Last night on NWA Powerrr, Nick Aldis unveiled some unique potential stipulations for another title match against Marty Scurll. Aldis defeated Scurll and successfully defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at the Crockett Cup last year but Scurll is lobbying for another crack at the belt.
On Powerrr, Aldis said that he is willing to defend the title against Scurll again at this year’s Crockett Cup event but only under one condition. That condition is if Scurll doesn’t defeat Aldis for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Scurll will refund every single person who attended the show the cost of their ticket.
The NWA has pinned a video of Aldis laying out the terms to the top of their Twitter page:
Aldis also made a point of mentioning that the exact date and venue for the Crockett Cup have yet to be announced. He invited cities to bid for the event. The show is planned for April.
Aldis sat down for an interview with Chris Van Vliet recently and discussed what led to him joining the NWA.
“Dave (Lagana) called me and just kind of said ‘what’s going on with you? What are you doing?’ Cause I mean I had just fallen off the face of the Earth in wrestling,” Aldis said. “Everyone just assumed that I would go to WWE after I finished up with TNA, that didn’t happen.”
Today is “Bell Let’s Talk” day, an annual tradition dating back to 2011 where people are encouraged to open up about mental health issues. The day is sponsored by Bell Media which owns TSN, the network that airs AEW Dynamite in Canada.
AEW’s Allie (aka the Bunny) has been vocal in the past regarding her battles with mental health issues. She took to her social media accounts today to talk further about mental health.
Allie is also auctioning off some worn ring gear for a good cause. Proceeds from the sale of her gear will be donated to the GoFundMe for a woman living with Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer.
“For most of my life, anxiety and depression have had a huge toll on me,” Allie said to the Gorilla Position in 2018. “Even when I was going through it all at the time, I didn’t realize that I was depressed. I could feel it, but I didn’t know what it really was for a long time.”
“I lost my father when I was 12… very young. That was one of the things that triggered my depression,” she continued. “Flash forward a few years later, and a very, very close friend of mine committed suicide. That just kind of pushed me further down that hole that I was in.”
Allie also posted the following video to her official YouTube channel in 2017:
AEW rankings for January 29th, 2020 have been released. The promotion releases new rankings every Wednesday morning now though its official social media channels.
AEW Men’s Single’s Division
There was no change at all this week in the single’s division rankings. Moxley defeated PAC this week, Omega won the tag titles with Page and neither Cody or Guevara competed.
Le Champion: Chris Jericho
Jon Moxley (3-0)
PAC (1-1)
Cody (1-0)
Kenny Omega (0-0)
Sammy Guevara (2-1)
AEW Women’s Single’s Division
Britt Baker and Awesome Kong swapped places this week with Baker taking the #4 spot and Kong dropping to #5. Baker picked up a win on Dynamite last week over Priscilla Kelly before blasting Tony Schiavone in a post-match promo.
Nyla Rose defeated Shanna in a tables match which aired on Dark this week though was taped on 1/21/20.
Champion: Riho
Nyla Rose (1-1)
Hikaru Shida (0-1)
Kris Statlander (0-1)
Britt Baker (1-1) (+1)
Awesome Kong (1-0) (-1)
AEW Tag Team Division
The only change to the tag team rankings this week is the former champions SCU dropping to the #1 spot after Omega and Page took the titles away from them.
The Dark Order won a match on Dark this week though as with the match between Shanna and Rose, it was actually taped on 1/21/20.
Impact Wrestling was back in Frontenac, Mexico this week for another edition of its weekly television program. They were also back on Twitch this week as the ban caused by Rob Van Dam’s celebrations with his girlfriend and girlfriend’s girlfriend has been lifted.
Impact Wrestling 1/28/20 Quick Results:
Vikingo defeated Josh Alexander w/Ethan Page
Dez & Wentz (the Rascalz) defeated Pagano & Murder Clown
Moose defeated Taurus
#1 Contender for Knockouts Championship: Jordynne Grace defeated Madison Rayne vs Kiera Hogan
Daga & Dr. Wagner Jr. defeated Reno Scum
Best of 5 Series (Match 1): Michael Elgin defeated Eddie Edwards (Elgin leads 1-0)
Here are 9 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 1/28/20:
Michael Elgin Takes Early Lead In Series Against Eddie Edwards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIPLAvNEZUg
Michael Elgin really feels cheated by the referee’s decision at Hard to Kill. Elgin feels Edwards tapped to his crossface during their single’s match but he was really just reaching for the ropes when his hand hit the mat. Regardless, Elgin feels he should have been awarded Edwards’ Call Your Shot trophy. They met in this week’s main event in the first of their best-of-5-series.
Elgin would score the first victory in the series, choking out his rival after delivering a Death Valley Driver from the top rope.
Jordynne Grace Earns A Title Shot Against Taya Valkyrie
Jordynne Grace picked up the win in a triple threat match against Kiera Hogan and Madison Rayne this week that has earned her a shot at Taya Valkyrie’s Knockouts Championship. Hogan and Rayne had made a deal with Valkyrie that one of them would get the next title shot but Grace inserted herself into the picture as well.
Rayne and Hogan attempted to work together during the match but their combined efforts simply were not enough to stop the streaking Grace. She has come up short when challenging Taya before but Grace seems as though she’s really hit her stride lately and could provide more of a challenge than before.
