Lacey Evans returned to the ring after a hiatus of two months on this week’s episode of SmackDown and declared her entry into the Royal Rumble match.
The Sassy Southern Belle last competed on TV during the November 11, 2022 episode of SmackDown. She took part in a six-pack challenge that was won by Shotzi.
After the loss, Evans had said that she was “done trying to please everybody” and no longer be comfortable in the “glitz, glamour and the lifestyle” of being a WWE star.
The company then started airing vignettes of the SmackDown star where she was seen undergoing rigorous training with fellow United States Marine Corps.
Lacey Evans is Back
Lacey Evans finally returned to the ring on the January 27th episode of SmackDown. She competed in a singles match against Jazmin Allure.
The female star used the Cobra Clutch submission to defeat her opponent before declaring entry into the upcoming Women’s Royal Rumble.
WWE Legend Sgt. Slaughter had recently discussed the idea of managing Evans on WWE TV. With her adopting the Cobra Clutch, it’s very much possible that we will see this pairing on WWE programming very soon.
Lacey Evans wasn’t the only name to announce her entry into Royal Rumble on SmackDown. A former Universal Champion also confirmed himself for the show. Click here to find out more.
Trying to win Royal Rumble just became much harder for the other 29 contestants, because Brock Lesnar has announced his entry into the match.
This week’s episode of SmackDown featured a segment with US Champion Austin Theory. He was interrupted by Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston and The Miz.
All four of these men started brawling before Bobby Lashley came out. The All Mighty levelled all other stars. He mentioned that Brock Lesnar cost him the US title on Raw and said that he will terrorize everyone until he gets what he wants.
The Beast Incarnate then made his entrance through the crowd. He delivered an F5 to Lashley before declaring his entry into the battle royal.
Bray Wyatt got to share a pretty special moment with The Undertaker at Raw 30th Anniversary special. The Dead Man symbolized the passing of the torch when he didn’t capitalize on the opportunity to Chokeslam LA Knight. The Last Outlaw instead passed him on to the former Universal Champion so Wyatt can deliver a Sister Abigail. Taker then whispered something to Bray before making his way back.
The Fiend recently had a rare interview with Ryan Satin on Out of Character. He was asked the question everyone has in mind – what did The Undertaker say to him. While the former champion didn’t betray the secret, he did claim that it was a very special segment. Wyatt who never re-watches any of his work, said that it’s the one moment he will cherish for the rest of his life:
“Okay, so I think everybody kind of can see it for what it was, right? When something like that happens, that’s something that no one can take away from me.” said Bray Wyatt, “That moment belongs to me. No one else in the world in the history of time ever gets to have that moment. No one but me. What he said was something that only I would have understood. Something that only I would be able to appreciate, for when and where it happened.
It was something I never thought would come but what he said exactly is between me, him, God [and] the devil. I could never [reveal it]. I’ll never, never tell so. I’ll go to my grave with it. But it was powerful, and it was unexpected. Very very cool. Something I will cherish for the rest of my life. That’s a segment I can watch back. That’s a special one.”
You can check out the interview of Bray Wyatt below:
Bray Wyatt is one of the rare breed of wrestlers who have kept kayfabe alive. He is one who almost never comes out of his character to talk to people and it creates a mystique around him. Though sometimes it also leads to him facing all his problems on his own without involving the world into it.
The WWE star had a rare chat with Ryan Satin on the Out of Character podcast. They talked about his return promo at Extreme Rules last year where the former Wyatt Family Leader opened up about his struggles a little bit and thanked fans for saving him. He revisited the emotions during the talk and reiterated that it’s the fans that have led him back:
“Well, I despise the way my mind works. That’s the truth of it all. I’m the first person ever to tell you all my flaws. I refuse to watch myself back. I’ve never seen pretty much anything that I’ve ever done. I can’t watch. I [am] just that kind of headcase man, but it’s also kind of my superpower.
It’s what makes me, me. [It] is the obsession. When I’m geared on something, I’m so deep into it that there is no separating life from anything else. It just is. When I dive deep like that, it’s what makes me connect and it’s the reason that I have fans that are so into what I do. It feels like it’s part of their life too. If I didn’t have such passionate fans, man, I wouldn’t be here. I really wouldn’t. It’s them that led me back here.”
