Former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion Big E recently spoke with 107.7 The Bone with Bimbo Jimbo & Baby Huey to promote The New Day’s new book.

Although Kofi Kingston and Big E had found some success while singles competitors, they have found their niche as a tag team. The stable originally debuted on the July 21, 2014, episode of RAW, but made their official television debut as The New Day in November 2014.

During their time together, they are three-time world tag team champions within the company. They won the WWE (RAW) Tag Team Champions twice with their second reign being the longest for any Tag Team Championship in WWE history at 483 days, and the SmackDown Tag Team Championship once.

“A lot of WWE and wrestling books are very serious. They will take through the rise and fall, and the hard times, but THIS is a fun read. It’s about a 165 pages. It’s very colorful, it has trivia, it has a top ten list…it has an instructional tutorial on how to dance like Big E. It’s meant to be a fun read. It’s for kids, and adults who are kids at heart. It’s definitely very us, and we wanted something to reflect that.”

Over the course of the last year, the sports entertainment company has booked The New Day vs. The Usos quite a bit to see who would be the supreme team on the blue brand as well as the Tag Team Champions of that show.

During this interview, Big E opened up on  New Day’s chemistry with The Usos.

“From a backstage perspective…you can see the rapport, you can see the chemistry that we have with those guys. There is a real friendship there, and a real brotherhood, and I have known those guys since I was signed…For us to gel so well I think we also see the business and the way matches should work in a very similar way. I think a lot of guys are too worried and too concerned about looking strong or getting their stuff in.

“To have a great match I think you really have to be selfless and understand that hey at this point in this match it’s not about me looking good it’s about what do we do to get the best reaction…In many ways I think of really great wrestling like jazz. The ability to feel, to improvise, that ability to kind of ride the rhythm and have an understanding of what kind of reaction we’ll get when we do this, or the timing the positioning all of that stuff…I think the Usos have a very similar perspective on what wrestling should be on how great tag team wrestling is done, and I can’t thank those guys enough for being the best dance partners imaginable.”

H/T to Pro Wrestling.com for the transcript.

Baron Corbin recently spoke with Mike Jones of DC 101 to promote WrestleMania 34, which is slated to take place on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network. It’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history.

The sports entertainment company is set to hold an Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at this event and with Corbin not having a current feud, he will likely be competing in the match.

“My opportunity if I win this that’s another thing on my list of accomplishments, the 2 time Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, would be huge on there. I mean obviously no one has done it so rolling into 2018 it would be a good start for me for this year. Look at what happened last year with Dean Ambrose who came up short but they you got a guy like Braun Strowman who was in the Andre and now look at where he’s at. That’s one of those things that can truly elevate you so that’s what I’m gonna use it for is another launching pad and being in that battle royal you get 15-20 other targets to beat up so I’m not locked in on one person and it will be lots of fun, that’s for sure.”

The news of SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan being medically cleared to return to in-ring action under the WWE banner has met with positive feedback. Corbin is no different and believes Bryan’s first match back will be something that fans don’t want to miss.

“For him to come back, I think, is amazing. I think it’s gonna be a really cool story to hear 20 years from now, you know the story of Daniel Bryan who everything was taken away because of injury and then to come back and for it to be at Mania, I mean, who knows? I think it will be awesome and it’s such a feel good story for a guy that has so much passion for this business and for what people do. So it couldn’t happen to a better guy, this kind of opportunity and you know he’s gonna be firing on all cylinders any chance he gets to be in the ring and competes. It’s gonna be fireworks and definitely something you’re not gonna want to miss.”

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcript.

It’s been well documented that WWE SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan was officially cleared to return to in-ring competition on Tuesday by WWE doctors.

The former WWE Champion has been an underdog for his entire career. From his days on the independent scene to when he arrived in WWE. Although the company wasn’t fully behind him at first, he has overcome the challenges that were put in front of him and became a fan favorite.

Bryan, who was forced to retire last year due to his history with concussions, is now back and will likely have his first match at WrestleMania 34 next month.

WWE.com has released a Top 5 list of potential opponents for Bryan now that he’s cleared. You can see the list here:

• Finn Bálor
• Shinsuke Nakamura
• Kurt Angle
• AJ Styles
• Brock Lesnar
  

Out of these 5 Superstars, which of these possible opponents do you want to see Daniel Bryan wrestle first?

Impact World Champion Austin Aries was recently a guest on the Wrestling Compadres podcast to talk about various topics.

Many fans were caught off guard when the news broke last year that the WWE  and Aries had parted ways. The news seemed to come out of nowhere and was a shock to fans.

Aries, who signed with the company back in 2016 and last appeared on television in May on 205 Live, had been in a top position in the cruiserweight division prior to his departure from WWE. He was a big star on 205 Live on the WWE Network.

He decided to go back to Impact Wrestling and is currently their World Champion.

