Wrestling veteran Scott Hall, who is going to be inducted into Hall Of Fame this year as part of the nWo alongside Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Sean Waltman recently spoke to Yaz Jung and discussed his career in detail.
The former WCW star, who has had multiple runs with WWE in his long career spanning across four decades has known Vince McMahon for a long time
During the interview, Hall revealed the advice Mr. McMahon used to give to all the wrestlers and according to him, the boss told people to ‘use their face’:
“Vince always told guys to use their face, that’s where the money is … You have to keep an eye on the camera, so in my entrance, I’d usually go and look right to the hard-camera side.” Hall said. “You could see in the nWo days — I’d just look right at the camera and go, ‘I’m the s***!’”
In light of the upcoming Hall Of Fame induction of The British Bulldog, Scott Hall was asked about a potential induction for his tag team partner Thomas Billington aka The Dynamite Kid who passed away in 2018.
Replying to the question, the former WWE star indicated that the company might have reached out to Billington before his passing but he declined the offer:
“Sure, I don’t see why Dynamite wouldn’t go in.. But sometimes the WWE reaches out to guys and for some reason or another they don’t want to be inducted..”
Apart from this, Scott Hall talked about things such as a potential in ring return, WWE spending money on his rehab and more. You can check out his full interview at this link.
AEW has signed a number of wresting veterans in recent times including names such as Sting, Paul Wight and Christian. Another name which could be a good fit for the company is RVD.
The hardcore star was even rumored to be the surprise entrant at the Face Of The Revolution ladder match at one point on the company’s last PPV before it was revealed to be Ethan Page.
RVD was asked about potentially joining the AEW roster during his recent interview with ReelTalker.com and the former WWE champion said that he always goes with the flow:
“I just always go with the flow of the universe. I’m always very happy with the way things turn out, AEW, I watch it sometimes, mostly to help Katie Forbes out.
She’ll watch it, she’s up-and-coming, learning and I’ll point stuff out.” said RVD, “There is nothing that interests me about going there, except for business.”
The former WWE star, who hasn’t wrestled since September was also asked about his future in the industry and he claimed that there is nothing that makes him want to wrestle except for business.
RVD explained that while fans may think that he dreams of wrestling different opponents, it’s not the case for him. According to the wrestling veteran, he could be done with the sport and he is totally fine with never getting in the ring again.
Christian Cage was the latest guest on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast where the duo talked about the former’s recent AEW signing and debut in detail.
Another former WWE star who made his All Elite Wrestling debut recently is Sting. He surprised fans and created a lot of buzz during his appearance at the Winter Is Coming special of Dynamite.
During the interview, Jericho revealed that the TNT Network was not happy with Sting’s surprise appearance on Dynamite because they wanted to take advantage of the rating boost:
“I thought it was cool too because I know when we had Sting has a surprise, the network was like, don’t do that again, that’s why Paul Wight was announced on social media because TNT said we don’t want surprises. We want to take advantage of the rating.
So I think we had a big surprise, then we had a big announcement and then we use that big announcement to announce the next big surprise.” explained Chris Jericho, “I think that’s one of the reasons too to kind of spread it out a bit as well.”
Christian Compares AEW to WWE
Christian also talked about his time in WWE and said that he has nothing bad to say about his time with the company. He then discussed the difference between the WWE and AEW locker room.
The former WWE star explained that the AEW locker room seems less hectic and less frantic to him and he feels that the talent are surer of themselves as performers and what they are going to do.
Fightful select provided some information on this move from the company and the site reports that Vince McMahon made the decision himself “much to the chagrin of those in the group.”
Members of the group including Bobby Lashley and MVP were vocal about their unhappiness with the call. They even had a meeting with the boss before Raw to try and persuade him to change his mind about the future of The Hurt Business.
However, Mr. McMahon “was set in his choice to fracture the group” and the WWE chairman “dug his heels in even more” at the meeting with the members of The Hurt Business.
The latest Raw episode then saw what appears to be the end of the group. This decision and McMahon’s insistence to continue with the plan was said to be a blow to the morale of the affecting stars.
