Mick Foley aims to have one more match with part of his goal was losing weight in the process and he’s gotten a little help from an old friend in Al Snow.
As of recent, the WWE Hall of Famer has gotten himself involved with Al Snow’s OVW and Foley found a little more than just the squared circle while working with Snow and his talented Ohio Valley Wrestling roster.
In a new Instagram video, Foley revealed that he is receiving help from two OVW talents in cutting weight. Crystal White and Katie Gannon have taken Foley under their workout wing and have assisted ‘The Hardcore Legend’ to drop over 24 pounds.
In the video, Foley talked about he happened to love the Netflix series, Wrestlers, which spotlighted the talent in OVW, prompting Mick to reach out to Snow. Foley wanted to get himself involved with an ongoing storylin and being there is where he met White and Gannon.
One Last Match For Mick Foley
Before he ended his “Foley Is Pod” podcast, Mick Foley happened to drop the bombshell that he planned to shed 100 lbs in order to have one last match and he has a desire to make it a deathmatch. Just turning 60 years old, Foley has been serious in that desire and he’s had several interested parties in obliging him.
Jim Ross has another book coming out and it will be available before the summer hits.
The current AEW commentator is joined once again by Paul O’Brien for his third book, Business Is About To Pick Up!, but it is very different from his first two books.
The WWE Hall of Famer will be recounting 50 different of his most memorable calls over his storied and vast career. A release date for May 7, 2024 is announced by the publisher, Penguin Random House. Full details of the book is below:
Experience 50 years of wrestling history through the iconic voice of Jim Ross.
For wrestling fans, Jim Ross’ voice is the soundtrack of an era. This book is your ringside ticket to wrestling’s most unforgettable moments—from the announcer who made them iconic.
In the last 50 years, professional wrestling has risen up from a collection of regional territories to become a global phenomenon—and Jim Ross has been there for it all. From the grit and glory days of the 1970s with NWA, to the rise of WCW and the heyday of WWF and WWE, to signing on as on-air talent and senior advisor for wrestling’s newest chapter at AEW, Jim Ross has long had the best seat in the house.
Now, in 50 definitive chapters, chronicling 50 iconic calls across 50 unforgettable years, Business Is About to Pick Up! takes you into the ring, and behind the scenes, as only Jim Ross can.
Immerse yourself in sports entertainment’s most dramatic moments, biggest shocks, and history-making firsts—from watershed collisions like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin versus Bret “Hitman” Hart to industry-shaping milestones like the debut of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the rise of John Cena and Dave Bautista as Hollywood A-list stars, and the birth of All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Then debate which moments Jim Ross just had to include . . . and what else should’ve made his list.
This book is a celebration of pro wrestling’s past, present, and future—narrated by the Voice of Wrestling himself, who was ringside to call it all.
Jim Ross Signed A New Deal With AEW
Not only does Jim Ross have a new book for fans to look forward to, but the legend will be sticking around with AEW for the following year. JR said on his podcast that his latest negotiations with Tony Khan were the easiest of his career and his new deal is reportedly very lucrative.
Despite this, Ross did make that comment that he has to be open to the possibility that 2024 could be his last year on commentary.
Arn Anderson knows the bumps and bruises that goes with being a pro wrestler, and is happy that Sting got to finish his wrestling career the way he wanted to.
On the latest episode of ARN, ‘The Enforcer’ was covering WCW in November 1994 where the topic of Sting came up, particularly with how all the emphasis was on Hulk Hogan arriving in the promotion at the time. The question was asked if Sting could have been heated up to that level if he had Eric Bischoff and the machine behind him to which Arn firmly believed could have been the case.
That eventually led to co-host Paul Bromwell asking Arn’s thoughts on Sting’s retirement at AEW Revolution, something that Anderson hadn’t talked about since it happened. Arn then gave his thoughts about Sting wrapping it up after four decades of wrestling.
“I think it was what he envisioned. He plugged his two kids in which I thought was innovative and he had earned to have the fact that having his night go to exactly like he imagined it. He’s earned that.
“If you’ve given to this business 40 years of your life and went home and had your wife put you back together any number of times. Help you get up off the couch, and help get out of bed and help you step in the shower. All the things that your family does to support you.
“At 40 years, you should be able to picture your retirement in whatever company you’re working for and thank God he was working for AEW because Tony [Khan] pretty much just said, ‘Hey, how do you see it?’ I’m sure. ‘How do you see it, Sting?’ And Sting told him and he went, ‘That’s what we’ll do,’ and I’m very happy for him. I’m glad.”