When ROH held their 16th Anniversary Show, the former ROH World Champion made a surprise appearance by walking out to the stage. Aries wasn’t advertised to appear, but he did challenge Kenny King for his ROH World TV Championship.

During this interview, he gave some insight into his free agent status. Here is what he had to say:

“I have an agreement in place with a certain amount of dates which would get me through a certain amount of time, which would be different than your typical contracts as we think of them. We have sat down and talked about some things about the future and what it looks like in their standpoint. There is interest for them to keep me. I have some interest too to continue to hone my skills,” he said. “I think there is a lot of positive momentum right now and I think that the things that are trying to be done with the company align philosophically with some of the same things that I believe in as far as doing business in this landscape so we will see what happens. With that being said, I definitely value my freedom. Right now, it is truly unprecedented to be an independent contractor in Professional Wrestling. To be able to go out there and make your money and travel the places that you want to go, so at the end of the day there is a lot of opportunities out there.”

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcript.

WWE officials are already planning on who will be Roman Reigns’ opponent this summer.

Reigns is slated to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at WrestleMania 34. The sports entertainment company has planned this match for over a year now. The idea of Reigns winning at the biggest event of the year for the WWE is to get him over as a top babyface, which is something they have been trying to do for years now.

The current plan is Reigns to work a program with Samoa Joe after WrestleMania, according to Dave Meltzer. Joe has been out of action since suffering a knee injury back in January. It’s believed that Joe has been medically cleared to return and he was actually backstage at Monday’s RAW, but WWE will most likely wait until the RAW after WrestleMania for his television return. 

Samoa Joe is scheduled to work with Roman Reigns in the main event of WWE live shows over the next few months, including the 5/7 Raw-brand show at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY.

What do you think about Roman Reigns feuding with Samoa Joe after WrestleMania?

Former WWE/WCW/TNA star Sean Waltman recently spoke about various topics on the latest edition of his podcast, X-Pac12360.

During the podcast, he talked about SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan being cleared by WWE doctors to compete as an in-ring performer once again.

Bryan, who was forced to retire two years ago due to his history with concussions, has talked about wrestling again in the past. Whether that be in WWE or in another promotion.

Before the news came out, it was believed that he would be leaving WWE after his contract with the company expires in September of 2018.

“I’m just really really happy for him. All I could do was have a feel-good moment for Bryan. I totally can understand, because I deal with some of those issues. I know how scary that could be, just the prospect of what’s in store for the future and things like that. I just had to quit doing what I love doing and not on my own terms. And so I’m really happy that it turned out this way, instead of Bryan having to leave WWE to do what he wants to to be happy… Trust me, I don’t think they just ran and just jumped right into the deep end of the pool right away.

That’s just what we saw… Actually, it’s exactly the right time. Not a moment too late and not a moment too soon because they had to make really really sure and have a lot of different opinions on this, you know? And people can selfishly want to see him back in the ring and in a match but let’s make sure he can do it and not cause any permanent damage.”

It was announced earlier this week by the WWE that former WWE World Champion Mark Henry would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame alongside Goldberg, Ivory, Jeff Jarrett, The Dudley Boyz, and HillBilly Jim in the class.

WWE holds their 2018 Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 6th in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center and will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network.

“There were so many people that were congratulating Mark on Twitter and I didn’t neglect to.  I purposely avoided it so people didn’t bring up me dressing up in blackface like Mark… Not that I’m afraid. I just didn’t want to insert that into the Hall of Fame conversation. He was fine with it but I’m not fine with it now. That’s all. And there was nothing bad meant by it but the things I know now I’m a little embarrassed by it.”

You can listen to the full podcast here. 

Impact Wrestling play-by-play announcer Josh Mathews recently spoke with Sportskeeda.com to talk about various topics. During the interview, he was asked about Jeremy Borash’s departure from the promotion.

This is a significant loss for Impact Wrestling since Borash was a major part of the company behind the scenes since its founding in 2002.

At the time of his reported departure, there was speculation if Borash would work with Matt Hardy as he was also considered to be one of the creative forces behind the “Broken” segments in Impact Wrestling.

Borash has reportedly been placed in NXT, which is overseen by Triple H, and even worked as a producer for the recent Ultimate Deletion match between Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt that aired on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center on the USA Network.

“My immediate reaction was that I was happy for him. I don’t remember who called me in the morning to tell me that we had to do a change in our VO schedule and that Sonjay was coming in. I was happy for JB. I’ve talked to JB a few times since then. And I’m happy for him.

But I’m also happy for Impact because JB leaving opened up an opportunity for Sonjay Dutt to come along and show everyone his skills as a colour commentator. And I think he’s done an outstanding job thus far. And it’s only really been just the beginning. Wrestling commentary is hard because you have to be dialled into every storyline that’s happening on Impact.

Not only the storylines that are happening but all the shows in California, shows in Canada, WrestleCon, Twitch, GWN. Sonjay has a good idea of what’s happening. That translates each and every week on Impact.”

You can read the entire interview here.