Shelton Benjamin even took on his Twitter to apparently voice his displeasure with these developments and he wrote that the events of the past week have been frustrating but they come as no surprise:
The events of this past week have been beyond infuriating frustrating & disappointing but sadly comes as no surprise
For those who don’t know, this week’s episode of Raw saw the WWE champion Bobby Lashley kicking Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander out of The Hurt Business after their loss to Drew McIntyre on last week’s episode of the show.
What do you think about WWE’s decision to break up The Hurt Business? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
While no new matches were announced during the show, this week’s episode of SmackDown still featured a couple of big WrestleMania announcements including the addition of a stipulation to a title match on the PPV.
Sami Zayn had announced last week that Logan Paul will be making an appearance on this week’s episode of the Blue Branded Show. The episode saw the YouTube star being featured in a segment with the former US champion.
During the segment, Sami asked Paul to be his guest at the upcoming WrestleMania event and the celebrity guest accepted this proposal.
Though Kevin Owens attacked Zayn before he could end the segment. Things then ended with Sami Zayn recovering from the attack while a shocked Logan Paul stood in the ring.
This wasn’t the only WrestleMania announcement made during the show. Apollo Crews revealed in a backstage segment that his IC championship match with Big E will now be a Nigerian Drum match.
Crews explained that the match will have no rules and limitations, just the beatings loud enough to sound like the beating of the drums. Based on the description, it essentially seems to be a No DQ match.
Updated WrestleMania 37 Match Card
WrestleMania 37 will take place from the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on April 10 and 11. After the latest announcements, here is the updated card for the show:
WrestleMania 37 Night One Matches
WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander are banned from ringside.
SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Omos and AJ Styles vs. The New Day
Steel Cage Match: Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman
Singles Match: The Miz with John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny with Damian Priest
Singles Match: Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins
WrestleMania 37 Night Two Matches
WWE Universal Championship Triple Threat Match: Daniel Bryan vs. WWE Hall of Famer Edge vs. Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka
WWE Intercontinental Championship Nigerian Drum Match: Apollo Crews vs. Big E
WWE United States Championship Match: Sheamus vs. Matt Riddle
Singles Match: Randy Orton vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt with Alexa Bliss
Singles Match: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, Logan Paul will be on Sami’s corner
The upcoming WrestleMania 37 will be the first WWE event to feature a live audience in over a year and the company is expecting to host 25,000 fans on each night of the show.
The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter provided some update on the ticket sales of the event and it reveals that there are still seats available for the show despite the event being less than 10 days away.
According to the report, while most of the tickets were sold in the pre-sale, the company still has about 1,000 tickets left for night one and 809 tickets left for night two.
Some people within the company expected the PPV to be an immediate sellout similar to the recent UFC 261 event in Jacksonville because it’s their first big event to allow a live crowd in attendance in a long time.
However, it didn’t turn out to be the case as there are still tickets left unsold days before the event and there is some disappointment within the company over this situation.
WrestleMania 37 will once again be a two-night event. It will be taking place on Saturday, April 10th, and Sunday, April 11, 2021, from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The show will be airing on Peacock.
WWE Executive Vice President Triple H recently held a media call to promote the upcoming NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver event taking place during the WrestleMania week. During the interview, the Game who has a long history with The Undertaker was asked about the Dead Man’s comments about today’s product being ‘soft’ which received negative reaction from a lot of people.
Triple H first mentioned how the wrestling business is always changing and different people have different opinions which you can agree and disagree with. He praised the former world champion saying that he is bluntly honest with his opinions. However, the Game then said that Taker’s comments always have the best intention:
“His comments and his intention are always with the best of intent, or desire, to improve and I do believe he has a wealth of knowledge, that if he speaks… you know, there’s certain guys in the business that if they speak, they’ve been around a long time, seen a lot of things, and they’ve earned the right to, if they speak, you listen and you take the point of view, and you work with it. He’s one of those guys, for sure.”