Anderson unfortunately had to retire from the ring prematurely back in 1998 after suffering a bad neck injury, but despite that, ‘The Enforcer’, along with The Four Horsemen became one of Stinger’s greatest rivals. Arn is set to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame this summer in Waterloo, Iowa.
CM Punk is ready to spit fire on Chicago. Punk will make his long-awaited return to the Windy City under the WWE banner tonight on WWE Raw and he has clearly been taking note on what’s been going on television and at live events.
On his Instagram stories very early Monday morning, Punk shared a doctored photo of him and Cody Rhodes closed-eye kissing with the caption:
— Dominic DeAngelo | 1TS (@DominicDeAngelo) March 25, 2024
CM Punk hasn’t been a featured star on WWE since tearing his triceps during the Royal Rumble match, which now the heel Drew McIntyre takes great credit for. When Punk confirmed his injury the following night on Raw, McIntyre came out to confront, demean and beat down Punk. McIntyre has made it a calling card of his to relentlessly take digs at Punk and ruining his opportunity to main event a WrestleMania.
Punk was last seen as a guest commentator during the WWE WrestleMania 40 Kickoff in Las Vegas and had several thoughts regarding the ongoings at the T-Mobile Arena. Punk made clear that Cody Rhodes should’ve punched The Rock in the mouth after he slapped him and even mocked The Rock while he was still on stage about 50 yards away.
Swerve Strickland sees unlimited value in Drew McIntyre and would like to see the Scotsman make his way to AEW.
Speaking on “Bootleg Kev” Strickland was asked by one of the hosts if he had to chose a WWE talent to jump ship to AEW, who would he pick. Swerve laid out a big case as to why Drew McIntyre would equal major value for All Elite Wrestling.
“Man, I would love to see a Drew McIntyre over here, you know? Contract status, I don’t know. I can’t speak on it, but I’ve heard it’s not fully [finalized].
“I think Drew McIntyre could work anywhere in the world like he’s proven that before like that’s why WWE wanted him back so badly … the transformation he made he can just work anywhere and do anything with anybody. I think he’d be a major fit in AEW.”
Regarding his own WWE tenure, Swerve made clear that it wasn’t that he was not properly utilized, but just not used to his fullest potential. He said that it could have taken a year to several for that to possibly happening, noting that it took The Usos and Roman Reigns to finally get where they are today.
What Is The Contract Status Of Drew McIntyre?
As of now, Drew McIntyre is not under a new deal with WWE despite the fact that he’s going to be in one of the main event matches at WrestleMania 40 against Seth Rollins. Drew did say that he’s just having fun right now, but a new contract is very important to him. He also added that you’ll see him continue to wrestle for a very long time, whether that be as Drew McIntyre or Drew Galloway, noting “that would get everyone’s attention.”
Please credit “Bootleg Kev” and h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.
TNA Wrestling may have its old brand name back, but two originals from the first era of those letters seem to be moving on.
Reports have been made that Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin’s contracts with the company were both set to expire this month and according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, The Motor City Machine Guns were apparently saying some goodbyes to current TNA colleagues backstage during the TV tapings this weekend in Philadelphia.
“There were some farewells said backstage at the TNA tapings tonight for Sabin and Shelley. Anything can happen but as of now they’re free agents in about a week.”
There were some farewells said backstage at the TNA tapings tonight for Sabin and Shelley. Anything can happen but as of now they're free agents in about a week
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) March 24, 2024
Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin Were Top Stars In Recent TNA Run
Shelley and Sabin both had extremely memorable runs with Impact and TNA this go-around. Shelley had a more than formidable inaugural reign as the World Champion and was such heading into TNA’s first PPV back, Hard To Kill, where he finally dropped the gold to Moose.
Sabin, a former World Champion with the promotion as well, was the X-Division Champion before he lost to Mustafa Ali just recently at TNA Sacrifice, which also served as Ali’s debut with the promotion.
Obviously, Sabin and Shelley are best known for their work as a top tag team, not just in TNA, but all of wrestling. What the future holds for both is currently unknown, but Sabin and Shelley have appeared at AEW All Out 2022 and Shelley even had a cup of coffee in NXT with KUSHIDA, serving as his tag team partner in the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
The Rock is staying the course to his gameplan heading into WrestleMania 40 and ‘The Final Boss’ made that very clear this weekend.
‘The People’s Champ’ took to social media to hype his upcoming appearance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as Rocky makes his road to Philadelphia, making sure he reiterated a few key points he has touched upon these past few appearances on SmackDown.