‘It Was All Out of Nowhere’: Bray Wyatt
The former Universal champion went through a dark period in his life just around the time of his WWE firing in 2021. He lost two of his best friends apart from losing his job. Opening up about the time, Bray Wyatt admitted that he didn’t deal with it very well. Though he also explained that the long journey has led him to where he is now:
“There was so much there. Just so much going on with all that. It was out of nowhere. I wasn’t prepared for any of that. I lost my childhood best friend. I lost Brodie. I lost my best friend from college Mark. It was something that I think I didn’t deal with very well. I think Brodie’s wife Amanda dealt with it. The kids dealt with it better than me and Rowan did. There’s something there that reminds me of him every single day.
I think that time period was such a conundrum for me. I wasn’t myself. It took me a while to kind of remember what makes me, me. It was a long journey man but it’s led me here, into this moment. This is the best I’ve ever felt.”
FTR didn’t have the best year in 2021. The tag team was stuck in limbo after jumping ships from WWE to AEW and they didn’t get a lot of opportunities to showcase their talent. The duo of Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler decided to change this in 2022 and the team that helped them in this task was none other than The Briscoes.
Harwood talked about their highly praised feud with the ROH veterans on the latest episode of his podcast. He remembered their first encounter at ROH Final Battle in December, 2021 where FTR attacked The Briscoes. Per Dax, there were no plans for them in the place at the time and they just wanted to test the waters:
“We just wanted to test the waters. We just wanted to see what was gonna happen. Myself and Cash, really were in a low point in our career. We weren’t doing anything. We begged Tony to let us do that.”
– Dax Harwood
‘We Deserve To Be On National Television’: Dax Harwood
The Final Battle confrontation led to a highly praised match between the two teams at Supercard of Honor 2022. It was the time when the future of ROH was in question. So the two teams decided to go out with a blaze of glory and prove that they deserved to be on national television every week:
“We knew we could go. If Ring of Honor was going to go out, the four of us could go out with a blaze of glory and say, ‘This is who we are. This is what we represent and we deserve a job somewhere. We deserve to be on national television every week somewhere.’ That was our mindset going into it. Then the match happened. Man, it was f**king magical.”
The match between FTR and The Briscoes at Supercard of Honor was awarded a five-star rating by Dave Meltzer. It helped both the teams create buzz. They went on to have two more highly praised matches that helped put them back on the map.
Ever since Bray Wyatt returned to WWE last year, people have been wanting to see the return of his cult leader character. The reason for him to not bring it back however, is very personal.
WWE on Fox recently posted a clip of their upcoming sit-down interview with the former world champion. He is seen talking about the different iterations of his character.
Speaking about the gimmick he originally debut on main roster with, Wyatt explained that he can’t bring it back without Brodie Lee:
“For me, the Hawaiian shirt of Bray, who he was, he can’t be without Brodie. I can’t be that without Brodie. It’s just not the same. It’s disrespectful to my best friend. It just can’t be without him.”
– Bray Wyatt
Here’s a sneak peak of our exclusive one-on-one conversation with #BrayWyatt
The WWE star also mentioned his WrestleMania 37 match against Randy Orton. He claimed The Fiend died that day in Tampa, Florida and ‘it can never be again.’
Brodie Lee, better known to WWE fans as Luke Harper was one of the original members of The Wyatt Family. He, unfortunately, passed away in December 2020 at the age of 41.
Bray Wyatt is scheduled for a pitch-black match against LA Knight at Royal Rumble this year. The event, scheduled for Saturday, January 28 will be coming live from Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Mark Briscoe believes that Jay Briscoe is not truly gone and he has just moved on to the next higher level of existence. Now it’s time to wrestle for him.
The ROH veteran addressed the passing of his brother in a video published on Caprice Coleman’s Twitter account. He mentioned that he wouldn’t have been able to continue wrestling this long, if his brother was not with him:
“Ain’t no way I’ve been wanting to do this for this long if ain’t have my boy with me this whole time. But now, it’s time to carry on for him. Family is beyond. This life is temporary. Let’s focus on the eternal, not the temporal.”
