that all the time. That was such a badass introduction to the world of ‘Star Wars,’” Banks said of her first episode.
To read more about Banks’ comments regarding the Mandalorian, visit the below link:
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed Pat McAfee and his ongoing NXT run. McAfee has created his own stable of talent over the past few weeks, including the NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch as well as former WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne.
Pat McAfee was extremely impressive in his debut NXT bout. However it is his work on the microphone that has shone through over the past few weeks.
Bully Ray would massively praise Pat McAfee on Busted Open; however he would state that McAfee isn’t doing anything extraordinary to get ‘heat.’ “It’s not really about what he is saying? It’s about how he says it” Bully Ray began on Busted Open.
Bully Ray on Pat McAfee
“I’ve been complimented over the years about some of the promo work that I’ve done. People ask me questions like ‘how do you generate this kind of heat!?’ Or whatever. I will always tell people, I have not reinvented the wheel” Bully stated.
Bully Ray would then attribute what McAfee has been producing on NXT to his own style of heel promo. “What I do? It’s Heel 101, it’s just how I say these things. All in the delivery, it’s all in the tone, it’s all in the inflection. It’s all about the eye contact, those things that take the very basic and very generic words like ‘we rule and you suck’ and make them mean something.”
“Where it’s somebody like Pat McAfee saying them? Their unique personality? It gives a life to those very generic words. That’s when you know you have something. And that’s what Pat McAfee is like. When you heard him Wednesday night did he say anything that resonated with you, like, ‘Oh my god, that was the greatest promo I can’t believe he said that?’ No.”
Do you agree with Bully Ray? Do you think that Pat McAfee is one of the best talkers in the company if not pro wrestling as a whole right now? Let us know in the comments
WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston recently appeared on the Gorilla Position podcast. The former WWE Champion and RAW Superstar discussed a number of topics during his time on the show.
These included a potential return to bigger live audiences post COVID-19; Kingston would also discuss what it has been like in the company since the ‘break up’ of The New Day.
“It’s tough to say” Kofi began on the show, saying how he has no idea what it’ll be like for WWE ‘live’ events following the pandemic. “This is obviously a situation that like…nobody would have ever dreamed that it was possible. That the entire world could shut down, essentially?”
Kofi Kingston on Live Events
“But I think, day by day? We’re kind of taking steps back towards normalcy” Kofi Kingston would continue. “Or? What the new normal may be. I don’t know if it’s gonna be quite like it was with all the travel, maybe it will maybe it won’t. I mean we get it, we can all speculate. But right now I think everybody in the entire world is just trying to take it one day at a time.”
Even though WWE recently furloughed and laid off the majority of the live events team, Kingston believes that they will be back on the road at some point in the future. “At some point in time I will be travelling more than just one day a week” Kingston stated. “I know for myself it’s definitely going to pick up at some point.”
Do you think that WWE will pick up live events once again after the pandemic? Do you think that Kofi Kingston will get another singles run in the company? Let us know in the comments.
MLW Fusion is back. After a seven month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, #TheRestart is finally upon us.
A new episode of MLW Fusion premieres tonight on MLW’s YouTube Channel with a double main event featuring some of the league’s top fighters. We will see:
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
World Middleweight Champion Myron Reed vs Brian Pillman Jr.
National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone in action
Plus, we’ll get first details of the 2020 Opera Cup tournament.
MLW has release the ‘Cold Open’ video package for tonight’s Fusion. The video includes some classic MLW footage and a recap of the Contra Unit storyline that leads up to The Restart.
MLW Fusion premieres at 7PM EST before replaying this weekend on beIN Sports. Click here for more information on how you can watch.
Matt Sydal is All Elite. AEW recently announced they have officially signed the 37-year-old. Sydal debuted for the promotion back in September. He was the “Joker” in the 21-person Casino Battle Royale match.
Sydal has since performed in 8 matches for the promotion. He currently holds on 0-3 record on Dynamite, having dropped matches to Eddie Kingston, Brian Cage, and Shawn Spears. Sydal has a 5-0 record on AEW Dark. He’s defeated Christopher Daniels, Michael Nakazawa, Sonny Kiss, Shawn Dean, and Lee Johnson on that show.
Sydal is a former WWE tag-team champion under the name Evan Bourne. He teamed with Kofi Kingston as Air Boom in 2011. Along with Ricochet, Sydal is a 2x IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag-team champion and they won the Super Junior Tag League in 2015. He is also a former NEVER Openweight 6-man tag-team champion in NJPW with Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima.
Sydal is also a former X-Division Champion in Impact Wrestling and won the Grand Championship in the promotion once as well.
Sydal botched a shooting star press during his AEW debut at All Out. He took to Twitter to comment on what happened.