“The Rock has made pro wrestling cool and exciting – again. The Rock has made pro wrestling unpredictable and he’s changed the game and raised the bar – again. The Rock is THE most electric, disruptive, distinctive, and hottest heel professional wrestling has seen in the last 20 years. You’re Welcome. F*ck off crybabies. Mama Rhodes ~ The Rock has a very special belt being made just for you. Your tears. Cody’s blood. My hands. I’ll see you soon, Mama Rhodes… ~ Final Boss”
The Rock has made pro wrestling cool and exciting – again.
The Rock has made pro wrestling unpredictable and he’s changed the game and raised the bar – again.
The Rock is THE most electric, disruptive, distinctive, and hottest heel professional wrestling has seen in the last… pic.twitter.com/nJWuhRHxxn
What The Rock completely disregarded is all that Cody Rhodes had to say this past Monday on WWE Raw about his ‘Mama Rhodes.’ Cody made quite clear that his mother, Michelle, will not be shaking in fear if she’s approached by The Rock. Rhodes even recounted a story where his mom beat up an undercover cop while at a Willie Nelson concert one time.
The Rock was nowhere to be seen on SmackDown last Friday as Roman Reigns and Cody confronted one another and he’s not scheduled for this week’s Raw or SmackDown either. However, one name who is scheduled for Raw tomorrow is CM Punk as WWE makes its return to Chicago and vows to be at WrestleMania 40 in some capacity.
Jake Roberts remains a hot commodity in pro wrestling and ‘The Snake’ slithered some major news about what he decided to do regarding his future with AEW.
SEScoops can confirm The Master of the DDY has inked a new contract with Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling. Roberts addresses the situation on the next episode of his Snake Pit, which has yet to be released publicly. Roberts tells co-host Marcus DeAngelo:
“Well folks, just to let you know, you’re gonna be looking at me on AEW for another year. That’s right, they re-signed me so that’s great news. Looking forward to doing it.”
Roberts has notoriously been a creative mind on screen and behind the scenes in pro wrestling and he revealed that he had a big pitch in mind to make to Khan for this upcoming year.
“Crossing my fingers that – wouldn’t be something if we started the ‘Snake Pit’ back up? Listen, I’d love to talk to Tony about that.
“I’m damn sure gonna pitch it.”
Much like ‘Piper’s Pit,’ ‘The Snake Pit’ was Roberts’ memorable talk show segment in WWE that featured major names such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Piper himself and many more.
Roberts signed with AEW back in 2020, confronting Cody Rhodes and teasing further doom to come for ‘The American Nightmare.’ He then became the manager for Lance Archer whom he has been paired with ever since.
Jake Roberts Has Even More Pro Wrestling Related Plans For 2024
In the same breath of breaking the AEW news, Jake Roberts also revealed that like Chris Jericho, ‘The Snake’ plans to set sail like a fellow legendary AEW colleague.
“Everybody’s been on a Jericho Cruise, but have you been on the Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts cruise? That’s on the way so folks get ready, we’re gonna take it out on the middle of the ocean and do what I do.”
Kenny Omega may also be thinking the rating of matches may have “jumped the shark” and that a few factors should be considered when doing it.
The former AEW World Champion was hanging out on his Twitch channel when the subject of match ratings came up. Omega laid out his own base vision of how a bout should be graded.
“Did it start a movement? Did it continue a movement? Was it something that became something that sort of etched in the annals of history for like all time? I believe that’s what an actual five-star match should accomplish.”
Omega has had his fair share of five-star matches courtesy of the Wrestling Observer, yet Omega does think that the stars shouldn’t be thrown around liberally.
“You shouldn’t just hand them out like candy. It shouldn’t be because the moves look good. It should be because the moves look like they hurt. It’s a perfect blend of everything that you try to do and accomplish as a professional wrestler and that’s without exposing the trade secrets.”
A WWE Hall Of Famer who happened to never receive a five-star rating from Meltzer is Kurt Angle. In the past, Angle has playfully dismissed the process, but on the very same Twitch stream that Omega critiques the ratings system, he also noted that ‘The Olympic Hero’ was his all-time favorite wrestler.
The Rock says ‘off’ is the direction the people who don’t like new avatar can … go. TKO Group is reportedly looking to lean more into the PG realm of content. The company official so was hoping that The Rock would be setting a good example, being a member of The Board Of Directors.
“The talent was told that because the company was publicly traded and the wishes of TKO management was to be TV-PG. The feeling was that if he’s on the board, if anything, he should be he one following the rules to set the example.”