Former WWE/WCW World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg recently spoke with The Washington Post to promote his appearance on “The Goldbergs” on ABC this Wednesday night.

Goldberg has had quite the career in professional wrestling. Make no mistake about it, he was the top star of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) at the peak of the Monday Night Wars. While under contract with WCW between 1997 and 2001, Goldberg rose to fame in WCW with a lengthy undefeated streak in singles competition from 1997 to 1998, which was considered the longest winning streak in professional wrestling.

After twelve years away from the WWE, he returned to WWE in 2016 and headlined Survivor Series against Brock Lesnar, and Fastlane against Kevin Owens where he won the WWE Universal Championship.

He lost the title to Lesnar at WrestleMania 34 in Orlando, Florida. He was last seen on WWE television the night after Mania on Raw. In this interview, he was asked about his latest WWE run and potentially doing it one more time.

“The angle was real and it was touching and it was true. I kind of left it all out there. It was a cleansing experience,” Goldberg said. “I owe it all to Vince McMahon and Brock Lesnar. They gave me the opportunity to be one of the coolest dads in the world and they didn’t have to do that.”

“Do I want to roll the dice again? I don’t know,” Goldberg said. “I’ll quote one of the most famous movies that I was ever in, ‘Santa’s Slay’: It ain’t over ‘til I say it’s over.”

He was also asked being inducted into the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame class.“Thankfully for the people that didn’t forget about me, they welcomed me with open arms,” Goldberg said.

WWE Champion AJ Styles took part in a conference call with international media on Tuesday to promote WrestleMania and addressed his status for the show in light of his undisclosed injury. 

To recap, WWE ran an injury angle at Friday’s live event from Madison Square Garden that saw Styles pulled from action. Styles was left off SmackDown live events on Saturday, Sunday and Monday – and was scheduled to be evaluated by WWE doctors backstage at RAW. 

When asked on the conference call about his status for WrestleMania, Styles made it clear that his WWE Championship defense against Shinsuke Nakamura will take place as scheduled. Styles stated bluntly,

“If my leg got cut off, I’d find a way to make it to WrestleMania.”

Styles added, “I will be wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania. Don’t worry about it, it will be fine.

The WWE Champion was reportedly set to met with WWE doctors backstage at Monday’s RAW. No word yet on how that evaluation went, but it seems like the Styles vs. Nakamura dream match is safe. 

Former WWE Champion Kane recently appeared on Talk is Jericho (transcript courtesy of Wrestlinginc.com) to talk about various topics.

Kane started his pro wrestling career in 1992. He wrestled in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association before joining the WWE in 1995. Following his debut as Kane in 1997, he remained a component of the company’s Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Before he became “The Big Red Machine,” he was given a unique gimmick by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. During this podcast, he was asked about his reaction when Vince McMahon pitched Isaac Yankem gimmick.

“Jim Ross, who is another guy I need to give a shout out too. He was doing Smokey Mountain Wrestling and he was the one that gave me a tryout too with WWE. I got a contract shortly after that. Vince McMahon wanted to meet me in his office. JJ Dillon was still Head of Creative back then. I get into his office and Vince McMahon walks in and asks me if I have ever been afraid to go to the dentist. I said, no, I wasn’t. I thought Vince was just trying to get into my head. He said that he always had this idea for a character,” Jacobs said. “A wrestling dentist; Isaac Yankem. He said that he thinks that I would be perfect for it. Here I am sitting across from the most powerful man in my industry, and I am trying to keep a poker-face; meanwhile, I am going, dude, you flew me in all the way from Knoxville, Tennessee just to tell me that you are going to make me a wrestling dentist? I flew back home, but really in the end the thing was on me. That wasn’t a character that I could invest in, and I didn’t. It was my fault. My teeth were painted. It tasted terrible. Vince McMahon thought it was ironic that his Dentist had bad teeth. My entrance music was dental drill.”

Once WWE Hall of Famers Kevin Nash and Scott Hall went to WCW in 1996, WWE officials came up with an idea of having a fake Diesel and Razor Ramon. WWE wanted Kane to portray Diesel, which is a character that Nash portrayed under the WWE banner.

“I think we were in South Africa, and I remember Gerald Brisco telling me that Vince McMahon wanted to talk to me when we got home. I think they were already throwing some seeds regarding the character. I was told that I was going to be the imitation of Diesel. Jim Ross, who is beloved by everybody, was going to be the heel manager,” Jacobs said. “The concept behind it was that Jim Ross was ticked off and he was going to destroy WWE by proving he can bring guys back. So, he brought me and Fake Razor Ramon [Rick Titan]. Meanwhile, I am thinking that this is a step up from my previous character. It just did not work. The concept was good. People just can’t dislike JR so that didn’t work, and he was the linchpin throughout the whole thing so it just fell apart.”

Kane, who is a longtime supporter of libertarian political causes, announced his intention to run for the office of mayor of Knox County, Tennessee in 2017.