Jay Briscoe passed away in an unfortunate car accident on January 17. The wrestling world has since come together to mourn the loss and pay tribute to the ROH legend.
Mark Brisoce: “He Ain’t Gone”
Mark Briscoe mentioned how Jay is not with him in person. Though the late star is still in his heart and knowing that has helped him keep going:
“He’s still with me right here [points to his heart]. He ain’t gone. If I thought he was gone, I wouldn’t be no good. I know he ain’t gone. I know he just moved on to the next higher level of existence. You know what I mean? That’s what keeps me going and keeps me pushing forward.”
– Mark Briscoe
AEW presented a tribute show for Jay Briscoe on this week’s Dynamite. You can check out the tribute video they put together below:
LA Knight got to live one of the biggest moments of his career this past Monday during Raw. He got to share the ring with one of the greatest performers of all time in The Undertaker. According to the Raw star, the moment gave him chills.
The former NXT star recently appeared on Insight WithChris Van Vliet. When asked about his segment with the Deadman, Knight revealed that he was told about the segment at the last minute. Per the former champion, he previously didn’t believe in the stories of Undertaker’s entrance but he does now:
“I’ll tell you the truth. It’s funny because you always hear the cliche. ‘When you are standing in that ring and that bell tolls. It’s chills’ and I’m like ‘Oh yeah sure.’ That’s legit. It was chills. It was pretty wild. But at the same time to be standing there and doing my thing and to be very recognized. That audience was right on top of everything I had to say even with The Undertaker. That’s a big feather in my cap as far as I’m concerned.”
‘Beyond Grateful’: LA Knight
LA Knight shares a very interesting similarity with The Last Outlaw. The 40-year-old was also managed by the legendary Paul Bearer during one point in his career in Championship Wrestling From Hollywood. Speaking about his interactions with Bearer, Knight claimed that he was beyond grateful to share any advice:
“Three years, three years that guy led me to the ring. I loved him. He was so good to me. Anytime I ever had to ask him anything. He was like, it wasn’t even like he was willing to give it. It was beyond that. It was like he was so grateful to have an outlet to give any kind of advice or insight or anything like that. Like he thanked me profusely for asking, which just to me shows an enormous sign of his character.”
Wes Lee is one of the most athletic talents on the current NXT roster. Though he didn’t start out as such and according to the current NXT North American Champion himself, a lot of the things he is able to do are self-taught.
The 34 year old was recently interviewed on The Mark Moses Show. Wes was asked if he has always been this athletic. Replying to it, the high-flying star revealed that he couldn’t play a lot of sports during his childhood due to a heart condition:
“So my mother was rather protective of me growing up. I was a smaller kid growing up, so I didn’t really have the opportunity to play too many sports, basketball was out of the question. Football was somewhat out of the question as well because I was born with a heart murmur. So there were a lot of medical reasons why I could not play sports.”
Heart murmur is a condition where blood does not flow through heart valves how it should. It could cause serious problems in many patients but some do have the ability to live a normal life without getting surgery for it. The NXT star did not mention going through one.
Old Mattresses and Love For Professional Wrestling
The former Impact Wrestling star then revealed how he honed his athletic ability and learned to wrestle. According to Wes Lee, it became possible by ignoring the disclaimers before wrestling shows:
“So a lot of the things that I ended up learning were self-taught from either movies or just from common knowledge between shared friends. I lived in an area where I had many athletic friends as well. Tumbling was a thing that we used to do in our neighbourhood. We’d grab old mattresses and sit them out, run and jump off of those and practice our flips. So that was the way that I really honed in on my athletic ability was starting out on that.
Then that led to the growth of my love for professional wrestling and sports entertainment. Once that happened, I started to you know, not listen to the disclaimer at the very beginning of our shows and stuff like that of not trying this at home. That was the early stages of me, breaking into the love of professional wrestling and starting to really expand on my expertise when it comes to my athleticism.”
A third lawsuit has been filed against Vince McMahon since the chairman of the boards returned to WWE earlier this month.