Meltzer added that some people in WWE complained that select talent could get more traction with the handcuffs taken off. The roster was seemingly frustrated with the fact that certain people are allowed to break the rules that everyone else is made to follow.
The Rock’s Reply
The Rock has rocked ‘n’ rolled on both WWE programming and social media, using colorful language to further fuel his feud with Cody Rhodes. That led to The Rock himself addressing his own pushing the limits of “standards & practices” on social media.
This is not the first time The Rock and has camp have attempted to debunk reports about his current WWE run. In response to a recent report by Fightful stating one of The Rock’s promos ran long, former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz fired back that ‘The People’s Champion’ was actually thirty seconds under his allotted time.
There is no one Rhea Ripley hasn’t impressed with her performance in recent times. WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus believes that the Judgement Day star is complete different level.
The Canadian Star was speaking on Brioux TV and she made note that the current WWE Women’s World Champion stands out. It’s not just because she holds the gold.
“Right now, I’m really loving Rhea Ripley. She’s in a whole other league. She brings so much and people love to hate her. When you’re a bad guy, but the crowd is loving you so much that they want to cheer you, that’s a special thing that you have that je ne sais quoi.”
Rhea Ripley
Rhea did really earn her way to the top of the card as she started off down in NXT, becoming the champion there before moving up to the main roster.
Ripley and Charlotte Flair stole the show at WrestleMania 39 where she first captured the World Championship and has been on an unstoppable run ever since.
The Mami has always had the qualities of a star, but she has really picked up momentum since becoming a member of The Judgment Day, and developing a leadership-type role.
During the interview Stratus claimed that she took notice of Ripley early on, and recounted a story of meeting Rhea in her hometown of Toronto.
“She was waiting….there are times in wrestling where you think it’s not going to hit. She tried other characters, she did things where it would be time where the storyline wasn’t going or there was no storyline at all.
I remember they were here for a live event in Toronto and they had nothing for her. She was like, ‘I don’t know what they’re going to do with me.’ Now she’s one of the longest reigning champions. I really enjoy watching her. She’s been great.”
Stratus made a massive heel turn in 2023 when she backstabbed Becky Lynch. Their feud culminated into a steel cage match at Payback with The Man picking up a huge victory over the wrestling legend. Now Becky will play the role of the veteran when she faces Ripley at WrestleMania 40.
Credit to Brioux TV and h/t to Fightful for the transcription
Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins may be happily married with a beautiful daughter, but that doesn’t mean the two have different personalities outside of the ring.
‘The Man’ and ‘The Visionary’ may mirror one another with their outlandishness inside the squared circle, but speaking with Peter Rosenberg, Lynch revealed that Rollins tends to internalize a lot while she is way more expressive with her emotions.
A Work of Art
“He’s the Mona Lisa of wrestlers, but he’s also very emotive when he’s out there, but I spend so much time being like, ‘You alright? You mad at me? What’s going on?’
“I’m very heart on my sleeve, here’s how I’m feeling, and he’s very contemplative, ‘no-selly’, has to think about things until he processes how he feels about them, where as I’m fiery, I know how I feel about a thing, and in processing I go, ‘Gosh I wish I could have been more like that,’ but we are very different in that regard. Very similar interests, very similar world views.”
She was also told by her brother once that she was a ‘squirrel’ that needed a ‘tree.’
“Seth is my tree. Seth is my tree. I’m very squirrelly.”
Lynch also added that the two were initially just really great friends, but she always looked forward to seeing him backstage and that Rollins would tolerate her bad jokes.
Nic Nemeth is really enjoying the story told between The Rock and Cody Rhodes, even getting himself worked up talking about it.
On Friday’s edition of Busted Open Radio, Nemeth was asked by Dave LaGreca what he thought of The Rock’s promo last Friday night on SmackDown where he went babyface on the city of Memphis, but heel on the mother of Cody Rhodes.
Nemeth says if being a heel was your play, it would be helpful to the story to be witty, but you have to make some moments count. Nemeth said he’d just like to see a little bit less of the “90’s jokey humor” and understand there’s some real life behind-the-scenes arch taking place right now.
“Let’s have it be where it’s so personal, it’s not jokey, it’s not catchphrase-y, it’s not ‘let’s sell t-shirts’, it’s ‘let’s sell this story and put a**es in seats even more than it already is, everyone is doing great, but there’s just something about that, man, I wish there could be just that little more realism that we’re kind of getting little teases of.”
He did say that times are different now where wrestling roles have been blurred, but he would like to see The Rock take another harrowing stab at the ribs of Rhodes.