Ring of Honor is gearing up for Supercard of Honor XII, which takes place during WrestleMania 34 weekend on Saturday night, April 7th from New Orleans, Louisiana. Catch the show on traditional PPV outlets and the FITE TV app.

The promotion has announced a new match for the upcoming event. The Briscoes will defend the ROH World Tag Team Championships against Jay Lethal & Hiroshi Tanahashi

ROH is going up against tough competition on this night as they will have to go head-to-head with NXT Takeover: New Orleans, which takes place just down the road that night. The main event of Supercard of Honor will feature a match between former Bullet Club brothers Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega.

Also, the promotion is building Ring of Honor World Champion Dalton Castle vs. Marty Scurll as the co-main event. Here is the updated card for the event:

– ROH World Champion Dalton Castle  vs. Marty Scurll

– Kenny Omega vs. Cody

– Tomohiro Ishii vs. Punishment Martinez

– Adam Page vs. Kota Ibushi

– ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Jay Lethal & Hiroshi Tanahashi

Also signed to appear:

ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION KENNY KING

ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS SOCAL UNCENSORED (CHRISTOPHER DANIELS, FRANKIE KAZARIAN, & SCORPIO SKY)

THE YOUNG BUCKS (MATT & NICK JACKSON)

SILAS YOUNG

FLIP GORDON

THE KINGDOM

THE WOMEN OF HONOR CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS AND FINAL

PLUS MUCH MORE!

As seen on this week’s episode of WWE Monday Night RAW in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center on the USA Network, WWE aired the Ultimate Deletion Match that saw Matt Hardy defeat Bray Wyatt. Senor Benjamin, Reby Sky and Jeff Hardy made an appearance in the match.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider has provided some backstage news and notes. Wyatt and Matt were both backstage at the TV event when the match aired.

Michael Hayes was listed as the producer for the match while former TNA personality Jeremey Borash was involved in filming the match.

Matt’s wife, Rebecca, filmed and edited a bunch of footage for the match herself. She also helped compose some of the original music.

Finally, regarding Jeff, he teased his Brother Nero character in the match. If you recall, the Raw Superstar suffered a torn right rotator cuff during a six-pack match in October 2017. He is now just waiting to be cleared by WWE.

Multiple time WWE Champion John Cena spoke with ESPN about his challenge to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34. As of this writing, Taker had yet to accept the challenge but will reportedly do so soon.

For years now, The Undertaker has been a top guy for the sports entertainment company. He has feuded with the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling including Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and the list goes on and on.

He has held nearly every title that the company has to offer. Taker has had a great career with the sports entertainment company.

Over the past few years, he has gone from being a full-time talent to a part-timer. After years of speculation of when Taker would retire from pro wrestling, it was almost certain that he had his farewell at WrestleMania 33 in the main event against Roman Reigns last year in Orlando, Florida. However, that is not the case.

“At my core, I’m a fan. I’m a member of the WWE universe and I’ve thought about this a lot. I was emotionally moved when the streak was broken. Last year was an emotional performance. Then you get closer and closer to WrestleMania, and you realize it’s not a WrestleMania without The Undertaker. You hold the ticket in your hand and you realize a portion of that ticket goes to hearing his music, seeing The Undertaker. That is WrestleMania. I know there will come a day where that changes — I just don’t think it’s now. Whether it happens or not, it is officially out of my hands, and I think it’s out of everyone else’s hands except one person.”

“If it does happen, I don’t think anyone who buys a ticket to WrestleMania will walk away throwing the stub up in the air going, ‘I wish he wouldn’t have showed up.’ I hope he does. I hope he understands the impact that he has on the current WWE Universe. He is WrestleMania.”

WrestleMania 34 is set to be held on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network. It’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. Both Raw and SmackDown rosters will be featured.

WWE SmackDown Tag Team champions The Usos recently spoke with Pensacola News Journal to promote WrestleMania 34, which is slated to take place on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network. It’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. Both Raw and SmackDown rosters will be featured.

The Usos have never wrestled on the main card of the biggest event of the year for the sports entertainment company. However, they are holding out hope.

“I don’t think it could happen, it’s gonna happen. Me and my bro keep saying, ‘This is the year,'” said Jey Uso in a recent phone interview with the News Journal. “And if for some reason we’re not on the main card, we’re doing the people wrong, man. The WWE Universe ain’t getting their money’s worth. We’re the best thing running right now, straight out the 8-5-0, right down the street from WrestleMania, man.”

“This year is probably hands down one of our hottest years,” said Jimmy Uso. “WrestleMania changes by the hour, by the minute, so I’m nervous about it.”

The Usos have been five-time tag team champions. By breaking this down, WWE Tag Team Championship twice in 2014, SmackDown Tag Team Champions on three different occasions in 2017. They were the first team to win both the Raw Tag Team Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship, which was previously known as WWE Tag Team Championship.

Although they started out as babyfaces, they became stale and knew that a change had to be made. Thus, they turned heel.

