Jazzy Gabert is no longer with the NXT UK brand in WWE. She posted to Twitter recently that she is now a free agent. Gabert had signed with the NXT UK brand in January of 2019. She made her in-ring debut at the April 20th, 2019 tapings from Glasgow, Scotland.
“I will press the RESET button!! I will be OFFLINE for a short while! Need a change! Will change! Body, mind and soul needs a break!! 10 days of fasting, including keeping off from social media, is the first step,” Gabert wrote on Instagram. “Second one, which I look most forward too is changing my look! And i change my profession… one came to an end and one is rising like a Phoenix. Watch out for it! Thank you for being on this journey.”
Jazzy Gabert in NXT UK
Gabert had a total of 6 matches for the NXT UK brand and had a 4-2 record. She only wrestled one single’s match, however, a loss to Piper Niven in October. She teamed with Jinny successfully three times and picked up another win in a 2-on-1 handicap match. Gabert lost to Piper Niven in a single’s match and then she and Jinny lost to Rhea Ripley and Piper Niven in her final NXT UK match.
The former member of La Résistance and WWE tag team champion Sylvain Grenier is back with the company. According to comments Grenier made to the French- Canadian publication TVA Sports, he has been working backstage in WWE for the last week beginning at the RAW show from Kentucky.
Grenier told TVA that he contacted WWE last April in order to get photos from his career.
“When WWE came to Montreal in April 2019, I went to meet Kevin Dunn (Executive Vice President of TV Content) to ask him for pictures of the time I won the team titles at the Bell Center,” a translation of Grenier’s comments reads. “I needed it for the intro to my new fitness TV show.”
The conversation led to Grenier being told the company was looking for backstage agents.
“I had just had a child, I was working on my show, I didn’t want to end up on the road as much as before. But he told me that things had changed. The company then invited me to the premiere of SmackDown on FOX in Los Angeles and a few exchanges later, we had an agreement.”
Grenier has yet to be assigned to a brand and stated he is currently in training. The full French language article with TVA Sports can be read here.
Brandi Rhodes is not on the Jericho cruise due to not having a passport. She Tweeted recently that she would not be on the cruise due to her passport having been stolen. Rhodes has since deleted the original Tweet, however.
“I hope this doesn’t disappoint anyone, as I was having to leave early to deliver the keynote at NATPE next week (which I am insanely excited for!) but I will not be on the cruise at all this year. My passport was stolen this evening and I cannot attend. Be safe and have fun,” Rhodes Tweeted.
Rhodes would continue to Tweet that she was not scheduled to be on the cruise the entire time.
I wasn’t scheduled to be on the cruise the entire time, I have to get back to the states to deliver an important keynote, which means an international flight. Not possible.
Rhodes recently spoke to the Bleacher Report about her on-screen relationship with Awesome Kong.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Awesome Kong because she came to me wanting something specific for herself and that’s always a great thing, a great sign from a talent when they come in and say, ‘Hey, this is my vision, this is what I see. Can you help me create this?’” Rhodes explained. “Because nobody’s going to be able to create their own vision better than they do themselves.”
Charlotte Flair recently took part in an interview where she stated she loses more than any other wrestler in WWE. Flair spoke to Sportskeeda recently and mentioned her win/loss record.
“If you look at my stats, I have THE HIGHEST losing record out of anyone on the roster,” Flair said. “It’s just, ‘Oh, it’s Charlotte Flair.'”
In 2019, Flair wrestled 20 single’s matches on WWE programming (not including house shows). She sported a 12-7-1 record in those matches. She went 3-3 in PPV single’s matches last year. Her record on house shows is abysmal, however, as she usually wrestles and loses to whoever is champion at the time. This year, Flair has worked the house show tours losing matches every night to Bayley, Becky Lynch, or earlier in the year, Asuka. It is not uncommon for Flair to lose a dozen or so house show matches in a row.
“I think a detriment to me, which is also a positive, is I am consistent,” Flair continued. “I am consistent, I am never hurt, I am always here. It’s almost like, ‘Yes, that is awesome,’ but at the same time, it’s like, I’ve never had the opportunity for the fans to miss me, but that’s what people forget.”
Flair wrestled in 4 triple threat matches in 2019 on WWE programming and went 0-4. She also went 7-8 in tag team matches on WWE programming, most of the time teaming with Becky Lynch.