According to reports from Bloomberg, the lawsuit stems from the allegations that the boss paid up hush money to cover up sexual harassment allegations against him.
With this new case, the investors are seeking to “sever their case from the consolidated action” and they can “keep the bylaw-related claims alive, interfering with any fee request” if they succeed.
Carole Casale and Chrystal Lavalle are the two investors behind the suit. The lawsuit is not publicly available so not a lot of details have been revealed.
Vince McMahon forced his way back into the WWE Board of Directors on January 6 after having retired on July last year. He was then voted the chairman on January 10.
The WWE owner has since been sued by both Scott Fellows and the Police and Fire Retirement System of Detroit claiming that he “breached fiduciary duties as controlling stockholder.”
They claimed that with the manner of his return, McMahon aims to “impose his personal will on WWE and its [board] by purporting to adopt a package of invalid and inequitable bylaw amendments that would hamstring the Board from making critical business decisions.”
We will provide more information on the new lawsuit when it becomes available.
WWE’s Hall of Fame has always been a controversial subject. Many wrestling talents over the years have questioned its credibility over the lack of any criteria for inductees. John Morrison is one who doesn’t care about an induction because he thinks that it’s political and made up.
The former WWE star recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet. Among other things, the former ECW champion was asked if he thinks he has had a Hall of Fame career. Morrison replied by saying that he doesn’t care about it:
“Funny thing is I don’t care. I think the Hall of Fame is political and made up. It doesn’t matter that much to me.”
– John Morrison
Chris mentioned that John Morrison still has a lot left in the tank. The wrestling star then explained that it might be the reason for his disinterest: “Me too. Maybe that’s why I don’t care so much about Hall of Fame. I feel like it’s too early for that question.”
In his two runs with WWE, Morrison has won over half a dozen titles in the company. He has given fans many moments to remember and is certainly worthy of a Hall of Fame induction once he is ready to call it a career.
You can check out John Morrison’s full interview below:
John Morrison has gone through more name changes than anyone in the history of wrestling. It all started when the former WWE star made his debut on Raw under the ring name Johnny Blaze in 2004. However, he instantly went through a couple of name changes before settling on Johnny Nitro. He used the name for a few years before Vince McMahon made him change it again. The former champion thinks it was because Nitro reminded the boss of WCW’s flagship show of the same name.
The high-flying star was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet. Among other things he also talked about his name change in WWE. The wrestling star admitted that going from Nitro to Morrison was a big shift for him. He also revealed that Mr McMahon asked him to change the name three times before he finally did:
“It definitely was. Literally, Vince I don’t know if [he] would admit this or not, but [he] did not like Nitro. I don’t think [so]. Because it reminded him about WCW. Because he asked me to change my name three times. The third time was when I won the ECW title [in 2007]. I didn’t say no that time because I was like, ‘All right. I am not gonna fight this anymore.'”
When asked how he managed to say no to Vince McMahon two times, Morrison said “You just say you’ll think about it and then hope he forgets. Sometimes he does.”
‘You Gotta Have A Champion’s Name’: John Morrison
John Morrison also revealed the reason Vince gave him for wanting the name change and detailed the final conversation about it:
“He said, ‘You gotta change your name. You gotta have a champion’s name if you’re gonna be a champion. Make a list of names. Write down 10 names’ Then an hour later, I had like a list of all these names.
Morrison was off Jim Morrison from the Doors but I had like Brando Morrison, Johnny Brando, Johnny Blaze Morrison, Blaze is already copywritten, but a bunch of stuff. He looked at this list that I’d spent an hour googling names and meanings and different celebrities like James Dean and making this list. He just looked at it and was like, ‘John Morrison,'”
You can check out the former ECW champion’s interview below:
WWE put some serious effort in promoting the Raw 30th Anniversary special and the buzz around the show seems to have paid off in form of a huge rating spike.
According to reports from Wrestlenomics, the show featuring appearances from a number of legends and more drew an average of 2.34 million viewers.
The episode featuring the US championship match between Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley among others drew a 0.70 rating for the 18-49 demographic.