Joey Ryan was interviewed backstage this week. He commented on Rob Van Dam’s criticism of him from last week. RVD said that Ryan’s match against Maximo last week made him feel embarrassed to be a wrestler.
Ryan then said this week that he doesn’t think it was his match against Maximo that got RVD all upset, he thinks Katie Forbes wants to touch “it” and that is why Rob said what he said. It seems as though these two could face-off against one another soon.
Last week, Suzie wandered off away from James Mitchell during a match between Rosemary and Havok. Rosemary approached Suzie in the back this week and told her she thinks she can turn her into a real warrior. Suzie seemed to like this idea so Rosemary challenged her to an exhibition match next week and then handed her some wrestling gear before Suzie just sort of wandered off again.
Moose Gets Revenge On Taurus, Rhino Gets Revenge On Him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnZyooPrHEw
Last week on Impact Wrestling, Taurus won a triple threat match against Moose and Rhino. This week Moose and Taurus went one-on-one. After Taurus missed a running strike into the post, Moose landed the No Jackhammer Needed spear and picked up the win.
After the match, Rhino ran out from the back and delivered a Gore to Moose. It looks as though this rivalry between these two heavyweight contenders will continue.
OVE Assaults Daga & Dr. Wagner Jr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KSG6Tbkt-0
Daga teamed up with Dr. Wagner Jr this week in victorious fashion over Reno Scum. After the match, however, the members of OVE minus Sami Callihan attacked. They would even beat up Wagner Jr. in front of his own son who was at ringside and was forced to witness the events by Reno Scum.
Vikingo Defeats Josh Alexander In Fast-Paced Opener
Vikingo certainly opted to make the most of his opening match on Impact Wrestling this week against Josh Alexander from the North. This was a really interesting style mash-up as Vikingo has a high-flying Lucha style and Alexander’s offense is heavy on suplexes and amateur wrestling moves.
After several exciting exchanges between the two, Vikingo pulled off the mild upset with a head-scissors into a pinning combination.
It was later announced that Vikingo will face TJP next week.
The Rascalz Defeat Their Peyote-Induced Clown Hallucinations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddEtwLzTsSc
Last week on Impact, the Rascalz were shown in the back taking peyote. Things were going fine until Pagano and Murder Clown sat down. This week, the Rascalz were forced to face their fears when they met the two stars from AAA in tag-team action.
As frightened as they were, Dez and Wentz managed to pull off the victory with some unique double-team offense. The next set of tapings for Impact is in Nevada, where the Rascalz will likely go back to what they are accustomed to.
Gail Kim recently spoke to PW Insider regarding the recent controversy surrounding Impact World Champion Tessa Blanchard. The weekend of Impact’s Hard to Kill PPV, several female wrestlers accused Blanchard of using a racial slur and bullying wrestlers backstage.
“It was pretty stressful in the sense I didn’t like the angst of all these women fighting, or I don’t know what the term is, but it weighed heavily on my heart in a way. When that happened, we went to a pay-per-view and it wasn’t even 24 hours,” Kim said to PW Insider. “I went to speak to Tessa. Those details are private between her and I and are no one’s business. I based my decision of support at the pay-per-view and showing that support based on her time in the company. In the three years that she started with Impact wrestling, I’ve never seen any signs of any of that, of the undertones of bullying or racism. That’s where I made my decision of what I did and what I showed.”
Gail Kim Says Tessa Blanchard Has The Support Of The Impact Lockerroom
Kim would continue to say that she hasn’t seen any attitude problems from Blanchard in the entire time she has been with the company. Blanchard signed with Impact in April of 2018 as a 22-year-old and became the promotion’s youngest ever world champion when she won the title at 24.
“Any wrestler would tell you this, if someone was so crappy and such a terrible attitude and terrible person, do you think we would support that person? We would probably let that person bury themselves. She has the support of the locker room for a reason,” Kim continued.
“I didn’t see any attitude problems, that’s the thing. I don’t know what that reasoning is. I’ve never even heard anybody say in the locker room in the last three years that she had an attitude problem,” Kim would later add.
Tommy Dreamer Comments On Tessa Blanchard Controversy
On Busted Open Radio, Tommy Dreamer also commented on the situation and his relationship with Tessa Blanchard.
“I would state that I have a great relationship with (Tessa), I also have a great relationship with a lot of the other women that were talking about her. I was not there, I do know that there was a very very physical confrontation between her and this other wrestler and that led to I mean a physical brawl. Sometimes in the heat of battle you say things that you regret. I know that Tessa used to date a famous wrestler who’s in WWE that is African American. I know Tessa is currently engaged to Daga who is Mexican, I do not feel that Tessa Blanchard is racist.”
Edge returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble this weekend after having been gone since 2011. His early retirement was announced shortly after WrestleMania in 2011. According to a report from Talk Sport, Edge’s new deal with WWE is for 3 years and $3 million per year.
The report from Talk Sport would continue to state that the deal requires Edge to compete in 3 matches a year and make 25 appearances a year. Edge and Beth Phoenix were said to be quite happy with the deal.