The former DX member continued by comparing the whole debate to the debate about the music of different generations. He mentioned how everyone believes that a certain generation of music is better than the other but at the end of the day, they are all just opinions:
“So, if he says it and believes it, there’s something to it, then yeah, every generation is different and what people are willing to accept in generations. You know, everybody believes certain generations of music are better than others, too, and at the end of the day all of this is opinion. We all like what we like, we all dislike what we dislike, and we give our opinions on it, and it really comes down to what do the masses of people like.”
After the Final Farewell segment at last November’s Survivor Series event, there has been some talk of The Undertaker possibly coming to the Performance Center to help talent. Commenting on this possibility, Triple H said that he is looking forward to working with Taker and “making it all better at every level.”
Sean Waltman is one of the legends who are going to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame this year as part of the nWo alongside people like Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
The company taped the ceremony in advance earlier this week and it will air exclusively on Peacock and the WWE Network on the upcoming Tuesday.
Waltman talked about his experience at the tapings on his new podcast Pro Wrestling 4 Life with Sean “X-Pac” Waltman and revealed that they were brought in the building very early in the morning:
“They flew us in the night before. We took the COVID test, and then they had us up and out at 7 a.m.,” Waltman said. “We were at the building since 8:00 am. It was a little rough, especially coming from the west coast and having the time difference, my body is all screwed up.
I got a little bit of jet lag right now actually. We did a lot of sitting around for a while, and then once things started going, they went quick. We started taking the pictures [and] doing the rehearsal.”
During the episode, Sean Waltman also confirmed that there were no inductors at the Hall Of Fame ceremony this year similar to 2019:
“There were none. In 2019, I don’t think there were any then either, Jerry Lawler was out there hosting like you normally would, and then it would go to a video package. It was almost like the video package was the induction.”
Apart from this, Sean Waltman, who was inducted into Hall Of Fame as part of the DX as well, talked about potentially becoming a 3 time Hall Of Famer if he gets a solo induction.
However, the former DX member said that going out there and giving an induction speech alone is the last thing he wants to do and he is happy with his two inductions.
The former Shield member is once again scheduled to be a part of the Universal Championship match at WrestleMania this year. Though this time, he is the one who is defending the title. During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Reigns was asked if he is worried about coronavirus with fans being allowed back at the show this year and he replied negatively:
“No, I think with all the safety protocols that we’ve established since I came back, with all the precautions that we take to make sure I’m isolated to where I’m not heavily interacting with anyone outside of the people that I’m actually in the ring with, all the way to the weekly testing, I don’t think WrestleMania is going to be any different. You know, our safety precautions are second to none.”
Roman Reigns Explains WrestleMania Security Protocols
Roman Reigns then talked all the different security protocols that have been established to ensure the safety of the talent and fans. He mentioned how fans will be in pods and masks would be mandatory for the people in attendance, before claiming that they are trying to create the safest environment for everybody:
“We’ll have the pods to create the social distancing, and masks will be required. We will be giving out masks for those who are forgetful. We’ll have, I believe, cashless concessions, so we’re going to create an opportunity where everybody’s gonna be as safe as they could be… all the way from going to the grocery store to sitting on their couch at home, we’re trying to create that level of safety for everybody. We’re also trying to create an atmosphere and an experience that they’ll never forget.”
Roman Reigns was also asked if he still gets excited for WrestleMania after competing in a number of Manias in the past decade and he said that he enjoys every performance. The Universal champion claimed that it is going to be really cool to get some normalcy back with fans in attendance. The Tribal Chief will be defending his championship against Daniel Bryan and Edge in the main event of WrestleMania 37 on night two of the show.
The upcoming WrestleMania event will feature a number of title matches and the wrestling veteran Hulk Hogan has revealed who he would like to win two of the biggest championship bouts at the Show Of Shows.
The Hulkster recently appeared on WWE After the Bell with Corey Graves where he talked about things such as his career, his catchphrases, and more.