The first hour of the show drew a massive 2.64 million viewers. While the following hours saw the usual decline, both the second and third hours of Raw XXX stayed above 2 million with a 2.37 million and 2.02 million ratings respectively.
This is a big 57% increase in the viewership number compared to last week’s episode of the show. The episode featuring the six-way elimination match had drawn 1.48 million viewers with a 0.42 rating in the 18-49 demo.
This week’s episode of the show which saw appearances from legends such as The Undertaker and DX scored the highest total viewership since the February 17, 2020 episode of the program.
WWE will be presenting the Royal Rumble PPV this Saturday. We will have to see if the big event helps next Monday’s show to retain some of these extra viewers.
The New Day are one of the most remarkable success stories of WWE’s current era. The trio of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E started off as a completely different kind of faction. Plans changed however and the group ended up getting over with completely different characters. Even today, the trio can’t believe that they get paid to do things such as swivelling their hips in front of arenas full of people.
Kingston was recently interviewed by Under The Ring podcast. The former WWE champion was asked if there has been a moment with the New Day where he thought it was ridiculous that he was getting paid for it. The wrestling veteran laughed at the question and explained that there are many such moments:
“There’s so many moments. It was probably at some point in time when I’m out there twerking. E’s out there swivelling his hips, Woods just swivelling his hips and the entire crowd is doing it along with us. They’re going to buy our shirts.
We’ll leave the arenas and people will be waiting to see WWE superstars on the way out, and then you’ll have the entire crowd just swivelling their hips and we’re like, ‘Man, this is out contribution to society.'” said Kofi Kingston,
“People are out there from all ages, little kids all the way up to old ladies out there swivelling their hips, and trying to say what’s up? So when you sit back and think about all the crazy things that we have done, it’s really quite remarkable. We say often, ‘We can’t believe that we get paid actual money to do this, it’s crazy.'”
Not everything went according to the plan at Raw 30th Anniversary special and the company had to change things on the fly.
The Trial of Sami Zayn segment featuring The Bloodline went ‘extremely long’ and exceeded the length originally allocated for the segment.
This caused the company to adjust the length of several segment. The thing that was affected the most was the planned Steel Cage match between Becky Lynch and Bayley.
According to reports from PWInsider, the original plan was for The Man to win the Steel Cage match and then get beaten down by the members of Damage CTRL.
The officials decided to go right to the post-match segment due to the shortage of time. While the stars did show up for the bout, the match never officially went underway.
Becky Lynch tried to get the upper hand by attacking Dakota Kai and IYO SKY at the start but Bayley hit her with the steel cage door. This allowed the trio to get the advantage and they beat the former Women’s Champion down.
The beatdown continued until WWE producer Adam Pearce came out. He cut open the cage door. The segment ended with Damage CTRL standing at the top of the cage while Pearce checked on Becky Lynch.
WWE Hall of Famer’s The Bella Twins were excluded from the Raw XXX celebration and it appears that the female stars are not happy about it.
The duo were originally advertised for the special episode of the show. They were later removed from the lineup however and ended up not making an appearance.
Mike Johnson of PWinsider noted that both Nikki and Brie Bella flew to Northeast over the weekend but they attended a performance of Wicked on Broadway in New York instead of making an appearance on the episode:
“It appears that the two sides may have had a disagreement on how their planned appearance was going to go, so The Bellas ended up not going to RAW in Philly.”
The Bella Twins Call Out WWE
After the Raw episode, the duo questioned the limited inclusion of the women’s revolution in the various packages and graphics during the show.
Nikki Bella claimed that the reason behind it is because the company does not want to show footage of Sasha Banks. Brie Bella chipped in saying that ‘there is a bunch of us they don’t wanna show.’
Nikki further slammed the company saying that ‘when you do what they don’t wanted you, they don’t show you’:
Brock Lesnar is back and he is in the feeding mood.
WWE celebrated 30 years of Monday Night Raw this week with a show full of legends. There were a number of veterans who made an appearance on the episode including people like The Undertaker and DX.
The main event of the show saw Austin Theory defending the United States Championship against Bobby Lashley in No Disqualification match. The All Mighty had won a Six Way Elimination match last week to earn the title shot.