“Slipping was BONKERS! That was a first and hopefully a last. Thank you all for kind the messages and check in’s. I’m beyond honored to be a part of @AEWrestling’s All Out,” Sydal Tweeted.
In addition to being the Smackdown Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks is now starring on the hit show, Star Wars: The Mandalorian on Disney+. Banks was recently interviewed by Variety and talked about how she was approached to be on the show by Executive Producer, Jon Favreau.
Surprisingly, it was not her work in WWE that got her discovered. It was actually her appearance on the Youtube series Hot Ones, where celebrities are interviewed while eating increasingly spicy chicken wings.
“So Jon Favreau came to me because he watched an interview that I did with ‘Hot Ones.’ And he really liked me and got my contact information,” she revealed. “Then on FaceTime he asked me to be part of ‘The Mandalorian.’ I was like, ‘Well, I cannot say no,’ but I was so incredibly nervous, because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it with the WWE schedule.”
Banks continued, “You know, we used to travel a lot. But they made it work and everything happened. And it was such an incredible episode. I still just can’t get over how awesome that was.”
Sasha Banks on Joining the Star Wars Universe
Without giving anything away for those not caught up, the latest episode of the Mandalorian (which features Banks’ debut) is getting good reviews. Banks also spoke about the response to her debut episode.
“Not only to be part of ‘Star Wars,’ but one of legit the greatest episodes in the history of television like that. I could watch that all the time. That was such a badass introduction to the world of ‘Star Wars.’”
Banks was then asked what it was like to step into the Star Wars universe for the first time.
“It was beyond. Just like the first time ever seeing a wrestling ring. It’s like the first time ever seeing anything just so magical. I would hate to ruin like how it looked backstage, but you felt like you were in a different galaxy in a different world. It was so almost easy to play a Mandalorian because I was legit in the universe. And you know, Jon Favreau and David Filoni and Bryce Howard, they were so amazing towards me,” Banks answered.
Visit Variety to read their full interview with Sasha Banks.
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite will see the national television debut of Top Flight, the popular independent tag team comprised of Darius Martin (Air Wolf) and Duante Martin (Angel Dorado). They’ll face AEW World Tag team champions The Young Bucks in a match pitting brothers vs. brothers.
Known as the the Coldest Team in the Game, Top Flight hails from Minneapolis, MN. They trained Ken Anderson’s Academy School of Professional Wrestling and have wrestled for Game Changer Wrestling, Black Label Pro and AAW.
Top Flight appeared on AEW Dark two weeks ago in a match against Evil Uno & Stu Gracon of the Dark Order. They came up short, but impressed AEW officials and secured this high-profile match against AEW’s top team.
Top Flight
Top Flight is All Elite
This is a huge opportunity for Top Flight. A win over The Young Bucks could propel them into AEW’s tag team rankings
During a recent virtual meet-an-greet, “The Best Man” Miro mentioned a young, athletic tag team from Minnesota that has signed with AEW. He did not mention Top Flight by name, but it sounds like he’s talking about the Martin brothers. Miro touted their athletic ability and said he believes they are the future of tag team wrestling.
“One of these kids had like an 80-inch vertical and they’re like 19-years old and they’re moving fluidly and once they find each other, they’re gonna be the future of the tag team division and those are just two guys and we have probably another 15 ready to go.”
Top Flight sent out a tweet in September expressing their desire to wrestle the Young Bucks. The tweet referenced a similar message from FTR, which ultimately did lead to a match between those teams. Tonight, wrestling fans will rejoice once again.
Impact Wrestling 11/17 was the first show since Saturday’s Turning Point event. It was also the final show for the Rascalz, who are leaving Impact Wrestling after having spent the last two years with the promotion.
Impact 11/17 Quick Results:
Moose defeated Willie Mack via referee stoppage
Suicide vs Gio – No Contest
Brian Myers defeated Crazzy Steve
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament Havok & Nevaeh defeated Alisha Edwards & Tenille Dashwood
Hernandez defeated Fallah Bah
Rascalz Farewell Match Rich Swann & Trey Miguel defeated Dez & Wentz
Impact Wrestling Bids Farewell To The Rascalz
For the last 2 years, The Rascalz have provided entertaining matches and segments for fans of Impact Wrestling. Their treehouse skits created many fun and literal LOL moments over the years. All 3 have had great matches throughout their run as well.
They’d finish up with Impact at these tapings and headlined last night’s show in tag action. Miguel teamed with Rich Swann and they faced Dez and Wentz. This match reminded me a little of the NBA All-Star game, where everyone was just trying to break out their flashiest moves and have a good time with no animosity between them.
In the end, it would be the Impact World Champion who would get the win for his team. He delivered a vicious-looking kick to the back of Dez’s head for the pin.