There is some mystery over when Edge received his medical clearance to resume his wrestling career. Edge delivered a spear to Elias on the SummerSlam Kickoff show in August which led many to speculate he may have been given the green light from doctors. He would continue to deny reports that he had been cleared in the months and weeks leading up to his return at the Rumble, however.
“It’s kind of funny to be honest,” Edge said to Live on 4 Legs. “All of these rumors that I’ve been to Pittsburgh and I’ve been cleared to wrestle and I’ve signed a new contract. I have no idea where any of it came from. The last time I was in Pittsburgh I had my wrist fused in 2013. I don’t know.”
The Bella Twins are both pregnant and their due dates are less than 2 weeks apart. News of the twins’ dual pregnancies was first reported on by People Magazine. The Bellas posed for several exclusive pregnancy announcement photos as well.
Brie and Nikki Bella Are Both Pregnant — and Due Less Than 2 Weeks Apart: 'It's Crazy!' https://t.co/JOlhQzC5p6
“Wait, twins being pregnant at the same time?” Brie told People. “People are going to think that’s a joke. We both are shocked. People are going to think we planned it, but you can’t really plan pregnancy!”
“[It was] a total surprise,” Nikki added. “It took even me a good week to come to terms with like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m pregnant.’ I’m not ready for it.”
Brie & Nikki Bella Both Pregnant
For Brie Bella, this is her second-child with Daniel Bryan. Their first child, Birdie Joe, was born in May of 2017. She spoke to People about how her and Bryan were hoping to have another child but had resigned to thinking they might only have one.
“My husband and I were trying for seven or eight months, but then I felt in my heart it was a sign from God, like, ‘You guys are good with one,’ so we stopped trying,” said Brie. “When we were in France meeting Artem’s family, I felt a little off. I was irritated and uncomfortable in my body. When we got home, I took a test two days before Thanksgiving, and when I saw the positive sign, I was like, ‘Oh, s—!’ “
This will be Nikki Bella’s first child along with her fiance ArtemChigvintsev, whom she met on Dancing With The Stars. She spoke to People about finding out she was pregnant. At the time, Brie had already told Nikki that she was pregnant.
“I was in yoga, and I kept getting this feeling that you need to take a pregnancy test, but I wasn’t even late yet,” says Nikki, who got engaged during a romantic trip to France in November. “And so I’m like, ‘Why do I keep having this feeling? Am I getting twin vibes from her? Because she just told me she’s pregnant?’ “
Nikki would continue to say that she waited until after the pregnancy test confirmed her suspicions before telling Artem.
Roman Reigns recently spoke to the LA Times about finding out Kobe Bryant had died in a helicopter crash the day of the Royal Rumble. Reigns is a Lakers fan and found out about the tragedy from Triple H backstage at Minute Maid Park on Sunday. He then flew home immediately after the show.
“At Minute Maid Park right before the Rumble, Triple H received a text message and he showed it to me. I just didn’t believe it to be honest. I’m a Lakers fan, I watched religiously throughout his career and I’ve always been a huge fan, massive respect. I never really thought losing someone like that, essentially a stranger, obviously a public figure and I’ve seen him and watched him but he didn’t know me and I didn’t truly know him but I didn’t realize it would affect me so much.”
Roman continued to talk about how much Kobe Bryant’s death impacted him.
“I legitimately cried. I got home last night, I flew home right after the Rumble. The first thing I did when I got in my house was I went right to my daughter’s room and I hugged her. She was asleep, she has no clue that I hugged her for probably 3, 4, 5 minutes and was teared up the whole time.”
Reigns’ comments to the LA Times can be viewed in the Tweet below:
WWE superstar @WWERomanReigns is a big Lakers fan and he found out about Kobe Bryant’s death before Sunday’s Royal Rumble from @TripleH. He flew home immediately after the event and when he got home he went to his daughter’s room. She was sleeping but he just held her and cried. pic.twitter.com/2RKNT5tmzR
Triple H cracked a joke about Paige during a recent interview. Hunter was talking about retired wrestlers returning and how having families might impact that when he made the joke about Paige.
“Paige – maybe. She probably has some (children) that she doesn’t know of,” Triple H said of Paige when asked about her potential return.
Paige recently appeared on Chasing Glory with Lillian Garcia and spoke about how the joke impacted her and her boyfriend, Ronnie Radke. Paige said that Triple H’s joke opened the door for people online to send hateful messages to her and Radke.
“After [Triple H] made that joke, which, I respect Hunter – he [has] always been respectful to me and he has always just been a gentleman, so when he made that joke, it kind of just ignited this thing where it opened the door for all these fans to attack me and take pictures, and screenshots, and videos. And then, all-of-a-sudden, it’s being sent to Ronnie and to my family and stuff like that all over again and it took me a couple of years to really get over it.”
Paige continued to talk about how the joke brought up many issues that had taken her a long time to feel better in regards to.
Paige On Triple H’s Joke
“Like I said earlier, I had to talk to four different therapists. Like, I was thinking about suicide back then. I was in a really dark place. And then, knowing that I couldn’t have kids too, so that whole joke was just bad! I was like, ‘I can’t have kids!’ And then, all-of-a-sudden, these videos are being brought up, so it was just all of this stuff, kind of like an influx of hatred just thrown at me by all these fans. And I’m just like, ‘damn, I was just getting over this, and now it all just came back again, and now I have poor Ronnie who has to be involved in all of this, and my family, again, has to be involved in this.'”