“It’s like, yes, I won a match this week – Oh, my God, I won a match – but they’re like… ‘Oh, she wins all the time.’ But that’s not been the case. Actually I’ve, like you said, lost more matches than probably any female booked currently. It’s crazy. I think it’s the stigma of the name and always being in the title picture – but I’m consistent and a workaholic. It’s a good thing and a bad thing, you know?”
Flair is currently 1-0 on WWE programming in 2020, having defeated Sarah Logan.
Kevin Reilly is the chief content officer for HBO Max and president of TNT, TBS, and truTV. He spoke to Variety recently about the new deal his company struck with All Elite Wrestling. Reilly also talked about the second AEW show WarnerMedia plans to air.
“I just had this idea that this was the time to invest,” Reilly told Variety. “This is a startup. It’s already over-delivered out of the gate. That’s really when you want to hit the gasoline a little bit. The guys already have ideas about additional talent and things they want to do and I wanted to incentivize them as a partner to do that. We also wanted to gave fans and talent who potentially want to come work with us the sense that this is here to stay. You can invest in it, it’s here to stay, and it’s only going to get better.”
Reilly spoke about bringing AEW Dark to the network as opposed to YouTube.
“We just figured, ‘Let’s bring it onto the network and make it a place where you truly plant up and coming talent,’” he continued. “I think we’ll start doing more packages there and filming some behind-the-scenes stuff, not for the matches that night but with other talent to plant stories and grow things that could eventually become another show in and of itself.”
A story from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently stated, however, that Dark will continue to air on YouTube and a second show broadcast by WarnerMedia will extend tapings to 4 hours every Wednesday night.
Rocky Johnson passed away this week. News of the WWE Hall of Famer and father of Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s passing was first released by the Cauliflower Ear Club. The Rock took to social media today to post a tribute to his late father on Instagram.
“Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side,” the Rock wrote. “But you were ripped away from me so fast without warning. Gone in an instant and no coming back. Im in pain. But we know it’s just pain and it’ll pass.”
WWE issued a statement on Rocky Johnson’s passing.
“WWE is saddened to learn that Rocky “Soul Man” Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles), a WWE Hall of Famer, former World Tag Team Champion, and father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has passed away at age 75,” a WWE statement on Johnson’s passing reads.
Ric Flair posted the following:
I'm Saddened To Hear About The Passing Of The GREAT ROCKY JOHNSON! I Wrestled Him Many Times Throughout His Illustrious Career. His Physique And Conditioning Were Unparalleled! He Was So Proud Of His Son Dwayne! He Raised Him To Be The Rock!! RIP Rocky Johnson! pic.twitter.com/GiXXFQhGlE
I’m really sorry to hear of the passing of Rocky Johnson. We always had lovely chats and he always referred to me as “Mate”. My deepest condolences to all of his family.
Prayers and Condolences to @TheRock and His entire family and Friends inside and outside of the @WWE as we all mourn in the passing of his Trailblazing and Amazing Father Rocky Johnson ?? pic.twitter.com/cWrk5yNAz9
“Thank you Soulman Rocky Johnson. A true trailblazer who’s life and career made immeasurable contributions to the wresting industry. People of color continue to reap the benefits. My condolences to @TheRock and family,” Shelton Benjamin Tweeted.
WWE has filed to trademark the name “Harlem Heat” for wrestling purposes recently. According to documents publicly available through the US Patents and Trademark Office, WWE filed to trademark the term on January 13th, 2020.
The popular WCW tag team was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last year. They are former 10x WCW tag team champions. Harlem Heat was named the Tag Team Of The Year in 1995 and 1996 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. They were also honored with the Tag Team Award by the Cauliflower Ear Club in 2018.
“My brother and I, we paved the way for so many other young African-American wrestlers that watched us and said ‘man if Booker T and Stevie Ray can do it, we can do it too’,” Booker said on ESPN radio after Harlem Heat’s WWE Hall of Fame induction was announced.
“We talk about how there’s not that many black wrestlers in this business, it’s because they didn’t get a chance to see a whole lot of them in there actually doing it. That’s why my brother and I — us getting that nod — of course, yeah, we deserve it because we paved the way, not just for so many black wrestlers like Street Profits, but so many young white kids as well. We represented for everyone!”
Tama Tonga and nZo (the former Enzo Amore) have been trading occasional shots online since ROH and NJPW held a joint show in Madison Square Garden last spring. During the show, Enzo and Cass “invaded” the event during a match featuring Tama Tonga. The problem was that Tonga and his brother were not informed this was a planned invasion beforehand.