The Rascalz left their jackets on the ring ropes in a symbolic gesture as their time in Impact comes to an end. All 4 who had been in the match then walked through the curtain together only to be assaulted by Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan. Swann will face Shamrock next week in non-title action.
Did Detective Tommy Dreamer Catch Johnny Swinger With A Smoking Gun?
The investigation into who shot John E. Bravo took a big turn this week. The Deaners sort of implied that Dreamer should look into Johnny Swinger, after finding a gun in his fanny pack. Dreamer then interviewed Swinger who didn’t seem to shy away from the fact that he had a gun during the interview. Dreamer said Swinger is literally holding the smoking gun and that he is being taken to Wrestlers Court next week to go on trial for having shot Bravo.
Eric Young Unleashes Joe Doering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYoaUjiUq6w
A match between Suicide and Gio ended in a no-contest this week after Eric Young unleashed his new monster, Joe Doering onto both wrestlers. Doering debuted at Turning Point over the weekend and appears to be someone who is going to be a big deal in the promotion moving forward.
Young cut a promo saying that this world belongs to them. The two weren’t finished there, however. They went to the backstage area and attacked Rhino and the already-injured Heath.
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament Begins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCdZ9A0N2dc
Tenille Dashwood might not be the best tag-team wrestler. Her “It’s all about me” philosophy makes her a little more suited to the singles division. Two partners in two weeks have discovered this about her. The “Most Influential Person in Impact Wrestling” teamed with Madison Rayne last week in a losing effort to Havok & Nevaeh but would face them again this week in the first round of the title tournament but with Alisha Edwards as her partner.
The end of the match came when Nevaeh came charging out of the corner and Dashwood decided to save herself by throwing Alisha into Nevaeh’s waiting attack. Nevaeh then hit Dashwood with a DDT as well and that left Alisha alone for the rest of the match. Havok and Nevaeh then put her away with a wheel barrel/cutter combo for the win.
Also concerning the KO tag-team tournament. Jordynne Grace, who as of yet does not have a confirmed partner, was seen in the back talking on the phone to someone who will seemingly be their partner next week. Grace said she was thankful this person would be her partner as she had heard she was retiring.
Moose Sends A Message To Rich Swann
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHcO1fIju0s
Ever since Rich Swann won the Impact World Championship, Moose has been taunting him, calling it the second most important belt in Impact. Over the last couple of weeks, Moose has been involved in backstage altercations with Swann’s friend Willie Mack and they would meet in the opener on this week’s show.
Moose used this match as an opportunity to taunt Swann further. Mack looked to be battling back, however. He hit a Stunner on Moose after missing a 6-star Frog Splash. Moose then caught him in a spear and delivered elbows to his prone opponent until the referee called for the bell. Moose then continued the assault after the end of the match, likely to further send a message to the Impact World Champion.
Anyone Not Named TJP Can Challenge For the X-Division Title, Anyone Not Named TJP At All
It was tough luck for @MegaTJP against @HakimZane last week.
Last week, TJP lost an X-Division title match that carried the stipulation that if he lost, he’d never be able to challenge for the title again while Rohit Raju is champion. Later in the back, TJP was speaking with Scott D’Amore. The co-Executive Vice President said that he wondered how Dusty Rhodes would handle such a situation. D’Amore continued to point out that “anyone not named TJP” can challenge for the title and made numerous mentions of how Dusty Rhodes might handle the same spot.
D’Amore may have been referring to Dusty’s “Midnight Rider” gimmick, or maybe just to Stagger Lee like gimmicks from the past. In what may have been a bit of foreshadowing from Impact, Suicide wrestled on the show before this. TJP has played the masked character in the past, beginning in 2013.
Brian Myers Defeats Crazzy Steve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byD0R49yeh0
Brian Myers defeated Swoggle at Turning Point but Crazzy Steve came out to prevent a post-match attack from the “Most Professional Wrestler.” A singles match was then booked between the two tonight. After a competitive match, Myers resorted to underhanded tactics when he punched the legally blind Steve in the eye. Steve couldn’t see anything and Myers hit him with a clothesline for the win.
Hernandez Wins The Clash For Cash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hBncYxjFsM
For weeks now, several Impact wrestlers have been feuding over a wad of cash that was on the line in an arm-wrestling match between Rhino and Hernandez. Fallah Bah came into possession of the cash leading to the match between these two. The finish of the match came when Fallah Bah attempted a Samoan Drop but Hernandez fought out and slingshotted Bah off the ropes. Super Mex then flew off the top rope with a splash for the win.
Next Week In Impact Wrestling
A few big things take place next week on Impact Wrestling.
The Good Brothers have promised a “phenomenal” opponent for Ethan Page in singles competition.