Talking about the big matches at the upcoming event, Hogan revealed which star he would like to win the WWE championship match between Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre:
“Bobby, his accolades are a mile long, he’s the real deal brother, he’s a real badass. I’m really hooked on Drew McIntyre. Something about his presence, something about his intensity, he loves this business and I’ve been in his corner since day one so I’m really hoping that Drew steps up and things go his way.”
The former world champion also discussed the triple threat Universal championship match among Edge, Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. Hulk Hogan said that he would like The Rated R Superstar to win the bout:
“As far as the other main event, they turned that into a three-way so that’s kind of like ‘Jump Ball’ time. It’s going to be pretty crazy but Edge has made a heck of a showing as of late. He looks like he’s really hungry and in my opinion, I’d love to see it go Edge’s way.
Nothing from Daniel or Roman Reign’s, Roman I’ve been following since he’s a kid, I know he is intense, but for some reason when I saw Edge standing over both those guys with a chair he looks like a bad, dangerous guy right now.”
Hulk Hogan will not only be hosting WrestleMania alongside Titus O’Neil, but he will also become a two times WWE Hall Of Famer during the WrestleMania weekend when he will get inducted as part of the nWo.
WWE has announced a total of 12 matches for WrestleMania 37 so far. However, only two of them are women’s matches and Carmella is not happy about this.
The former SmackDown women’s champion appeared on the latest episode of The Bump where she talked about things such as who would be a good tag team partner for her and more.
While talking about the upcoming big event, Carmella mentioned how there are only two women’s matches that have been announced for the show. She said that she wants more women to be featured on the event:
“As of right now there’s only two women’s matches announced. I want there to be another women’s matches, I think there should be more women on the show. The women are where it’s at. We are taking over.
As happy as I am for Asuka and Rhea and Bianca and Sasha; I’m very excited for Sasha and Bianca. But I just, I feel there should be more women involved. We’ve worked very hard. And we didn’t come just to only come this far. Even if it’s not myself. I’d love to be involved in WrestleMania. But either way, I want to see more women on this show.”
WWE does have plan for two more women’s matches to be added to the WrestleMania card. According to reports, they plan to hold a #1 contenders match for the women’s tag team titles on night one of the show. The winners will then challenge the champions on night two of the event.
Apart from Carmella, the episode of The Bump also featured stars such as The New Day, Trish Stratus and Mick Foley. You can check out the full episode on YouTube.
According to reports from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, the focus of the meeting was the show’s move to Tuesday nights and it started with a reflection of the brand’s evolution since its inception.
Trriple H mentioned how the Black and Yellow brand has come a long way from being a small brand that sold out a show during the WrestleMania weekend to becoming one of the top brands in the company.
The move to Tuesday nights was sold as a good thing for the brand because they will have the lead-in from Raw on Mondays. It was said that everything is going to change now that the brand has its own night.
Triple H revealed that the change of nights has been in the works for some time. He noted that the USA Network first considered this change as far as a year back.
The Game also said that he hopes people will focus more on the show now rather than being worried about the viewership and TV ratings of NXT.
The first night of the NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver will be the final NXT episode on Wednesday nights and the show will start airing on Tuesday nights from April 13, following WrestleMania 37.
Paige recently made an appearance on the Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette podcast where the former champion discussed a number of things and talked about her WWE career in detail.
In light of the recent in-ring return of Daniel Bryan and Edge, many wonder if Paige could make a surprise comeback sometimes in the future as well.
Discussing her health, the former SmackDown General Manager provided an update on her situation and revealed that she does not have any issue with her neck right now:
“I haven’t had any issues with my neck right now. Sometimes I’ll wake up, and it’s funny, you know, it feels weird, but it’ll go away, I’m going to get my neck checked very soon to see the progress of it.
Hopefully, it looks good. I’m not saying in any way, shape, or form they’re going to let me come back; it’s literally just a checkup. But I am intrigued to see how my neck has progressed, for sure.”
Later in the interview, Paige revealed that the possibility of making a comeback also scares her because the thought of suffering an injury and getting paralyzed still lurks in the back of her head.
Paige suffered a neck injury during a house show in December 2017, forcing her to retire from active competition at the young age of 25.