Paige continued to say that she doesn’t mind making jokes but what hurts is when it opens the door for people to bully her online.
“I don’t mind jokes. Honestly, I really don’t. Like, backstage, I’ll joke all the time. I was like, ‘you can throw these jokes at me.’ I would joke about myself. I don’t care, but if it’s in the media, then it just opens doors to strangers to do it and that’s not okay because then I feel like these people on the internet are bullying me again.”
The full interview with Paige from Lillian Garcia’s podcast can be viewed below:
The National Wrestling Alliance presented Hard Times last Friday night. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis faced ROH’s Flip Gordon on the show. Aldis recently sat down with Chris Van Vliet and spoke about how he first got involved with the NWA.
“Dave (Lagana) called me and just kind of said ‘what’s going on with you? What are you doing?’ Cause I mean I had just fallen off the face of the Earth in wrestling,” Aldis said. “Everyone just assumed that I would go to WWE after I finished up with TNA, that didn’t happen.”
Aldis said he was just bouncing around the indies when his wife Mickie James was brought back to WWE.
“I just very candidly told (Lagana) that for whatever reason there seems to be some sort of problem with WWE and I don’t really fit in anywhere else. This new style had taken such a hold on everything. Celebrating this high-impact, fast-paced, high-spot style, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
He would continue to say he felt as though he didn’t fit in with where wrestling was going.
“You have hot and cold periods and I was cold,” Aldis continued.
Nick Aldis Joins The NWA
Then Billy Corgan bought the NWA and Dave Lagana phoned Alids, who had worked with Corgan briefly in TNA.
“Then Dave started explaining what their philosophy was and their vision for what they want to achieve, and explain Billy’s vision for the things he missed in wrestling,” Aldis said. “I have to explain. When Billy came to Impact, literally his first day on the job was my last day.”
“He helped produce this one thing I was in and then it was like ‘alright, bye.'”
Aldis went on to tell Lagana some of what he missed in wrestling as well.
“I think there is a bunch of people that miss the classic like irresistible force versus immovable object, here’s the showdown, who is going to win and who’s going to be the world champion? The world champion?”
“Billy called me 2 minutes later and was just gushing about Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher,” Aldis continued.
The full interview can be viewed in the player below:
WWE has signed Gurvinder Singh of Jagadhri and Sukhwinder Grewal, two students trained by the Great Khali. Both Singh and Grewal have reported to the WWE Performance Center. As was the case with their trainer, these two wrestlers stand above 7-feet tall.
“A pair of towering seven-footers are among a trio of recruits from India that have reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla,” a WWE press release for the signings reads.
WWE also signed Laxmi Kant Rajpoot, another Great Khali student. While Rajpoot doesn’t stand over 7-feet tall as the other recruits do, he has an athletic background that includes javelin and taekwondo.
Gurvinder Singh is listed at 7-feet tall and 310lbs. His background before being trained by Khali is in cricket and acting.
Sukhwinder Grewal is listed at 7-feet 2-inches and 340lbs. Before beginning his training with the Great Khali, Grewal played basketball.
Great Khali’s Wrestling School
Khali opened Continental Wrestling Entertainment in Punjab, India in late 2015. It is both a wrestling academy and a promotion. Khali himself is a former 2x Heavyweight Champion in the promotion.
In an interview with the New Indian Times from 2018, Khali said WWE failed in India.
“The WWE has failed in India. They thought they would use the Great Khali fully and then leave him. I [had] been trying hard for [a long time] to leave WWE, but they kept on offering me [a] contract. Finally in 2014, I decided I [would] leave once my contract [ended] and [would] not work with them ever again. Then I came back and opened CWE [Continental Wrestling Entertainment] in Punjab, which is doing well.”
Shayna Baszler entered into the Royal Rumble on Sunday as the 30th entrant. She tossed out 8 other competitors before being the final elimination by Charlotte Flair. Baszler’s longtime training partner and 4 Horsewomen of MMA stablemate Ronda Rousey posted her reaction to Baszler’s performance on her official YouTube channel.
Ronda gets quite into the match. Video of her reaction can be viewed in the player below:
Ronda Rousey Responds To Royal Rumble Return Speculation
Rousey posted the following to her Twitter account after it was clear she would not be returning at the Rumble:
Rousey has said she’s pitched ideas to WWE about her return, however. In an interview with People, Rousey said she’s hoping to find a way to balance family and a WWE career.
“I think I need to figure out a different way of doing it. To be able to not have to choose career over family or family over career and kind of find that happy medium,” Rousey said.
“Right now, I think my family needs my undivided attention,” she continued. “I’m happy to give them that. But I’m trying to figure out a way or a system or somehow that I could give both my family and WWE the best of me and not be half-ass in both.”
Yesterday, Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and 7 other people lost their lives in a tragic helicopter crash. Many from the pro-wrestling world have been paying tribute to the basketball legend online.
“Today is a sad reminder that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Live every single day to its fullest, each day we’re given is a blessing,” a follow-up Tweet from Hardy read.
“It’s heartbreaking. A horrific tragedy that occurred today with Kobe & his daughter. I feel horrible for his wife & other children,” another Tweet from Hardy read.