“I would love just one more little twist of the knife of realism into the guts of Cody just to give one last piece to go, ‘You have to beat all these people to get by. Let’s do it.’”
Nemeth then also went on to say that he loved Rhodes’ rebuttal to The Rock as a whole on WWE Raw. Just seeing the clips out of context, he thought at first that they were trying to go “Attitude Era,” but then once he did the homework and watched the full segment, he really liked it.
Please credit “Busted Open Radio” and h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.
The wrestling world will forever mourn the loss of Shad Gaspard, but Da Pope Elijah Burke has put something very special together to commemorate his late colleague.
The inaugural Shad Gaspard Memorial Cup will take place on April 20 in Jacksonville, FL with eight men competiting in the tournament which includes Gaspard’s Cryme Tyme tag partner JTG. Also competiting in the tournament are the following names:
KC Navarro
Kenny King
Jay Rios
T.I.M.
Thom Latimer
General Obazo
3Prince Agballah
AEW star and WWE Hall of Fame Mark Henry will be in attendance to honor Gaspard.
“We Loved Shad. I loved Shad. I’m there.”
“We Loved Shad. I loved Shad. I’m there.” -Mark Henry
On 4-20-24 we honor a Dad, Son, Brother, Friend, Mentor & Hero. This night 8 men will enter beast mode as we honor WWE Hall of Famer Shad “Beast” Gaspard.
All proceeds from the event will go towards Burke’s Love-Alive charity, whose mission is to “improve the quality of life to less-advantaged individuals, families and communities through humanitarian effort and charitable donations in Jacksonville, Florida and surrounding areas.” You can donate or purchase tickets at the Love-Alive Charity website.
Shad Gaspard Died A Hero
Gaspard will forever be known to put his son Areyah ahead of himself. On Sunday May 17, 2020, Gaspard and Areyah went to Venice Beach and both were caught in a rip current. When a rescue team came to pull them to safety, Gaspard made certain that Areyah went first telling, rescuers to “take my son.” However, Gaspard got pulled by the current and tragically drowned, with his body being found days later. Gaspard would still wrestle from time to time, but really took a focus on a career in Hollywood, even writing a wrestling television pilot “PinFall” that was getting a lot of eyes on it. He called it a series a tribute that all his fellow wrestlers had gone through.
#PINFALL Series Synopsis Professional wrestlers battle their personal demons while the new female CEO of their organization struggles to rebuild the business. It's high stakes in a world where nothing is real, everything hurts, and you can't trust anyone. #WWE#AEW#ROH#NJPWpic.twitter.com/c3ciQ8Kwum
Nick Aldis has indeed sustained an injury and was playfully shocked as to how the “dirt sheets” picked it up.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider first reported that Aldis injured his arm and that he’s heard it’s something that could require surgery. Sure enough, Aldis confirmed that news and he actually just got off the cutting room table and his SmackDown duties won’t change despite the repair.
“Yes, I just got out of surgery for a ruptured bicep tendon, and yes, the sheets had it within minutes. God bless ’em. Must be a slow news day…anyway it was a freak accident, I’m on the mend, and I will continue to fulfill my obligations.”
Yes, I just got out of surgery for a ruptured bicep tendon, and yes, the sheets had it within minutes. God bless 'em. Must be a slow news day…anyway it was a freak accident, I'm on the mend, and I will continue to fulfill my obligations. #SmackDownpic.twitter.com/wawHrsW70H
Aldis made his WWE television debut the very same night he was appointed by SmackDown GM Triple H. Aldis got his start in that role back in October 2023, but people greatly know him as the star who put the NWA Worlds Title back on the map. Aldis re-established the NWA brand by defending the “Ten Pounds Of Gold” all over the globe. Arguably, his best rival during that time was this year’s WrestleMania main-eventer Cody Rhodes.
Aldis and Rhodes squared off at the original All In back in 2018 and Rhodes defeated Aldis for the championship, holding the same gold that his late father did. Aldis ended up regaining the championshi[p back at NWA 70. The two stars have yet to have a rubber match, but if Cody happens to finish his story and win the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship, there could very well be gold on the line once more between “The American Nightmare” & “The National Treasure.”
Nic Nemeth continues to make moves since becoming a name free agent and his most recent might have put himself between a “Stone Pitbull” and a hard place.
The IWGP Global Champion took to social media to lay down a challenge New Japan makes its way to Chicago, IL on April 12,, but before he did, he made clear that he wants a piece of NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi when he’s healthy, and he’s willing to put his gold on the line against “The Ace.”