“The heel change would have never worked if that baby face phase didn’t go as long as it did,” Jey Uso said, referring to their seven-year run as good guys. “The heel change just made it more real. We get to be us, we could talk the way we want to, dress the way we want to, it was like the ball was in our court now. And it took a lot of hard work to finally get the ball, you feel me?”

Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey spoke with The Kingston-Whig Standard about various topics. 

Rousey is set to team up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team Match at WrestleMania 34. During the interview, she was asked about learning to be a pro wrestler.

“Mastering new skills is one of the things that motivates me the most. At first I related it a lot to (movie) stunt work and fight choreography. The more that I get into everything, though they’re very related, it is completely different. I’m completely amazed at what these athletes are really able to do, not just physically, but mentally.

They can make up these entire matches by just talking to each other about it for five minutes — and they barely do anything physical to each other — and then they just walk out and put on these incredible matches. If we were to film the exact same thing for a movie, it would have to have been drilled for six weeks straight and probably have taken about three different takes before we even got one good one. I’m just blown away every day at what everybody in this business is capable of. I’m trying my best to learn. I pride myself on being a great student, but of course it also takes time and it’s hard to learn something from scratch with the whole world watching.”

The latest signee for the sports entertainment company was spearheaded by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie, and her husband, Triple H. Since making her official main roster debut at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, the company has put a lot of faith and pressure in making this a top storyline on television. 

“I really believe that if and when I apply everything that I have to this industry, I feel like I can be an asset. I’m trying my absolute best and that’s the best I can do and the best that I can do could change the world sometimes. We’ll see what this does.”

“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity. To be honest, sometimes I can’t believe my own life and the stuff that is happening. I really feel like I’m investing every bit of myself into this and I really feel like the company is matching my effort in every way. If I’m pouring every ounce of energy I have into this being a success and they’re doing everything they can to set me up for success, all I can do is go out there and prove them right for believing in me. Yeah, it’s a lot of pressure and probably a crazy and unrealistic amount of pressure to put on someone for their first match ever, but you know what, if anyone in the world can handle it, I believe it can be me.”

Former WWE World Champion Mark Henry spoke with USA Today to talk about his WWE Hall of Fame induction, which was made official by the sports entertainment company on Monday afternoon. 

WWE holds their 2018 Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 6th in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Smoothie King Center and will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network.

Bill Goldberg will headline the class. Henry joins Ivory, Jeff Jarrett, The Dudley Boyz, and HillBilly Jim in the class.

“It was a little while back. I was in Los Angeles with the powers that be… it was just an overwhelming feeling, you know? My face got hot. A couple of tears fell, and you felt like, instantly, all of the pain and torment that you put your body through, the sacrifices that you made – they were worth it. It paid it all off.”

“Well the first conversation I had, I thought it was one of my buddies playing a joke on me and I hung up on him. And my manager at the time called me back and said ‘hey, I just had Vince McMahon call you and he said you hung up!’ And I was like ‘that was Vince McMahon for real!?’ I felt so dumb. Here he is, one of the most influential people in the wrestling industry calls you and you hang up on him thinking it was a joke. Eventually I called back and I said ‘hey, I hope you understand, I thought it was somebody playing a joke on me.’ And he said ‘don’t worry about it, I’m glad I could get you back on the phone.’ He was like ‘I want you to come to Connecticut and see how we do things up here.’ I said ‘am I going to get to meet The Undertaker?’ You know, I was such a fan, I just wanted to meet everybody. That was really my primary thing for going down there because I wanted to see the stars. I wanted to see the superstars.”

Henry has been with the company since 1996 after being named “The World’s Strongest Man.” He was just 24-years of age when he decided to get into the pro wrestling business. During his time with the company, he held three championships. The WWE World Heavyweight Title, ECW Title, and European Title. 

If you recall, Henry hinted that he would be wrapping up his career as an in-ring performer in WWE when the WWE Network aired an episode of “Table For 3” last year.

The episode featured Henry and WWE Hall of Famers Ron Simmons and The Godfather. During the show, Henry dropped a bombshell by revealing a bit of information regarding what’s to come in his WWE career.

The longtime Superstar officially announced that his 21-year in-ring career is coming to an end. He will transition from being a WWE Superstar to a WWE employee to help all of the up-and-coming male and female talent develop and become successful in the company.

“You know what, I saw a match – and I always study my matches. I always see what I did wrong, what I could do better. I was watching and there were things that I did that weren’t up to the standard that I thought they should have been. And a lot of that… I think some of it was age, some of it was the fact that I had some pre-existing injuries that I really couldn’t do all the things that I could do. And I didn’t want the fans to remember me being injured and being a shell of my former self.

I want people, when they remember me, to think of the Hall of Pain, when I was catching guys, 275 pounds. Picking up Big Show, close to 500 pounds, over my head and driving him through a table. And picking up Kane, 320 pounds and slamming him through tables. And jumping off the top rope to the ring and jumping out of the ring to the floor and splashing Kurt Angle. I wanted people to remember me at my greatest. Around 2015, I started to see my skills diminish. It happens to everybody. Father Time is undefeated. He is gonna win every time, and I saw him catching me.”