“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” -Kobe Bryant #KobeandGianna Praying for Kobe’s wife and family and all the loved ones of the victims’ lost.
“Sending strength and my prayers to Vanessa, the Bryant family and all of the families affected by this tragedy. Life is so precious. Hold your loved ones close to your heart always,” wrote Natalya.
“WWE is saddened by the passing of basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. We extend our condolences to their family, fans and loved ones,” a WWE statement reads.
“RIP Kobe & Gianna Bryant. Whether or not you were a fan of Kobe or @Lakers, please consider donating to a cause that was important to Kobe and Gianna: development of women’s basketball programs, at any level, youth to professional. It would be a nice way to honor their memories,” wrote AEW’s Tony Khan.
Mustafa wrote:
Take a moment to realize everything could change in a moment.
Families and friends gone in a moment.
So in this moment, find the ones you love. Call them. Hug them. Forgive them. Be with them. You have this moment.
We always think we have so much time. The news about #KobeBryant is a sad reminder of how precious yet small our time here is. Condolences to his fans, friends and family.
Tell everyone in your life that you care for that you love them.
The World of Sports and Entertainment Lost A Legendary Man, Father, Husband, Son, Businessman and Philanthropist. Words cannot Undo this tragedy?? To the Family, Friends and Fans of Kobe Bryant Please know that He will ALWAYS BE WITH US!!
The National Wrestling Alliance held a tournament on Friday night to declare a new NWA TV Champion. Ricky Starks won the tournament and is now the first person to hold the title in decades. (NWA Hard Times PPV Results)
Arn Anderson is statistically-speaking the greatest TV Champion in NWA history. He is a former 4x NWA/WCW TV Champion and held the title for a record 877 combined days.
On the latest episode of his Arn Show podcast, The Enforcer commented on the NWA reviving the beloved championship.
“I’m happy for those guys,” Double-A said of the NWA. “They are doing well. It’s all a byproduct of ‘hey, a new era has begun.’ Times are changing and places are popping up with old concepts as well as new talent, new style, old thought processes as far as the old things that really worked and I think one of the old things that really worked is the television title. The whole premise I think is a good idea for featuring what we do and that’s wrestle.”
Brandi Rhodes has been spiraling as of late and according to a recent video posted to her social media accounts, Cody requested that she go to a therapy session. Highlights of the session appear in the video which can be viewed below.
In the video, the therapist insinuates that the Nightmare Collective is a cult. It was also suggested in the video that Rhodes has formed the faction to deal with her fear of people not liking her. This last bit struck a chord with Brandi, who left the session shortly after.
Brandi Rhodes Goes Back To The University Of Miami
Rhodes recently returned to the University of Miami where she delivered a keynote speech on AEW. She posted the following on social media in relation to her return to the University where she did her undergrad:
“Enjoyed my short time at #NatpeMiami2020 …it was a dream realized as a model here just 8 years ago who would later become a keynote speaker at this very hotel. The only person ever in your way is YOU. That’s the story of @AEWrestling…from undesirable to undeniable!!” Brandi Tweeted.
Rhodes was not on the recent Jericho cruise due to attending the UofM event. She also has been dealing with a missing passport.
This weekend, Major League Wrestling presented its first episode of Fusion from the Zero Hour tapings held in Dallas earlier this month. The show featured a barbed wire match between Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc in the main event.
The full show can be viewed in the player below:
MLW Fusion 1/25/20 Quick Results:
Drago & Puma King defeated Jordan Oliver & Kotto Brazil (Injustice) and Low Rider & Taurus (Triple Threat Tag match)
Low-Ki defeated Chandler Hopkins
Barbed Wire Match Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc
Barbed Wire Match Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc
Not since 2003 during its initial run has MLW held a barbed-wire match, but Jimmy Havoc and Mance Warner went to battle in such a fight this week. Warner would come away as the victor after an interference attempt from Priscilla Kelly didn’t go as planned.
Kelly gave Havoc a handful of powder to use but Warner caused the powder to hit Havoc in the face instead. Warner then hit a piledriver for the win.
Warner now leads the head-to-head series in MLW between the two at 3-1:
Bunkhouse Brawl 9/7/19 Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc
Falls Count Anywhere 11/9/19: Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc
Prince of Darkness Match 12/5/19 Jimmy Havoc defeated Mance Warner
Barbed Wire Match 1/11/20 Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc
Warner also won a triple threat against Bestia 666 and Havoc on the SuperFight PPV in November.
Contra Unit Has A Challenge For The Hart Foundation
Last week on Fusion, Davey Boy Smith Jr. won the 2019 Opera Cup. To kick off this week’s episode of Fusion, Contra Unit cut a promo about how what they had started with a fireball (delivered to Teddy Hart) they will finish, referring to the demise of the Hart Foundation. This brought out Davey Boy Smith Jr from the back, however, and Brian Pillman Jr. came from the stands disguised as a fan to run Contra off.
Later in the show, Contra Unit issued a challenge to Smith for a no-holds-barred match with no ring ropes and where the only way the match can end is via knockout or tapout. Smith would later accept the challenge and will face Contra Unit’s Simon Gotch in a match that will air on a later date.