Towards the ending of the bout, Lashley sent Theory into a steel chair at the ring post. Lashley followed it with a number of moves including a superplex off the top.
Theory tried to low blow Bobby Lashley but the former WWE champion managed to send him through a table that had previously been set up.
This is when Brock Lesnar’s music hit and the Beast Incarnate made his return. He delivered an F5 to Lashley and another one to Austin Theory.
Theory landed on top of the All Mighty and got the pin. Lesnar then left the ring and the show ended with the former world champion standing at the stage.
Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar have faced each other a couple times with both the stars having a win over the other. The latest encounter suggests that we will be seeing the rubber match between the two sooner rather than later.
WWE has added some more names to the line-up for the upcoming Raw 30th Anniversary special, including Diamond Dallas Page among others.
In a graphic shown during this week’s episode of SmackDown, the company confirmed that DDP, Ted DiBiase, Mike “Irwin R. Schyster” Rotunda, Alundra Blayze, The Godfather, and Jimmy Hart will all be a part of the upcoming celebration.
This comes after the promotion added Hulk Hogan and Triple H to an already stacked line up for the episode earlier in the day.
Raw 30th Anniversary Match Card
WWE will be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Monday Night Raw on January 23. You can check out the announced card for the show below:
WWE United States Championship Match: Austin Theory vs. Bobby Lashley
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Usos vs. Judgement Day
Steel Cage Match: Becky Lynch vs. Bayley
Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Other names scheduled for the special episode include The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, X-Pac, Ric Flair, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, Teddy Long, Ron Simmons, and Kurt Angle.
Rikishi and Samu are expected to participate in the Bloodline acknowledgment ceremony. The Bella Twins who were originally announced for Raw are no longer part of the promotional graphic.
Former NXT star Steph De Lander, better known to WWE fans as Persia Pirotta made her debut for Impact Wrestling during the company’s TV taping on Friday.
The Australian professional wrestler came out and cut a promo on Jordynne Grace. She claimed that the Impact star has fallen from grace and the whole Knockout’s Division is shaking in their boots.
Jordynne Grace then made her entrance and the two female stars competed in a singles match. Lander lost her debut match for the promotion.
Scoop #23: Steph De Lander (former Persia Pirotta) comes out
Steph De Lander made her wrestling debut back in 2017 under the ring name FaceBrooke. She wrestled for promotions such as Shimmer and Rise Wrestling before signing with WWE in March 2021.
She made her NXT TV debut later that year as a friend of Indie Hartwell who had come from Australia for Hartwell’s wedding with Dexter Lumis.
The two then teamed up for a number of tag team matches on the development show. In January 2022, they started a feud with Toxic Attraction. This led to a match for the NXT Tag Team Championship at Vengeance Day before her release in April 2022.
It’s unknown whether Lander has signed a long-term contract with Impact Wrestling or if the surprise appearance was a one-off deal.
Bray Wyatt returned to The Firefly Fun House during the January 20 episode of SmackDown and reunited with all his friends.
This week’s episode of the show saw LA Knight defeating Ren Jones in a singles match. Mercy the Buzzard, Abby The Witch, Ramblin’ Rabbit and Huskus the Pig Boy then made an appearance, confronting Knight on the Titantron.
Ramblin Rabbit revealed that he is scared of the dark and worried about Bray for his Pitch Black match at the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV on January 29.
Wyatt tried to console his friend but halfway through the segment, Uncle Howdy interrupted. He claimed that he knew all Bray needed was a push.
The segment ended with Bray Wyatt telling LA Knight that whatever happens at the upcoming PPV, whatever walks through the door, it’s his own fault.
Uncle Howdy also made an appearance on Raw this past Monday on January 16. He saved Alexa Bliss from Bianca Belair.
Bray Wyatt has wrestled a few live event matches since his return but not on TV. His bout against Knight at Royal Rumble will mark his first Televised match since WrestleMania 37 back in April 2021 where he was defeated by Randy Orton.