WWE.com recently looked at the top ten greatest women’s matches in the history of the sports entertainment company.

If you recall, back in 2016 at WrestleMania 32, WWE unveiled a new Women’s Championship title belt and re-branded the Divas Division to become the Women’s Division.

Since then, WWE has placed a greater emphasis on its female performers, including recruiting female talent from around the world, as well as the recent signings of the first female recruits from the Middle East and India.

Another milestone in WWE’s women’s evolution came as recently as January with the women’s Royal Rumble. This evolution has placed a spotlight on its female performers, involving them in more prominent storylines, with deeper character development and longer matches.

You can check out the complete list here:

#10 – 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble

#9 – Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano — (Women’s Championship Match: SummerSlam, Aug. 29, 1994)

#8 – Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley — (Raw Women’s Championship Match: Monday Night Raw, Feb. 13, 2017)

#7 – Paige vs. Emma — (NXT Women’s Championship Match: NXT ArRIVAL)

#6 – Trish Stratus vs. Lita — (Women’s Championship Match: Monday Night Raw, Dec. 6, 2004)

#5 – Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch — (NXT Women’s Championship Fatal 4-Way Match: NXT TakeOver: RIVAL)

#4 – Asuka vs. Ember Moon – (NXT Women’s Championship Match: NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III)

#3 – Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch — (WWE Women’s Championship Triple Threat Match: WrestleMania 32)

#2 – Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks — (WWE Women’s Championship Match: Raw July 25, 2016)

#1 – Sasha Banks vs. Bayley – (NXT Women’s Championship Match: NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn)

WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz recently appeared on Booker T’s Heated Conversations radio show to talk about various topics. Miz is slated to defend his title against Finn Balor and Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 34 next month.

During the interview, he was asked about wanting to make the title special once again.

“When my wife [Maryse] first came to WWE, it was like the day after WrestleMania and she had came back and actually helped me to defeat Zack Ryder for the Intercontinental title. At that moment, I was like, never again will I ever be looked as anything other than a main eventer. Everything I do will be at an elite level; the boss level. I will tell you what, I looked at that Intercontinental title – when I was a kid, my heroes had that title; Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect. I was watching this title get dug and dug into the grave, because anytime you have the title it is more like, ‘oh, that guy is going to lose.’ Anytime there was a non-title match that person was going to lose who had the title. I didn’t want that anymore. I was sick of it, and I will never forget where I went off on Daniel Bryan. That day, I went through so much on my mind, I was so aggravated. Here I was trying to make the title as prestigious as I can in WWE but I wasn’t even on the show. They told me that I was involved in a dark match to open the show. It is not that I didn’t want to do it and perform for the audience, it was more like, this title deserves better than this.

We are bringing out new Tag Team titles, new Women’s title, so we don’t have time for your title. I told them to put me on Talking Smack. They were wondering why I wanted to be on Talking Smack, and I said, ‘What do you mean, why do I want to be on Talking Smack? It will be the ability to showcase what I can do so you can see exactly the abilities that I have and showcase my talent.’ I told them that it was going to break the internet if they put me on Talking Smack, and they agreed to put me on the show. Then, when I went on there, Daniel Bryan and I kind of went off. I literally thought he was going to punch me, but he just walked off. Honestly, it was the best thing that could have happened because it allowed me to be center stage and just let off all of my frustration and everything that I was feeling at that moment, and I remember feeling inside my head reminding myself to not lose it. I then said, you know what, lose it. People tell me it was the best promo I had ever done, but here I was flubbing words because I was so mad.”

Miz was also asked during this interview about his success in the sports entertainment company.

The Miz was drafted to the ECW brand in 2007 where he formed a partnership with John Morrison. Together, they won the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship.

After being drafted to Raw in 2009, he won the United States Championship twice, tag team titles with John Cena, Damien Mizdow, and twice with Big Show, as well as the 2010 Raw Money in the Bank ladder match. He cashed in his briefcase to win the WWE Championship in November 2010 and went on to hold for six months. He is also the one of longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion in WWE history.

If you recall, the biggest match of The Miz’s career was when defeated  Cena for the WWE Championship back at WrestleMania 27 in 2011 in the main event.

“I think it is the ability to evolve. I mean, when you look at your [Booker T] career. You went from the five-time, five-time, five-time World Champion to King Booker, which was arguably one of my favorite characters of all-time. It was so much fun to watch. I think the first time, William Regal had to say, “All Hail King Booker’ for like ten minutes, and you were eating it up. Watching it, I was like, oh my God, he is eating it up. I knew you were laughing the entire time. It was so much fun to watch.”