Tama Tonga is now challenging Enzo to a match with proceeds going to charity. Tonga posted the following video as a challenge to nZo:
Tonga and the rest of Bullet Club are preparing for the Bullet Club Beach party WrestleMania weekend in Florida. The Bullet Cub Beach Party shouted out the following fan who made a sizeable donation to the Australian wildfire relief when purchasing:
The charity Enzo chose, Heart Support, has its mission statement posted here.
“Every year we help men and women brave their wounds, find purpose, and discover healing. Our goal is to create a legacy of life-transformation, freeing them from suicide, addiction, abuse, and mental health issues while empowering them with the realization they are loved unconditionally and supported by a community that believes in them.”
Tama Tonga and his brother recently lost the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles to David Finlay and Juice Robinson in the Tokyo Dome. Enzo is wrestling this weekend for Destiny just outside Toronto.
Arn Anderson worked backstage in WWE from the closing of WCW until last year. He was recently asked a question regarding CM Punk’s WWE title reign during an episode of his podcast “the Arn Show.”
“I think he had a pretty fair run,” Anderson said regarding Punk’s WWE title reign. “He was able to talk them into trusting him to do the pipe bomb promos and those are the things that people seem to remember.”
Anderson then compared CM Punk’s time on top of WWE to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s.
“There’s nothing like being able to look at your boss and tell him to f-off,” Anderson continued. “That’s what got Austin over and made him special. He was the first one to ever do it and boy did he do it with authority.”
Anderson then said Austin’s run on top provided the basis for Punk’s feud with “the Authority.”
“It opened the door for later down the road, Punk kind of did the same thing with the Authority,” Anderson continued. “You don’t have that happening very, very often. It was a rare time in the business and it has sustained him as far as the wrestling fans’ eyes to this day.”
Anderson continued to talk about being surprised that Punk appeared on WWE Backstage. His comments can be heard in the player below:
Marty Scurll agreed to a new contract with Ring of Honor this week. The deal is not only the most lucrative in the nearly 20-year history of the promotion, but it also puts Scurll on the ROH creative team. According to a recent update from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Delirious and Scurll will be sharing booking duties but Scurll will likely be the lead between the two co-bookers.
“(Scurll) will work in creative as a co-booker with Hunter Johnston (Delirious) and basically as things are working out will be the lead,” wrote Dave Meltzer. The report would continue to say that Delirious didn’t object to any of Scurll’s booking ideas this weekend.
“The plan right now is for Scurll to determine the direction and for Johnston (Delirious) to run the television shows using Scurll’s ideas and adding in details and formatting it for television,” Meltzer continued. The report would continue to state that Scurll’s deal with ROH allows him to work for other promotions as well with the possible exclusions of WWE and AEW, though he may be permitted to appear for AEW, this is not yet clear.
Scurll is being advertised for the next set of NWA Powerrr tapings scheduled for January 26th in Atlanta.
Delirious is said to be happy about the deal, as it takes a lot of the pressure and anxiety away from his role. He has been on the ROH booking team since 2010 and head booker since 2012.
Scurll was reportedly set to be the revealed leader of the Dark Order stable in AEW as well. There was said to have been an idea that Scurll would debut as the leader of the stable on the 12/18 edition of Dynamite but ROH then made Scurll a substantial offer to stay with them.
Matt Hardy’s name has also been linked to the role of the leader of the Dark Order stable.
AEW and WarnerMedia announced earlier this week that a deal has been struck for Dynamite to continue airing on TNT through until at least 2023. Also as part of the deal, a second AEW show will air on a WarnerMedia station. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, the new show will not replace AEW Dark.
“When the new show launches, the Wednesday tapings would expand and also include matches taped for the streaming show Dark, which would not be going away,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “This means there will be about four hours a week of the product being taped.”
Also of note, is that the new show is unable to run on either Sundays or Mondays due to agreements in place between the Khan family and the NFL. As the owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars, they are prohibited from airing programming on a day and time that coincides with NFL football.
“It would not air on Sunday, Monday or Thursday, because Khan has an agreement to not air wrestling against the NFL since his family owns the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Meltzer continued.
The report continues to state that Taz’s recent hiring is so he can work on commentary for the new show.
Impact Wrestling presented its first show since Hard to Kill on AXS TV and Twitch last night. The show featured a sit-down interview with the new Impact World Champion, Tessa Blanchard.