Former MLW World Champion Low-Ki was in single’s competition this week. He was facing local talent Chandler Hopkins who put in a good showing for himself. The commentary team noted Hopkins has been competing in AAA as of late and has impressed Konnan. Low-Ki put the match away by countering a top rope diving attack attempt into a triangle lock. Low-Ki offered Hopkins his respect after the match.
Drago & Puma King defeated Jordan Oliver & Kotto Brazil (Injustice) and Low Rider & Taurus (Triple Threat Tag match)
Drago was able to send a message to the members of Injustice week when he picked up the pin for his team in the opener. The members of Injustice had appeared in a backstage segment with Konnan and said that nobody cares about AAA. Konnan told Myron Reed he’s got to worry about Drago and tonight, the members of Injustice will be in the ring with some top talent from AAA.
In a high-paced action-packed opener, it would be Drago who would pick up the pinfall over Low-Rider.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman was interviewed in the back by Alicia Atout. Pretty much right off the bat, MJF managed to offend Atout and then complain about Grogan’s heavy breathing behind him before talking about his match next week against Marshall Von Erich.
The Von Erichs then issued the following response to MJF, using fruit as an example of what they will do to MJF with the Iron Claw.
There have been several reports regarding Brian Cage’s free agency as of late. It had been reported that Cage was AEW bound but Melissa Santos publicly refuted the claim. Cage recently posted a video and message on Facebook stating that he is set to undergo surgery on a torn bicep on Monday and will not be signing with any promotion until he is healed.
“My contract did come to an end with Impact Wrestling and they did make me an incredible offer to stay as did multiple other companies,” Cage said in the video. “While I was mulling all that over, unfortunately, I tore my bicep.”
Cage continued to say he tried to avoid surgery and didn’t want to say anything publicly until he knew what was going on. He also confirmed he’s going in for surgery on Monday and will not sign with any company until he is fully healed.
“I’m just hoping they are still there when I heal up,” Cage said of the offers he’s had from wrestling companies.
Cage is a former X-Division and Impact World Champion stemming from his run in Impact Wrestling. He defeated Johnny Impact for the title at Rebellion from Toronto’s Rebel Nightclub last spring. He finished his run with the company off by dropping a match to Rob Van Dam at Hard to Kill.
A feature film focussed on the Von Erich wrestling family is in the works. According to a report from Deadline, Sean Durkin will be penning the script for the film. The 38-year-old filmmaker won the Dramatic Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
“I’m very excited about this one,” Durkin told Deadline. “It’s another family portrait, about a wrestling family who revolutionized the sport and then suffered tragedy.”
Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell have signed on to produce the film.
“Sean is an extraordinary filmmaker and we’re excited to be working with him,” said Tessa Ross.
Ross and Marshall Von Erich are the current MLW tag team champions. They have entered into a rivalry with Tom Lawlor on the show after Lawlor turned on the brothers.
Starrcade 93 was arguably one of the more memorable shows in the event’s history. The main event of the card was Ric Flair challenging Big Van Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Flair’s career was on the line in the match as well.
Flair vs Vader was not supposed to be the main event, however. The match between the two was only booked after Sid Vicious was fired from the promotion stemming from his infamous backstage fight with Arn Anderson. Vader was originally supposed to defend his title against Sid in the main event of Starrcade that year.
Bischoff stressed that while he was in WCW at the time, he was not yet running creative. He offered some insight as to why Flair was chosen to replace Sid, however.
“(Flair) was always the go-to guy. If plan A doesn’t work, plan B will,” Bischoff said. “While Ric Flair was often Plan A and for many, many years throughout WCW’s existence, Ric was always the Plan A guy because he drew money and he drew ratings and everyone knew it.”
Bischoff would continue to say, however, that in this case, Flair was Plan B.
“When the building is starting to burn and you can’t put it out with the kitchen sink, what do you do? You break the glass, pull the fire alarm and in comes Ric Flair.”
Bischoff would then say Flair as Plan B, in this case, worked out quite well.
“Plan B worked out phenomenally well. Probably, possibly, not even possibly, quite likely worked out to be much better than Plan A.”
Bischoff’s comments about Starrcade 93 can be heard in the player below:
Impact Wrestling presented its first show from their recent tapings in Mexico last night on AXS TV. The show did not air on Twitch this week due to the ongoing ban that likely stems from Rob Van Dam’s celebration with his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s girlfriend last week.
Here are 8 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 1/21/20:
Challengers Step Up To Tessa Blanchard
Impact Wrestling kicked off this week with Tessa Blanchard delivering an in-ring promo. She was interrupted by Taya Valkyrie who noted that Blanchard was afraid to return to the Knockouts division. Taya and Blanchard have a long history and have feuded over the Knockouts title and AAA’s Reina de Reinas title. Ace Austin also came out and noted he was victorious over Blanchard at Bound for Glory when he won the X-Division Championship ladder match.
A brawl started as Austin and Taya teamed up on the champion. This brought out Trey who still has a grudge against Ace Austin for the things he said about his mother. A tag match pitting Blanchard and Trey against Austin and Valkyrie was scheduled for the main event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23XP9z9WGRA
During the match, Blanchard took Taya out with a plancha but this left Austin and Trey alone in the ring. Austin would then pick up the win with the Fold (flipping neckbreaker/blockbuster) on Trey. Taya and Ace celebrated to end the show but Taya didn’t want him to get too close.