Posted April 1st, 2021 in News, WWE. Tagged: Paige.
WWE has announced that the April 9 episode of SmackDown will be a special WrestleMania edition of the show and the company has confirmed a couple of big matches for the event. The first big announcement the company has made for the show is the addition of the traditional Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal which is usually contested at the Show Of Shows itself.
They have also revealed several participants for the bout and the confirmed names for the battle royal include Akira Tozawa, Angel Garza, Cedric Alexander, Drew Gulak, Elias, Erik, Gran Metalik, Humberto Carrillo, Jaxson Ryker, Jey Uso, Kalisto, King Corbin, Lince Dorado, MACE, Murphy, Mustafa Ali, Ricochet, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, SLAPJACK, T-Bar and Tucker.
Though this is not the only match and the promotion has announced a big fatal four way match for the SmackDown tag team championships that will be taking place at the show. The match will see current champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode defending the titles against The Street Profits, Rey & Dominik Mysterio, and Otis & Chad Gable.
Ethan Page is the newest addition to the AEW roster and the former Impact Wrestling star made his surprise debut for the promotion during the Revolution PPV last month.
The ‘All Ego’ appeared on Insight With Chris Van Vliet podcast after his debut where he talked about things such as his signing with the company and more.
Talking about the creative freedom the promotion is known for, Page said that he wants to be credited for his work before explaining how AEW allows their wrestlers to play the characters they want:
“There’s been so many instances where I did not have a say in my name, in my character, in the way I was represented or presented. And it’s amazing, now being in AEW, the creative freedom and I guess trust that they give their talent to kind of let them do what they want
And play the characters that they want. So I can fully now be the Ethan Page, the ‘All Ego’ Ethan Page that I’ve always wanted to be, so it’s cool.”
The Canadian star also mentioned how he has been wrestling for more than one and a half-decade after making his pro wrestling debut in 2006.
Apart from this, Ethan Page talked about things such as his family’s reaction to his AEW debut, a possible The North reunion and more. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.
WWE has not announced a WrestleMania match for the women’s tag team championship so far but latest reports have revealed what the company is planning for the titles.
According to reports from PWinsider, the current plan is to hold a multi-team #1 contenders tag match featuring four or more teams on night one of the show.
Night two of the WrestleMania event will then see the winner of this multi team match challenging the current women’s tag team champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax for their titles.
WWE’s contract with Tropicana Field is coming to an end on April 2. The first Raw tapings at the Yuengling Center will be taking place on April 12.
In preparation of the move, the company taped the WrestleMania go home episode of Raw in advance and they set up the mentioned matches for the PPV during the episode.
While the participants for the #1 contenders match have not been revealed so far, based on the recent WWE programming Lana & Naomi, Tamina Snuka & Natalya, Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott, and Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke are some of the teams which could compete in the bout.
WrestleMania 37 will take place on April 10 and April 11 from Raymond James Stadium and it will be the first WWE event in over a year to feature live audience.
The AEW signing of Christian is a bittersweet deal for WWE fans. They will get to see him competing in many exciting matches on his new promotion but it also means that we will likely never see him having a reunion with Edge.
During his recent interview with Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, the Rated R Superstar talked about a number of things and also opened up about his best friend’s decision.
Edge claimed that he is not bummed by the former world champion’s call because he wants Christian to be happy and get the respect he deserves:
“You know, I’m not bummed. I want him to be happy, and I want him to get the respect that he deserves.
Because I’d like for him to get the on-air respect that the locker room shows him. Because if you ask anyone within our industry, he’s one of the names where people go, ‘Man, that dude.’”
The ultimate opportunist continued by saying that he wants his best friend to be able to go out on his own terms instead of being told by someone else that he was done with wrestling:
“I just want him to be wherever he’s going to get that respect. Because whatever the initials are, he’s my best friend. I want him to be happy, and I want him to be able to do hopefully what I get to do, which is go out on your own terms,
And see this thing through properly instead of just like, ‘You’re done.’ ‘Wait, what? I’m what?’ We’ve both been in that scenario. So I just want him to go wherever that’s gonna be.”