Impact Wrestling 1/14/20 Quick Results:
The Desi Hit Squad defeated Reno Scum, TJP & Daga, and the Rascalz (Wentz & Dez) – fatal 4-way tag match. (taped at Hard to Kill)
Joey Ryan defeated Johnny Swinger (taped at Hard to Kill)
X-Division Championship Ace Austin defeated Moose, Eddie Edwards, and Fallah Bah – fatal 4-way match. (taped at House of Hardcore)
Here are 5 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 1/14/20:
Sami Callihan Threatens Tessa Blanchard
Losing the Impact World Championship might not be sitting well with the already unstable Sami Callihan. Tessa Blanchard’s sit-down interview this week was interrupted by a video message from Callihan.
Highlights of Blanchard’s title win was shown as well as clips of the entire locker room coming out to celebrate with her after the PPV ended. Blanchard then sat down with Josh Mathews and spoke about the importance of her title victory. That’s when Sami Callihan interrupted.
Calihan’s video panned out and revealed he was somewhere in the same studio Blanchard was. When Blanchard went looking for Callihan, however, a new video was shown. This video featured Callihan telling Blanchard that when he gets revenge, she will never see him coming.
RVD, His Girlfriend and His Girlfriend’s Girlfriend Celebrate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzk2moM8iNQ
RVD defeated both Brian Cage and Daga at Hard to Kill. He held a celebration with his girlfriend and his girlfriends’ girlfriend in a hotel room this week. RVD noted that Forbes and her girlfriend weren’t even born yet during ECW’s heyday. RVD also noted that wrestling nowadays is basically a tribute show to him, with everyone doing his moves.
Eventually, the celebration got so steamy that the Impact Plus app had to cut in with a clip of the Deaners as “the Hard Workers” from the retro show they did a few weeks back.
Joey Ryan Gives Johnny Swinger His Comeuppance
Joey Ryan and Johnny Swinger met in single’s action this week. This match stemmed from the epic Wrestlers Court segment a few weeks back. Then last week, Tommy Dreamer caught Swinger trying to put somas in Ryan’s water. Dreamer eventually forced Swinger to drink the soma water instead.
Swinger hurt himself in this match when he attempted to deliver a headbutt to Ryan’s groin. Ryan then hit a penis suplex on Swinger but Swinger grabbed the referee during the move, taking him out momentarily. Ryan would then pick up the win with a lollipop assisted superkick.
Ace Austin Retains X-Division Title In Fatal 4-Way From House of Hardcore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l1h6rtySb0
Ace Austin was in tough this week. He had to defend his title in a fatal 4-way match against Eddie Edwards, Moose and Fallah Bah. The match was filmed at a recent House of Hardcore event.
The end of the match came when Edwards took Moose out with the Boston Knee Party. Edwards was then leveled with a powerbomb by Fallah Bah leaving Austin and Bah as the only two wrestlers standing. Austin then hit Bah with the Fold from up top for the win.
It is not clear if Trey’s mother was watching. Trey still has a grudge against the X-Division champion, however.
Desi Hit Squad Pick Up A Big Tag Win
A fatal 4-way tag match kicked off this week’s episode of Impact. The match was taped from the Bomb Factory at Hard to Kill on Sunday but did not air on the PPV. It was noted on commentary that TJP normally teams with Fallah Bah but as Bah has another match scheduled on the show, Daga as his replacement partner in this match.
Rohit Raju and Mahabali Shera picked up the win for their stable this week after a Sky High. Josh Mathews noted on commentary that the win likely puts the Desi Hit Squad in a position to challenge for the Impact tag team championships.
All Elite Wrestling has revealed its newly weekly rankings. The promotion made a slight change to the release schedule of its rankings last week, now releasing them on Wednesday mornings.
Kenny Omega & Adam “Hangman” Page (1-0) (previously unranked)
The Lucha Bros (0-1) (-2)
The Lucha Bros dropped two spots this week and Hangman Page and Kenny Omega debut in the rankings. Page and Omega defeated Private Party and the Lucha Bros dropped a match to Cody and Dustin Rhodes on Dynamite.
It has been 4 years since Impact Wrestling held a Lockdown event but the steel cage-focussed show will be returning in 2020. The event will be exclusive to Impact Wrestling’s streaming service, Impact Plus. Lockdown 2020 will emanate from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
BREAKING: The most dangerous event of the year returns.
Lockdown is coming to @StClairCollege on Saturday, March 28th LIVE on @IMPACTPlusApp in association with with @bcwonline!