After the TV tapings for Dynamite and Rampage from Fresno, CA this week AEW taped a tribute show titled “Jay Briscoe Celebration of Life.” The ring apron and graphics were switched to ROH for this and the special has been confirmed to be airing on the Honor Club platform for free. Below are the complete results from this special show:
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman opened the show and talked about the late star as a performer and father. They promoted the show to be in honor of Jay Briscoe. ROH owner Tony Khan also came out and thanked everyone for being present to honor the life and legacy of a great man.
Adam Cole cut a promo talking about his history and friendship with Jay. Cole said that he loves and misses Jay and that the former ROH star left the world a better place
ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta def. Hagane Shinno. Jerry Lynn, Dean Malenko and BJ Whitmer were the judges for this contest.
Singles Match: Marina Shafir def. Mighty Myra.
Singles Match: Eddie Kingston def. QT Marshall.
ROH Women’s Championship Match: Athena def. Madison Rayne with Sky Blue. Post-match, Athena attacked Blue with the title belt
Singles Match: Juice Robinson def. Brandon Cutler
Singles Match: Yuka Sakazaki def. Sandra Moon
ROH Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli def. Christopher Daniels. Castagnoli used the Jay-Driller to pick up the victory.
Post-match, Daniels cut a promo saying Jay was the toughest wrestler he knew. Castagnoli then told the crowd to not take tomorrow for granted. He thanked the fans and mentioned that he loved Jay. The ROH champion asked the fans to keep Jay and his family in their thoughts and drive home safe.
Tributes have been pouring in for Jay Briscoe ever since the news of his tragic passing come out. People from across the wrestling world have been sharing their memories and stories showcasing the late star’s passion for wrestling and his love for his family.
On the latest Busted Open Radio, former ROH owner Carry Silkin, Tommy Dreamer, and others paid tribute to him. During the show, the group discussed how The Briscoes were the same behind the scene as they were in the ring and they always brought their authentic self on the table.
Speaking about his interactions with the duo, Dreamer said that they were the first ones who made him feel welcome in ROH. The ECW legend then told the story of working with the ROH tag champs for the first time for his House of Hardcore promotion:
“I remember when they did my House Of Hardcore show. They attacked me and Bully [Ray]. We were going to go that route of having a tag match [in] 2017-ish. I remember walking up to him after the show and I handed them envelopes and Jay was like, ‘Nah, man, we’re good. We didn’t do anything.’ I said ‘Dude, you did. You travelled here and I’m paying you.’ He goes ‘Nah.’ I said, ‘Listen, never turn down money. you’re helping me build something.’ Then he was like ‘allll right.’
The fact that him and his brother were just gonna take that for free.” said Tommy Dreamer, “I would not want people to do that but the fact that they were and like, told me that they didn’t want to get paid. They’re like, ‘Nah, man, that was cool. That was cool shit.’ I was just like, ‘Well just take this. it’s not a lot but please take this and we’re going to do future business with each other’ and it worked. It helped but just trying to tell you the men that they are.”
The Briscoe Brothers had been part of the ROH roster since the very beginning. They were present for the very first ROH show in 2002 where Jay Briscoe wrestled Amazing Red. Their team has won the ROH tag team titles over a dozen times and Jay also held the ROH world title a couple of times.
Shawn Michaels has been a part of WWE for a long time and he has seen the company go through many monumental changes. Perhaps the biggest one was when the promotion shifted from taped shows to live television with the January 11, 1993 episode of Raw. HBK not only witnessed this change but he was a part of it. He was one of the talents who wrestled on the very first live episode of the red-branded show, defending the Intercontinental championship against Max Moon.
The former world champion and Shelton Benjamin were the latest guests on The Bump. Celebrating 30 years of WWE’s flagship show, the duo discussed the various stages of Raw’s evolution. Reflecting on the shift to Live Television, Michaels explained the biggest challenge of it was communicating the transition to commercials:
“Live television, of course, Shelton can attest to, we’ve come a long way now as far as you know commercial breaks and how you get there, the timing and stuff like that.” said Shawn Michaels, “So honestly that was the most difficult transition is understanding the live television, going to commercials, coming back from commercials.
The way you communicate knowing when you’re in commercials and out of commercials. You have all these things that are already running through your head in a wrestling match, the added element of live television was something that was truly fascinating and ground-breaking at the time for me. But again, all of it, a wonderful journey to [have] been able to [be] part of.”