What does this mean in terms of who will face Blanchard for the title next?
Taurus Steals A Victory Over Moose From Rhino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW9oOR-soUI
Moose defeated Rhino at Hard to Kill but this week another wrestler with a large animal name was thrown into the mix. AAA’s Taurus, Moose, and Rhino kicked off Impact this week with a triple threat match.
It looked like Rhino had Moose down and was ready to avenge his PPV loss when he hit Moose with a Gore. Taurus swooped in, however, and delivered a headbutt to Rhino to take him out before stealing the pin on Moose for the victory.
Joey Ryan Defeats Maximo, RVD Embarrassed To Be A Wrestler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHKQWPwT0I4
Joey Ryan faced AAA Exotico Maximo this week in singles competition. After some shenanigans, Ryan was able to deliver a penis suplex to Maximo followed by a lollipop-assisted superkick for the win.
After the match, Rob Van Dam was interviewed in the back. RVD said he’s embarrassed to be a pro-wrestler based on what he just saw in the ring. He would continue to say that he’d rather wrestlers just steal his moves if that is the alternative.
Havok Earns A Victory In The Dark War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0eo12RUuM4
Havok picked up a victory over Rosemary in the latest battle of the Dark War. Mitchell and “Suzie” accompanied Havok to the ring this week for her match against Rosemary. The Demon Assassin has been attempting to stop Mitchell from continuing his manipulation of Suzie.
Rosemary was distracted by Mitchell at ringside and delivered a poison mist blast to his face. Her distraction led to Havok gaining the advantage, however, delivering a tombstone piledriver and picking up the win. In the midst of the match, however, Suzie wandered off.
On another note, Father James Mitchell is hoping wrestling fans can help his family raise money for his step-daughter who is battle stage 3 lymphoma. Mitchell posted the following GoFundMe appeal to social media:
I would be grateful if you could share the link and read about my step-daughter. This is a truly difficult time and my wife and I would appreciate it. https://t.co/4LU5ccIsPTpic.twitter.com/wmHAOMKnRD
Elgin is all upset he didn’t win Eddie Edwards’ Call Your Shot trophy at Hard to Kill. He claims Edwards tapped while in a crossface (he was actually just reaching for the ropes.) Edwards attempted to announce he was calling his shot at the next PPV when Elgin interrupted. It was then announced that a best-of-5 series between the two will begin next week.
The Rascalz tend to prefer when Impact’s tapings are held in Nevada, California, anywhere in Canada, or similar locations. Tapings in New York or Mexico provide somewhat of a challenge for the trio and possibly for Rob Van Dam as well.
This week, Wentz announced that he had picked up some peyote instead and that this location was “no longer a desert.” Since Trey was wrestling in the main event, he chose not to participate, however. Wentz and Dez seemed to have a good time until Pagano and Murder Clown sat down and scared them away. The Rascalz will face their scary clown hallucinations in tag action next week.
Johnny Swinger Attempts To Rescue Willie Mack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLan9BHivGo
During a backstage interview with Jimmy Jacobs, Willie Mack was interrupted by Johnny Swinger this week. Swinger said that if Mack teams with him as the Mack and Pack Connection they will draw a lot of money. Mack did not seem interested, however, since Rich Swann is his partner.
After Mack picked up the win on Rohit Raju, Mahabali Shera hit the ring and began delivering a post-match beatdown to Mack. Swinger then attempted to make the save but was outnumbered by the Desi Hit Squad, who are without Raj currently as Shera sent him on a spiritual journey without first checking in with Gama.
Matt Hardy has been active on YouTube over the last few months. He had been posting a series of “Free the Delete” videos but over the last week, his YouTube channel has begun to express the idea that Hardy is in some type of limbo.
Hardy released the following video recently:
“I’m Matt Hardy and I’m in limbo,” he begins the video with. “I was once broken, then woken, now I’m not quite sure what I am.”
Hardy continues to speculate that maybe he is supposed to be “Jokin” Matt Hardy after he fails to impress his children with his Dad jokes.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Hardy is expected to leave WWE in March when his contract is up in the spring. Also according to the report, Hardy has been speculated to be the leader of the Dark Order in AEW.
“Matt Hardy is expected to leave WWE in March,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
“Hardy is the leading speculated name for the leader of the Dark Order since they just started teasing a leader and Hardy just started putting out the videos,” Meltzer continued.
Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair are widely considered to be two of the best professional wrestlers of all time. Arn Anderson was recently asked the question of who he feels is the better wrestler between the two.
“That’s impossible to say because they’re different. They are each incredible in their own right,” Anderson said on an episode of his podcast with Conrad Thompson. “Shawn Michaels is to me the consummate babyface. Talk about a guy that does have babyface skills, nobody sells better, nobody can tell a story better in the ring, his ability to make it a comeback that you believe in.”
Anderson would then continue to say that while HBK was the consummate babyface, Ric Flair was the consummate heel.
“Ric – consummate heel,” Anderson continued. “Even though he gets cheered, Ric is still a heel, Ric will always be a heel. He’s just one of those guys you love to hate.”
In terms of who is better between the two, however, Anderson said there is no way to tell.
“There is no way to say one is better than the other,” Anderson concluded.