There have been 12 Lockdown events in Impact/TNA history. Along with Slammiversary and Bound for Glory, the event was at one point a staple of Impact’s PPV schedule. The last time the event was held was in 2016. The main event of that show was Matt Hardy taking on Ethan Carter III for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
The entire 2009 Lockdown is available on Impact’s YouTube page:
Lethal Lockdown Match
Impact/TNA has also used a War Games-style match at these events in the past. While only one ring is used for Lethal Lockdown matches, two teams face each other and wrestlers from each team enter the match at staggered intervals. 16 of these matches have taken place at Lockdown events over the years.
The last Lethal Lockdown match occurred in 2016 when the Doll House defeated Velvet Sky and Gail Kim. The year prior a team representing TNA defeated a team representing Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling.
MLW is eyeing new TV deals and has signed on with ICM Partners. According to news first broken by Deadline Hollywood, the talent agency has partnered with MLW and will be looking to broker new TV & streaming deals for the promotion.
ICM is a talent agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, and London. They typically represent showrunners in the TV and film industry.
MLW’s TV rights become available this spring. The promotion is touting a 43% growth in total viewers from 2018 to 2019 while on BeIN Sports.
ICM Partners will also help MLW launch “MLW Studios.”
“ICM Partners will also represent MLW with the launch of MLW Studios, a multi-platform media studio, offering a slate of original scripted and non-scripted programming,” an MLW press release states.
Episodes of MLW Fusion currently air Saturday nights on BeIN Sports. They are later posted in full to YouTube.
“As the only free agent in the wrestling space in 2020, MLW is in a unique position in the television landscape,” said Court Bauer, creator and Chief Executive Officer, Major League Wrestling.
“MLW provides an extraordinary entertainment experience, showcasing some of the sport’s most storied and iconic families, embracing the Mexican lucha libre culture and presenting original content in a 360 manner.”
Ronda Rousey and Travis Browne currently live on Browsey Acres, a sustainable ranch located in California. They recently posted a YouTube video of Rousey giving Jackass star Steve-O a tour of the ranch.
“We’re kicking off our smorgasbord of Steve-O content with Ronda and Trav giving the Jackass GOAT a tour of their sustainable farm Browsey Acres. He’s also working on some gnarly cauliflower ear,” a description of the video reads.
In addition to his acting and stunt work, Steve-O is a noted animal activist. He describes himself as a “bleeding heart veggie guy.”
“The entire tour features an interesting discussion on the ethics of meat and working towards a cruelty-free and healthier, self-sustaining lifestyle,” the description continues.
Rousey and Steve-O both talk about their attempts at a vegan diet and attitudes to sustainable agriculture in the video. It can be viewed in the player below:
In a previous video posted by Rousey, she talked about how WWE influenced her approach to her UFC career.
“I wanted to make women’s MMA take off and I was looking at what the women’s fights didn’t have that the men’s had,” Rousey said in the video. “Because women could have exciting fights but nobody gave a s**t and I was trying to figure out why nobody gave a s**t.”
Steve-O talked about his appearance on WWE RAW on the Joe Rogan experience below:
Velveteen Dream has been on the shelf since September. He hasn’t wrestled since dropping the NXT North American title to Roderick Strong on the September 18th, 2019 episode of NXT.
According to comments made by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Velveteen is dealing with a serious back injury.
“I know the injury was pretty serious,” Meltzer said on the show. He would also say he hasn’t heard an update on Velveteen’s condition in a long time, however.
“Back injury,” Meltzer confirmed when asked what injury Velveteen was dealing with.
Velveteen Dream Injured
When Dream went on the shelf, it was reported that he had been dealing with a back injury for some time. The injury had gotten worse before he would take time off to deal with it, however. There is currently no timetable for his return.
Velveteen Dream won the NXT North American title from Johnny Gargano this summer. Two endings to the match with Gargano were taped, one with Gargano retaining and the other with Dream winning the title.
In numerous books and podcasts covering World Championship Wrestling, much has been made about Eric Bischoff’s deal to bring Master P into the company. The famous rapper was involved in a storyline along with his No Limit Soldiers against the West Texas Rednecks in 1999.
Bischoff himself recently commented on Master P’s deal with WCW on a recent episode as his 83 weeks podcast. The 83 Weeks YouTube channel released two videos on the subject today.
“His presence on MTV was another reason why by 1999 we were pretty interested in him,” Bischoff said regarding Master P’s mainstream credibility at the time.
“Master P had a very, very large and important audience. A much younger audience than WCW had that was in a silo. That was a demographic that may or may not have paid attention to WCW without integrating somebody like Master P into a storyline.”
“There was a lot of good reasons to do it,” he continued. “I take exception to the fact that wrestling fans consider this kind of a joke move.”