Edge also mentioned how they were a tag team only for two years during the Attitude Era and they have been singles competitors for way longer than that.
Walter made his return to NXT during the March 17 episode of the show last month. He has gotten engaged in a rivalry with Tommaso Ciampa which will lead to a match between the two at the upcoming NXT Takeover event.
Many have been wondering if the NXT UK champion will stay around after the show but the titleholder himself is suggesting that he is not gonna stick around.
Walter recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated where he was asked about his future with the brand after the upcoming event and he said that his commitment right now is NXT UK:
“My commitment right now is NXT UK. I am the NXT UK champion. Until that changes, I won’t think about the future. I’m very open to travel. That’s what wrestlers do. We’ll see what is going to happen,”
Walter Wants Finn Balor
Walter also commented on a potential match with the NXT champion Finn Balor. He first praised the prince and then revealed that the company actually had plans for a match between the two before the pandemic:
“We were supposed to wrestle before the pandemic started, but we got interrupted. It’s a match I would like to have. The circumstances, whether he is NXT champion or whether I will be NXT UK champion, I don’t know, but it is a match I would like to have happen.”
Batista is not happy with WWE’s decision to break up The Hurt Business.
Last week’s episode of Raw saw Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander losing a 2 on 1 handicap match to Drew McIntyre, barring them from the ringside for the WWE championship match at WrestleMania.
This week’s episode of the show then saw Lashley insulting the duo in a segment for not getting the job done. The WWE champion then said that the Hurt Business is over for the two.
The segment ended with the All-Mighty taking out the former tag team champions and commenting on this decision, Batista suggested that it was too early for the break up:
The Hurt Business storyline began in May last year when MVP aligned himself with the current WWE champion. The following months saw Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander joining the group.
Lashley went on to win the US championship after the formation of the group in August. Benjamin & Alexander then defeated the New Day to become the new Raw tag team champions in December.
However, they couldn’t keep the titles for long and lost them earlier in March. Lashley on the other hand became the WWE champion during the March 1 episode of Raw after dropping the US title the month prior.
What do you think about Batista’s comments about the decision to break up The Hurt Business? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
MLW has confirmed that their partnership with the Japanese wrestling promotion Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling is still intact despite the year-long halt due to coronavirus.
This partnership had been announced only a month before the pandemic began and both the companies haven’t been able to work together due to travel restrictions that had been put in place.
This year-long halt made many believe that we might not see the two promotions working together anymore but they have confirmed that this is not the case.
MLW aired a new vignette during their Never Say Never event and in the video package seen below they announced that “The gate from Japan has been opened to the Americas”
The company announced some championship matches for the April 14 episode of Fusion as well confirming that Alex Hammerstone will defend the National Openweight Championship against Mil Muertes.
It was also announced that Gino Medina will be challenging the IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Champion Richard Holliday for his title during the show.
More information on the alliance between MLW and Dragon Gate is expected to be revealed in near future. It will be interesting to see how this partnership materializes. Stay tuned for more information on the deal between the promotions.
Daniel Bryan has started taking some interest in the behind the scene creative process in recent times and fans have credited him for helping underrated talents such as Cesaro and Drew Gulak.
During a recent interview with Talk Sport, the former world champion discussed a number of things and also cleared the air on his creative influence.
Bryan mentioned how he gets credit for good storylines. However, according to him, he doesn’t have as big of a say in things as fans believe:
“It’s interesting because, one, I don’t have that big of a say [Laughs]. Sometimes something really great will happen on SmackDown and somebody will say ‘Oh, that’s Daniel Bryan!’ Like, that’s not me!
One part is our performers — we have incredible superstars. Cesaro is a no-brainer. When you say ‘Daniel Bryan helped Cesaro’ — no. All I did was ‘hey this guy is really good. We should put him on TV and use him!’ [Laughs].”
Later in the interview, the SmackDown star revealed that his own mentor William Regal once told him that being mentor of young talents can sometimes be more rewarding than the actual wrestling.