“I will take on anyone, any time, any place and I see New Japan has a show in Chicago, April 12, Windy City Riot! You better believe ‘The Wanted Man’ is gonna be there, and I’m calling you out cause I want the hardest hitters there are! Tomohiro Ishii! Ishii vs. ‘The Wanted Man’, Windy City Riot – you hit hard, but I hit harder. Chicago, April 12, let’s rock.”
Nic Nemeth was released by WWE back in September of 2023, and once he officially became a free agent, the former Dolph Ziggler hit the ground running by making an appearance at January’s Wrestle Kingdom and later showing up at TNA Hard To Kill.
Nemeth later did become the IWGP Global Champion by defeating David Finlay at New Beginning. As for TNA, Nemeth just defeated former TNA World Champion Steve Maclin at Sacrifice and is set to face Moose for the World Title at Rebellion.
Nic isn’t just keeping his wrestling work inside the ring ropes, however. Just last week he made his debut as a new co-host on Busted Open Radio.
Nick Aldis has reportedly been injured and the WrestleMania status for WWE’s heralded SmackDown GM is currently unknown.
Aldis is expected to soon undergo surgery on his arm, according to PWInsider. The exact nature of the injury is unclear, but multiple sources have confirmed that surgery is imminent.
Hopefully this situation doesn’t keep him off WWE programming for too long. WrestleMania 40 would be Aldis’ first appearance on the “grandest stage of them all,” a moment that has been a long time coming for the former NWA Champion.
The Added Impact Of Nick Aldis & Adam Pearce As GMs
Aldis first showed up on WWE television back in October 2023 where Triple H revealed him as the new general manager of SmackDown. The tendency for most on-air authorities in the past would be to have them act as a corrupted heel, but both Aldis and WWE Raw GM Adam Pearce have brought legitimacy and reason back to the roles.
Before becoming an on-air persona once again, Aldis worked months as a WWE producer backstage and fans were understandably curious as to when Aldis could put the boots back on and grapple up. This thought was especially prevailent in his initial debut, considering he has a strong rivalry with Cody Rhodes. However, with this reported injury, the former NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion won’t be getting physical anytime soon.
We at SEScoops all wish Nick Aldis a speedy recovery.
TNA may be making a significant change on how they ink deals with most talent. According to a new report from Fightful Select, TNA may me leaning more towards offering wrestlers per-date deals rather than full-time contracts.
The impression has been that the offers have been quite different than what talent typically expected of a TNA deal. There is currently no confirmation whether this is a widespread movement for the company, but it would be a notable difference for TNA. The company notoriously parted ways with long-time TNA President Scott D’Amore earlier this year which caused the roster to write a petition on behalf of their former boss.
Update On The Contracts Of The Motor City Machine Guns
Could the Motor City Machine Guns be moving on from TNA already? According to recent reports, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin may have that option.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider intially got word that Shelley and Sabin’s contract could be up soon and Fightful followed up with their sources who believed that it could be in the within month of March. However, Sabin nor Shelley confirmed such news directly. The legendary TNA tag team actually signed with the company back on March 23, 2023.
It’s been a beneficial run for both Sabin in Shelley while Impact transitioned back to TNA as both became stalwart singles champions with the promotion. Sabin secured the X-Division Title during his tenure while Shelley had a very strong run as TNA World Champion before he dropped it to Moose at TNA’s first official PPV back at Hard To Kill.
If you don’t think John Cena reads the dirt sheets, think again because the future WWE Hall Of Famer took notice of Kenny Omega’s recent remarks.
Kenny Omega had extremely high praise for Cena on his latest Twitch stream, noting that he has never met John, but realizes how much he’s done for the wrestling business in and outside the ring. Omega noted how Cena has reached heights wrestling stars hadn’t seen in years and the work he does for charity is unparalleled.
Cena has a wide range of personalities on social media as most times on Twitter/X he’ll write out thoughtful words of motivation while his Instagram is always a wordless vessel, simply pictures that either troll or indicate something on his mind. On Wednesday morning, Cena made clear he was thinking of The Cleaner.
Omega is out indefinitely from in-ring action after being diagnosed with diverticulitis. He noted in a previous Twitch stream that he was actually very close to dying but did express a big desire to get back into the ring.
In AEW storylines, Omega has been relieved of his duties as an Executive Vice President of All Elite Wrestling (and replaced in The Elite by his most hated rival). Despite the suspension, Omega did appear in promotional ads for AEW’s upcoming tour of Canada.