“My success, I think it is due to the Mizanan family. Everyone in my family is a hard worker. I was the guy that whenever someone would say, oh man, it’s media day, I don’t have time. I have X,Y, & Z, I would say, give it to me. I will do every media day because I looked at it as an opportunity. Not only was it an opportunity for me to go out there in front of the media all around the world, but also to practice promos. To captivate people and to have them understand exactly who I was. I think hard work, dedication and anytime someone didn’t want to do something, I would always raise my hand. I think that is where my success lies – for whatever I lack in talent, I make up for in hard work.”

H/T to Wrestling Inc for the transcript.

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle recently did a Q&A on Facebook and commented on a number of interesting topics.

During the session, a fan asked about the Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka match at WrestleMania 34. Flair is slated to defend the SmackDown Women’s Title against this undefeated superstar of the sports entertainment company’s flagship show, Monday Night RAW.

Angle said, “They could steal the show. Don’t underestimate those 2 together.”

Angle himself has a match at the biggest event of the year for the WWE as he is slated to tag up with former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey to take on Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team Match. Angle was asked if he would be wrestling after Mania and he stated, “I better be.”

WWE has announced last week that the first-ever Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal would take place at WrestleMania 34. The match is a female version of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

Since that announcement, there was a lot of fan backlash over the name of the match. Thus, some WWE fans are taking it a step further as a petition has surfaced online to try and get WWE to change the name of the match. The petition has been signed by over 4000 people. This led to the WWE changing the name of the match to the “Women’s Battle Royal.” Angle also gave his take on this situation.

“Moolah deserves my respect. From what I knew about her, she was sweet, kind and amazing as a female wrestler.”

Former WWE/TNA/ECW talent Tommy Dreamer recently spoke with TheWrestlingEstate.com, and during the interview, he shared his thoughts on the recent Sami Callihan – Eddie Edwards controversy during an episode of Impact Wrestling on Pop TV.

Dreamer, who runs his House of Hardcore promotion, has worked for Impact Wrestling as an agent as well in the past.

For those who may didn’t see or remember the incident, back on the March 1st episode of Impact Wrestling, Edwards was accidentally struck in the head by a baseball bat during a post-match brawl with the former NXT star.

There was chair was placed near his Edward’s heard and Callihan swung a baseball bat into the chair. The strike caught Edwards in the head, near his eye and nose. He was immediately taken to the hospital where had a CT scan done. This is where he found out that he had broken bones in his face and a broken nose.

Here is what Dreamer had to say:

“It’s a case of two things. One is social media. Everybody sees it and they want to comment and know about it. They want to base their own opinion on it without knowing the facts. It’s the society we live in. There are some people who will chime in that it was an accident or other people chime in it was reckless. Everyone has an opinion.

For me, I would be a hypocrite. At ECW One Night Stand, Bully Ray hit me so hard with a Singapore cane that I went deaf and the doctor said I may lose my ear. In the back, he asked if I was alright, and I said yeah, man, you messed up my ear, but I’ll get my hearing back. Back in the day, if somebody hurt somebody, we’d go to the hospital with them or make sure we’re contacting them.

I don’t think Sami meant to do it. It happened, but when everybody else jumps on it, I think Sami would be a fool not to jump on it. Here’s how the world is. Someone can say something on social media and then they can backtrack. In pro wrestling, guys would say stuff and then they’d be confronted in the locker room, and then, hey, you fight. I do it the same way. If people want to start talking smack about me, cool. You want to do it online? That’s one thing because you’re going to make it public. Then let’s settle it like men or just go fight.

That’s Sami Callihan’s battle to fight. I don’t want to say everybody should mind their own business because they can’t. That’s the world we live in. Everybody likes to quickly put out there about what’s the current topic and then when you find out the facts, you’re like, ooh. That’s why I always lean back when I see stuff like that on social media because everybody wants to hit their opinion without knowing all the facts, and that’s the worst you thing you can do.”

Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion is returning to this weekend with two new events.

House of Hardcore 38 is slated to go down on Friday, March 23rd St. James, Long Island at the Sports Arena while House of Hardcore 39 will take place the following night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

You can check out the updated cards for these events here:

House of Hardcore 38

Tommy Dreamer vs. Joey Mercury with Shane Douglas in a Long Island Street Fight

Killer Kross vs. Guido Maritato in a Submission match

Brian Cage vs. Sami Callihan vs. Willie Mack

The Squad vs. Swoggle & Crazzy Steve

Dan Maff vs. The Luchasaurus

NWA Champion Nick Aldis defending the title against an unamed opponent

Alex Reynolds vs. Bull James

House of Hardcore 39

NWA Champion Nick Aldis defending against Tommy Dreamer

Kenny vs. Swoggle

Alex Reynolds with MJF vs. Crazzy Steve

Dan Maff vs. Bull James

Willie Mack vs. Brian Cage

For more information including how to get tickets to attend these events in person, check out House of Hardcore’s official website.

Ring of Honor has officially announced the date and location for this year’s Best in the World pay-per-view event.