WWE will be celebrating Raw’s 30th anniversary during the January 23 episode of the show. Apart from Shawn Michaels, the episode will feature legends such as The Undertaker, Ric Flair, Kurt Angle and many more.
Jade Cargill is one of the top female wrestlers of the AEW roster. The 30-year-old has been positioned as a future mega star by the company. Though despite her position, she is not shying away from acknowledging the competition, going as far as to offer huge compliment to one of the biggest stars of the rival promotion.
The AEW star recently had an interview with Bootleg Kev. During the talk, Cargill was asked about other wrestling stars she admires. The TBS champion took the name of Charlotte Flair, saying that she is a total package:
I think she’s a total package that we have as far as an example for a woman wrestler today.
– Jade Cargill
“I think Charlotte Flair is great. I think she’s very sound wrestler. She can do all the flippy shit that you want to do. She can go out there and have a hardcore match. I think she’s a total package that we have as far as an example for a woman wrestler today.
She leaves and comes back and then she like, it’s like she never left.” said Jade Cargill, “I think she’s phenomenal at what she does. People can say whatever they want. I think she’s a great wrestler.”
Charlotte Flair recently returned from a 7-month-long hiatus and regained the SmackDown Women’s championship. This is her 14th Women’s World title and 17th overall title in the company.
You can check out Jade Cargill’s full interview below:
Wrestling world has been left in shock after the sudden passing of Jay Briscoe. One-half of the ROH tag champs passed away in a car accident earlier on Tuesday.
The 38-year-old had been one of the longest-tenured ROH employees. He made his debut for the company in 2002 and competed for them regularly until this year.
Wrestling personalities from across the globe have been mourning the loss of the wrestling veteran ever since the news was confirmed by Tony Khan.
WWE chief content officer Triple H took on his Twitter to pay tribute to the late star. He noted how Jay Briscoe had developed a deep connection with fans across the globe:
An incredible performer who created a deep connection with wrestling fans across the globe. My condolences to the family and friends of Jay Briscoe.
WWE star Cody Rhodes mentioned that he didn’t know Jay very well but he understood instantly that the ROH star was a family man:
I didn’t interact much with him, but upon meeting Jay I instantly understood something about him…his family was his everything. All the love in the world to them this evening.
Christopher Daniels who has also had several stints with ROH in his career noted that the late star was a tremendous brother and father:
Jay Briscoe was one of the toughest men I ever had the privilege of sharing a ring with, as well as being a tremendous brother, father, and man. I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to know him and wrestle him as often as I did. Rest in Peace, Jay, I love you.#RIPJayBriscoepic.twitter.com/6ZxNfgPcmw
Others who have paid tribute to Jay Briscoe include Tommy Dreamer, Brandi Rhodes, Nick Jackson, Gunther and many more. You can check out their posts below:
RIP to the homie Jay Briscoe. Condolences to the your family. Rest in paradise uso.?@SussexCoChicken#DemBoyz
I'm deeply saddened to hear of the loss of Jay Briscoe. He was always the kindest to me during my time in ROH. My heart goes out to the entire family. I don't have the right words but I just wanted to say that he was such a good man. ?
I've known Jay Briscoe since he was a fan Watched him become an amazing wrestler, best tag team & realest promo guy I was going to text him yesterday about the cost of eggs and I didnt I wish I did Whenever I saw them I'd say Luv me some Briscoes Prayers for his family pic.twitter.com/aTaQRTjilX
I cannot even begin to process this right now. I loved everything about my friend Jay Briscoe. His passion. His drive. His presence. Our wars in the ring. Most importantly, how much he loved his family. I am literally sick to my stomach… pic.twitter.com/XNK5ZHlqxu
Jay Briscoe showed me respect and love when everyone told me he wouldn't. If you knew Jay, you knew he would uplift everyone in that locker room regardless of whatever world they came to wrestling from. The best. Rest easy, brother.
Gutted, one of the realist & best. Thank you for amazing contributions to wrestling, my thoughts are with Mark, Jay’s Children & wife and that whole family.