ROH has confirmed the plans for a reboot of their women’s division that will kick off with a tournament to crown a new women’s champion this Summer.
The announcement was made by the newest member of the ROH Board of Directors Maria Kanellis-Bennett during the company’s 19th Anniversary PPV.
Maria cut a promo during the show and the former WWE and Impact star invited women from all over to participate in the upcoming tournament to determine their new champion.
She also announced a match between Angelina Love and Quinn McKay for an upcoming episode of ROH TV, with the winner getting entry in the first round of the tournament.
ROH hasn’t had a women’s champion since the last Women Of Honor title holder Kelly Klein’s contract expired in 2019. Her title defense at the Glory by Honor XVII in October 2019 was the last time the company had a women’s match.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, forced the company to halt the tournament and it appears that the officials have rescheduled their original plans with this announcement.
Former Diva’s champion Layla recently appeared on Excuse Me: The Vickie Guerrero Show where she talked about a number of things and reflected on her WWE career.
Revealing the advice she would give to her younger self, the former champion said that she would tell herself to save her money and stay humble.
During the fan question segment of the show, the wrestling veteran was asked about her dream opponents from past and present and Layla took the name of a current champion from WWE:
“One of the from the past, Chyna because I was such a fan. I was a huge fan, and of course she’s going to kill me within two seconds, but I would totally love to do that, I would love to work Chyna and have one match with her, and in the present, man, there’s so many good girls right now.
They’re all amazing. I mean Sasha [Banks] is amazing, but I feel that’s so predictable.” said Layla, “I think Asuka. I really, really love her work. I just think she’s just so clean and everything. She works really good with everybody.”
The former WWE star also recalled the time she beat Beth Phoenix for the women’s championship in May 2010 and revealed that it was a last minute decision.
According to her, the company needed a new champion because Phoenix was injured. Layla was the only one on the road. So she was chosen as the new champion and she was told about her win on the day of the match itself.
Former Impact Wrestling Knockouts champion Taylor Wilde will finally be making her return to the company soon according to reports from Fightful Select.
According to the report, this comeback has been planned for well over a year and the female star was originally slated to return ahead of the pandemic last year.
However, coronavirus halted these plans and Wilde could not make a comeback due to the travel restrictions that were put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Taylor Wilde is a former WWE star who was signed by the company in 2006 but she couldn’t get past the development territories. She was released by the company without a main roster appearance in 2007.
She joined the promotion then known as TNA in 2008. She went on to win the Knockouts Championship by defeating Awesome Kong during the July 10 episode of Impact Wrestling in her debut year.
Wilde went on to have a long run with the company. She also became the inaugural Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Sarita in 2009. She later had another run with the tile while teaming up with Hamada.
The former champion was said to be backstage for the latest Impact tapings though it’s unknown if she filmed any material and the exact date for her return is not known yet.
Shane ‘Hurricane’ Helms was part of the WCW roster in its final years and the high flying star was backstage for the final episode of the company’s flagship show Nitro on March 26, 2001.
During his recent talk with SmackDown Exclusive, the former WCW star discussed the folding of the company on its 20th anniversary.
Helms opened up about the time before it was revealed that WWE had bought their rivals. He mentioned how the WCW higher-ups were keeping things close to the vest and they had heard many rumors:
“Leading up to that we had heard different rumors, some of that was WCW trying to keep things close to the vest. Some of it was WCW just trying to keep morale up. They wanted us to not know the situation that we were in, and I get that, but we heard so many rumors that I didn’t know what to believe. Nobody did, no matter what they say.”
Hurricane also talked about the moment when they finally realized that they had lost the Monday Night Wars and it was when Shane McMahon walked into their talent meeting:
“There was a talent meeting earlier in the day, Shane McMahon walked in the room, and you could’ve heard the proverbial pin drop in there. That was the paradigm shift in the business. The war was over. My team had lost. There were a lot of mixed emotions.”
Shane Helms ended up joining WWE after the folding of WCW and he stayed with the company until 2010. He made an appearance at All In but Helms has since returned to WWE and currently works as a backstage producer.