The Baltimore-based promotion recently revealed in an article on their official website that the pay-per-view event will take place on Friday, June 29, 2018, in Baltimore, MD at the UMBC Event Center. This marks the first time in over a year since the promotion has held an event in the City.

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, March 21 at 10 a.m. Eastern for HonorClub members and Friday, March 23 at 10 a.m. Eastern for the general public.

ROH World Champion Dalton Castle, Bullet Club (Cody, The Young Bucks, “The Villain” Marty Scurll and Adam Page), Jay Lethal, and nine-time ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes are advertised to appear at this big event.

WWE is in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center for next week’s episode of Monday Night RAW. Former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Bayley recently spoke with SportsDay to promote the upcoming event.

As seen at the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on the WWE Network, Alexa Bliss successfully retained her Raw Women’s Title over Bayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sonya Deville, and Sasha Banks in the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber Match.

“Honestly, it’s very intimidating – the structure itself. Being told that we were going to have this match was a little scary. But as weird as it may sound, as soon as I got in the Chamber and the bell rang, I felt really comfortable. It was really fun, but you know, it was just as painful as you’d imagine. But I was just happy I was OK with it mentally when I got in there.”

Since then, WWE has teased tension between Bayley and Banks. During this interview, she was asked about the problems she has with RAW star.

“It’s just a little complicated. Friends and sisters fight all the time, but it’s just – I don’t know – something that I know we have to handle ourselves, and I’m sure we will soon because it’s just been a little awkward.”

“She’s No. 1. For sure. I’ve always said that I think she is the best woman to ever step foot in the ring. And maybe that’s what bothers me sometimes because I want to be the best. But she’s definitely my favorite opponent for many reasons.”

She was also asked about former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey joining the company and potentially wrestling her. Rousey is set to team up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team Match at WrestleMania 34.

“Oh, I would love to. Once she’s done with her stuff with Stephanie and Triple H, I would love to be in line – which originally that’s what I’ve been waiting for since she stepped foot in the Mae Young Classic and basically challenged us Four Horsewomen. So, we’re still waiting.”

“I don’t really see her much. She’s kind of got her own thing going on, and so do we. But I think she’s fitting in well. The crowds really seem to like having her around, and I think she’s obviously going to fit in well and learn to adapt pretty easy. But she definitely still needs to earn her stripes, I’d say. And I’d be happy to help her.”

It appears we may have seen the last of NXT broadcaster Christy “St. Cloud” Olson.

Olson’s Superstar bio has been removed from the WWE website and she’s has also changed her social media handles to @CHRISTYreports, the name of her popular Youtube Channel.

After a successful run as a correspondent on AfterBuzz TV, Olson made her NXT TV debut last April, where she worked as a backstage interviewer. She’s been seen on NXT’s weekly show on the WWE Network as recently as last week.

Her professional wrestling background prior to WWE includes ring announcing for West Coast Wrestling Connection in the Pacific Northwest of California.

Olson took an 11-month hiatus from her Christy Reports Youtube channel, but returned with a new video earlier this week, another indication her WWE sting has concluded.

WWE RAW Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus recently appeared on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness to talk about various topics.

Cesaro went from a singles competitor to a tag team performer with Sheamus. If you recall, they were in the middle of a best-of-7 series of matches against one another when then-RAW General Manager and WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley put them together as a tag team.

Sheamus and Cesaro have gone on to be very successful, winning the Raw Tag Team Championships 3 times so far.

“It gave us a chance to show more personality and give both of us a chance to play off each other.” Cesaro explained, “while you’re out there by yourself, you don’t really have anybody to play off of, but if Sheamus is out there, I know that even if something gets messed up, or one of us gets lost, or I miss my cue, then, we can play it off no matter what.”

“If you take a step back and look at it, I’m definitely happy to be there, but, then again, I’m not happy to be there. And I think that’s what helps about teaming with Sheamus, anytime one of us is down, do you know what I mean, goes through something, the other one is there and we can talk. It’s like good cop/bad cop. If Sheamus is down, I pick him up and if I’m down, he picks me up. And that I think is a good thing. Cesaro elaborated, “sometimes, when you’re by yourself, it’s really easy to dig yourself into a hole and be unhappy. But I know when it comes down to it, when I walk through the curtain, I’m out there with Sheamus and I know we’re going to have a blast no matter what. And I think that really helps.”

Sheamus also noted that he believes his tag team partner will become World Champion one day.

“I think for Cesaro, everyone wants it and when it does happen, man, it’s going to mean so much more.” Sheamus continued, “we’ll tag team for as long as possible, but then we’ll get in the situation again of maybe we’ll go away for a bit, but we’ll always have this. There will be a time when we both go singles and Cesaro, like, I’ve said it many times in interviews. The fact that he hasn’t been world champion already is an absolute crime, but it’s going to happen. I know it will because there’s no one more determined than him, and when it does, it’s going to be an epic moment.”

H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcribed quotes