Catching Up with Cena
John Cena returned to WWE last year during the Hollywood strike:
After wrapping up that run, the 16-time World Champion has been keeping very busy. His HBO show The Peacemaker will film a second season this year. He also recently made his (unannounced) minor league baseball debut in February 2024:
How Goldberg’s undefeated streak ended in WCW will often be polarizing, but Kevin Nash explains why it ultimately had to happen at some point.
On the latest episode of his Kliq This Podcast, the two-time WWE Hall Of Famer talked about a fan complaining to him that Bobby Heenan once said that WCW should have never ended Goldberg’s streak. However Nash told co-host Sean Oliver, that there were signs that Goldberg’s popularity was waning because he was becoming too popular.
“Like if we’d go to the northeast they were booing Bill,” Nash said.
“It wasn’t like all of a sudden, it was like, ‘We have to beat Bill.’ It was like, ‘Bill’s starting to be the Yankees.’ Bill’s starting to beat the Yankees … nobody wanted the Patriots to beat the [1972] Dolphins f***in’ record.”
Nash defeated Goldberg in the main event of WCW Starrcade 1998, but the match finish itself was not without controversy. There’s clean pins, and then there’s achieved thanks to outside interference in the form of having your opponent zapped with a cattle prod. Yes, that really happened.
At a key moment in the match, Scott Hall delivered an ‘electrifying’ message to the former Georgia Bulldog, who was soon looking up at the lights and parting with his WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Fallout From Goldberg’s Loss to Kevin Nash
The decision to end Goldberg’s streak in this fashion is debated to this day, as evidenced by Nash still dropping new details about it on his podcast.
Did Nash have any heat with Goldberg as a result? Former WCW star Disco Inferno gave his backstage account of what went down between the two men immediately afterwards:
“He was like talking about like an appearance he had to make or something and started talking like, ‘if they even want me now?’ Like he was thinking, like he got completely buried. This was his first loss. Right?
Nash was showering and then when Nash was drying, Nash asked Bill, he goes, ‘Do I have heat over this?’ Bill was like, ‘nah, nah, nah man. No. Not at all. I’m not talking about you. And I’ll never get that.”
Brian Gewirtz may be the former WWE head writer, but he’s not afraid to put the pen down and speak up when his name gets mentioned.
On Monday’s WWE Raw, the wrestling world was waiting to hear what Cody Rhodes had to say in response to The Rock and “The American Nightmare” pulled zero punches. Like The Rock has done in the past, Rhodes decorated his words with some colorful language and got more than one eyebrow raised other than The Rock himself. That included putting his “Final Boss” moniker into question.
“You have referred to yourself as ‘The Final Boss’, kudos to Brian Gewirtz for that nickname, perhaps you are the actual, literal ‘final boss. ‘Perhaps I am too naive to see that, but at WrestleMania, I don’t think you’re going to be the ‘final boss.’ At WrestleMania, I think you’re just Roman’s side chick.”
However, Gewirtz took to Twitter/X that he wasn’t the originator of that nickname, but did put something else on Rocky’s radar.
“Final Boss” isn’t anything I came up with. The Rock calls himself that because he is that. If it makes you feel better Cody Rhodes, I was the first to tell him about your spectacularly stupid goofy ass dog.”
The Rock has arguably garnered the most heat by taking shots at Pharaoh, Rhodes’ lovable white husky dog who many fans are familiar with since the early AEW days. Rhodes would notoriously bring Pharaoh along to Starrcast events and have meet and greets with the pooch in order to raise money for charity, but The Rock has been unabashed in his targets.
So far on Rock’s list, he’s taken shots at Pharaoh and Cody’s mom, Michelle Rubio, who on Raw, Cody made clear that Michelle isn’t afraid of “The Final Boss.” The Rock will be on the “go-home” show of WWE Raw.
The feud between Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar may be coming to a boiling point even before WrestleMania 40.
Escobar took on Dragon Lee on the 3/15 episode of WWE SmackDown and got a quick victory against the young star, but the Legado Del Fantasma leader wasn’t done. He along with Humberto Carillo and Angel Garza aimed to unleash a beatdown on Lee before Carlito came out to even the odds.
Not long after, Mysterio ran down and set up Escobar for the 619, but Santos slid out before it could be done. Months ago, Santos stabbed Mysterio in the LWO in the back and Rey didn’t forget the pact he and Escobar once made.
“It was supposed to me and you together – familia! Let me give you what you want. How about next week: one-on-one, you and and me? And I promise you, [first spoken in Spanish] from the bottom of my heart, I will slap that stupd, arrogant smile off your face!”