Anderson’s comments can be heard in the player below:
The second-ever Chris Jericho Rock N Rager at Sea is currently taking place. In addition to other festivities planned for the cruise, there will also be several AEW wrestling matches held aboard the boat tonight.
Jericho took to social media recently to announce the following matches will take place today on the cruise:
Jericho recently spoke to SI.com and spoke about what he believes he would be doing if he was still in WWE.
“If I was still in the WWE, I would still have to be doing ‘The List’ and it would feel so old,” said Jericho. “I love all the great stuff I did in the past, but to go out there and say ‘Raw is Jericho’ or ‘I’m the Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla’ would really feel like a rock and roll band that tours that never puts on a new record and tours every summer.”
Wrestlers such as John Cena and Batista are currently enjoying post-wrestling acting careers. Hollywood hasn’t always been so accepting of wrestlers, however. According to comments Cena made to Cinema Blend recently, he believes the Rock’s foray into acting changed all that.
“It definitely has changed, and I think that rests on the already broad shoulders of Dwayne Johnson,” Cena said regarding Hollywood’s attitude to wrestlers. “He just made it acceptable to be something other than your wrestling persona. If you look at the correlation of wrestlers or WWE personalities in movies, they essentially played extensions of their WWE personality. I think Dwayne was one of the first ones to break that mold, and do it on such a grand scale that he couldn’t be ignored.”
John Cena On Wrestling and Hollywood
Cena would continue to talk about the similarities between pro wrestling and other forms of entertainment.
“What we do in WWE is we tell stories – we just tell most of it through a physical nature of a narrative. And it is over the top, and a very Shakespearean form, but it is storytelling. I just think we have a lot of talented individuals that could be good in other avenues. It’s just by being on every week without a break, perception is reality. ‘I know this person for being this person and this person alone.’ It’s very much like your favorite [television show], like Seinfeld.”
Cena’s film career is set to have a big year in 2020. He will play a role in each of the next installments of the Fast and Furious and Suicide Squad films.
The full interview with Cena from Cinema Blend can be found here.
Major League Wrestling presented the finals of the Opera Cup tournament on an episode of Fusion that aired this weekend on BeIN Sports and YouTube. The middleweight title was also on the line and Savio Vega and Gino Medina faced each other in a New York street fight.
Quick Results MLW Fusion 1/18/20:
Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed w/Injustice (c) defeated El Lindaman
New York Street Fight: Gino Medina defeated Savio Vega
Opera Cup Finals: Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Brian Pillman Jr.
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
The main event this week on Fusion was the finals in the Opera Cup tournament. It would be the first time in 70 years the trophy would be awarded to a wrestler for winning a single-elimination tournament, the last victory being Smith’s grandfather, Stu Hart.
Before the match, Smith cut a promo about how he was surprised but pleased that Pillman had made it to the finals. He said that Pillman works hard but in the ring that night, it would be strictly business. Pillman expressed similar sentiment in an interview with Alicia Atout earlier in the evening.
Pillman would give Smith everything he had but ultimately it was the more experienced veteran who would take the victory. Smith made Pillman tap out to the crossface for the win.
It was also announced during the broadcast that the Opera Cup will be an annual tournament in MLW.
Last week, Gino Medina decided to reject offers from both Konnan and Selina de la Renta in favor of aligning with the Dynasty. After Medina attacked Konnan last week, Savio Vega challenged Medina to a New York street fight this week.
Vega seemed to have everything going for him near the end of the match. After a contest that involved multiple weapons being used, Vega hit a spinning leg lariat and looked to have the match won. That’s when the other members of the Dynasty appeared on the stage and provided a distraction. Medina then hit a low blow, followed by his finisher for the win.
This week’s episode of Fusion kicked off with a middleweight title contest. Injustice’s Myron Reed would face OWE’s El Lindaman with the strap on the line. Lindaman came out strong but he also had to contend with the other members of Injustice, Kotto Brazil and Jordan Oliver, on the outside.
Before the match, Reed cut a promo about how he hears people are comparing him to Cassius Clay. Reed says he’s more like Muhammad Ali, however, because he breaks the mold. He’d pick up the win with a 450 splash and retain his title.
Injustice attacked Brian Pillman Jr. last week before his Opera Cup tournament match. This week, Pillman cut a promo on Injustice and MLW officials would ensure that all 3 members of the group were kicked out of the building before the finals of the tournament could begin.
Barbed Wire Match Next Week
This Saturday for @MLW in Dallas, starting off my decade with a nice, easy, No Rope Barbed Wire match against @ManceWarner. Should be a laugh? pic.twitter.com/Jl8v3gCGDF
The rivalry between Mance Warner and Jimmy Havoc gets taken to a whole new level next week. We’ve seen this rivalry continue for months in the most brutal and vicious style matches. Next week, however, the ring ropes will be replaced with barbed wire as the match between Warner and Havoc taped from Dallas on January 11th, 2020 will air.
Next week’s Fusion will be the first to air from the recent tapings in Texas.
With Zero Hour from Dallas in the books, MLW has now begun advertising the big matches for Fightland from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Here is what is confirmed for the event scheduled for February 1st, 2020 thus far:
World Heavyweight Championship: Jacob Fatu (c) vs CIMA
Killer Kross vs Tom Lawlor
National Openweight Title: Alex Hammerstone (c) vs T-Hawk