WWE later confirmed the match, but Legado del Fantasma are already setting themeselves up for some sort of WrestleMania appearance.
Garza and Carillo happened to advance in the 6-Pack Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament, defeating Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde but so did Catch New Republic against Pretty Deadly. Those teams fill out bracket one and another set of four teams will fill out bracket two next week. In addition to that Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes will meet face-to-face before they clash twice at WrestleMania.
Greatness recognizes greatness even if two legends are working for two different companies like The Rock and Ric Flair.
The Rock had one of his memorable promos this past Friday night in Memphis, TN as he serenaded Music City with one of his ‘rock concerts.’ Dwayne Johnson then went on to take jabs at his forthcoming WrestleMania 40 opponents in Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes before changing his target to Cody’s mom.
The Rock got serious and told Cody’s mother that he’d be handing her a bloody weightlifting belt after he whips his son like a dog with it, then used a closing lyric from his movie, “Moana.”
Flair was impressed and took to social media to put “The People’s Champ” over big-time as a promo, noting that he believes Rocky is even better than him.
“My Friend The Rock, You Are The Most Entertaining Motherf*cker In The Entire History Of The Wrestling Business And I’ve Seen Them All, Including Myself, But I Pale In Comparison! I’m So Thankful For Our Friendship & Respect. God Bless You! You Are The F*cking Man! WOOOOO!”
My Friend @TheRock, You Are The Most Entertaining Motherf*cker In The Entire History Of The Wrestling Business And I’ve Seen Them All, Including Myself, But I Pale In Comparison! I’m So Thankful For Our Friendship & Respect. God Bless You! You Are The F*cking Man! WOOOOO! pic.twitter.com/wqcBOqIsWJ
Flair also made the same post on Instagram and not long after SmackDown, The Rock happened to take notice of “The Nature Boy” and didn’t think he was deserving of the designation.
Larry Zbyszko was good friends with Scott Hall and knew that “The Bad Guy” was in a very unique class.
Larry was a special substitute co-host on “The Snake Pit” and was covering his 1997 WCW Starrcade match against Eric Bischoff, but touched upon a lot of other topics in his career, including his feud with Scott Hall. Zbyskzo became a big babyface in the the battle, becoming one of the top “soldiers” in the WCW army against the NWO.
While forever a historical figure in the world of pro wrestling Scott Hall never happened to win a World Title for a major wrestling promotion. He was slated to become the AWA World Champion, but happened to see the writing on the wall for the company and decided to leap to WCW. Zbyszko was asked by host Marcus DeAngelo why The Lone Wolf never held “big gold.”
“If you’re over like Scott was, it doesn’t matter if you’re the world champion or not, in terms of drawing money and being of value,” Zbysko said. “Scott did a great job. God, it was such a sad thing. He had some problems, but he had the ability to come walking out with the toothpick and made [being a bad guy] cool.”
Zbyszko goes on to say that it broke his heart that Scott Hall was going through substance abuse issues, noting how Hall made a night of wrestling easy for him.
March 14 marked two years since Hall passed away, but his impact on the business will always carry on. Just recently at Elimination Chamber, Becky Lynch paid homage by wearing “blood drip”-themed ring gear.
Please credit “The Snake Pit” and h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
The Rock rocked Music City on Friday’s WWE SmackDown and happened to do so with extra time to spare, according to former WWE Head Writer, Brian Gewirtz.
WWE was in Memphis, TN for SmackDown and it was The Rock who kicked off the festivities. Unlike he did in past weeks, The People’s Champ didn’t run down the hometown of Elvis, calling it “home” himself as he got his start there as Flex Kavana with Memphis Wrestling. However, the gloves came off when it came to Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and particularly, Cody’s mom, which was The Rock’s main target.
However, a report from Fightful Select said that The Rock went over way his time for the segment and that one match was cut for time. The Rock going over was reportedly expected with accomodations likely set, but Brian Gewirtz took to social media to dispel the notion that The Rock ran late.
“The segment went 30 seconds under its allotted 20 minutes.”
Gewirtz has been The Rock’s go-to guy as a writer since both were in WWE and the two have obviously played a big role since getting back into the WWE fold.
Whether The Rock does go over time, it really “doesn’t matter” considering he’s such a huge star and is on WWE’s Board Of Directors. He notoriously has found different routes to get the word out about promoting his SmackDown appearances by utilizing social media and has already cut several memorable promos that he also sprinkled with colorful language not suited for television.