Bischoff’s comments can be heard in the player below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPuG9zPZJY0
Eric Bischoff On What Led To Master P Leaving WCW
Bischoff also refuted reports that happened at the time that Master P left WCW due to a deteriorating relationship with WCW management.
“Master P was never a long-term deal,” Bischoff said on the show. “It was a short-term program as was Dennis Rodman. Dennis Rodman was never going to be a long term player.”
Those comments were released in a separate YouTube video:
According to comments made by Triple H recently, Tyson Fury would like a bigger role in WWE when he returns. Triple H spoke with Metro UK reporters this weekend while in Blackpool for the NXT UK Takeover event. During a media event, Triple H spoke about Tyson Fury’s future with the company.
Triple H spoke about how Fury first has to get through his rematch with Deontay Wilder on February 22nd before plans are made for his WWE return.
“That fight on February 22nd will be huge to him as to what his next steps are in all of this. So, we’re open to that stuff but it needs to be right for everybody,” Triple H said.
“Yeah, I think there are thoughts out there of a lot of things with Tyson Fury. He had a blast working with us,” Triple H continued. “It’s funny, one of the things that I learned with him doing the press for the other time he worked for us is that in his mind as a kid, he saw himself being a WWE superstar, not a boxer.”
Triple H would continue to talk about Fury’s performance at Crown Jewel against Braun Strowman. He also mentioned that he believes Tyson Fury wants to do something bigger than he has with WWE.
“The entertainment side of it, that showmanship side of him is in front. So I think he would love to do something more with us. He’d love to do a bigger thing.”
The full interview with Metro UK can be read here.
Brian Cage was defeated by Rob Van Dam via referee’s stoppage at Hard to Kill on Sunday. Cage was bleeding from the mouth and took a Coast-to-Coast dropkick from RVD before the match was stopped. Since the weekend, numerous reports regarding Cage’s injury and contract status have been published.
According to a report from PW Insider, Cage is believed to have been dealing with a torn bicep and that is what led to the short match with Rob Van Dam on the PPV.
It has also been reported that Cage had signed a deal with AEW but this report has since been refuted by Cage’s wife, Melissa Santos. The website SoCalUncensored reported the news and Santos responded to the Tweet.
Really?? How can you confirm something that isn't true???? I'm his wife and I can CONFIRM, he hasn't signed on any dotted line. @socaluncensoredhttps://t.co/ao2EZ67PsR
PW Insider is now reporting that Cage has not signed anywhere just yet but is mulling over several options. His deal with Impact Wrestling is up, however.
Cage signed with Impact Wrestling in early 2018. He won the X-Division title later that year and was voted the X-Division competitor of the year by fans. He won the Impact World Championship last spring on the Rebellion PPV by defeating Johnny Impact. His reign was hampered by injuries, however, and he dropped the title to Sami Callihan on the first episode of Impact to air on AXS TV this fall.
Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder’s contracts with WWE are believed to be up in the spring. According to documents publicly available through the US Patents and Trademark Office, a trademark application was filed on January 8th, 2020 for the term “Shatter Machine” which is the current name of the Revival’s tag team finishing move.
The trademark applicants are listed as Daniel Wheeler and David Harwood whose wrestling names are Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson respectively.
The trademark application was filed by lawyer Michael E. Dockins. He is also the lawyer who handled Cody Rhodes’ applications for the Bash at the Beach and other WCW event names recently.
The stated purposes of the trademark are listed below:
“Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality.”
Dawson then took to Twitter to clarify what he meant in his previous Tweet:
I’ve had many friends & fans ask me about this. I should’ve clarified, I’m taking a break from social media. I apologize for that vague tweet, but I do appreciate EVERYONE’S support. Everything I do is for my family. I only want the best for them. They’re my #1.
The Revival hasn’t wrestled a match on WWE programming since dropping a street fight to Heavy Machinery on December 20th, 2019 episode of Smackdown. They have been competing regularly on house shows, however.
Brandi Rhodes has issued a formal apology to Excalibur for her comments at commentary on Dynamite this week. Rhodes mispronounced Excalibur’s name several times while on commentary during the women’s championship match. She then referred to him by a different name again during her formal apology to him.
Brandi’s “apology” is below:
I’d like to issue a formal apology to the commentator I called Xzibit this week. I knew what I was doing and it wasn’t very nice. As a former interviewer and announcer, I am better than taking cheap shots as such. I’m very sorry. It won’t happen again, Expedition.
Rhodes was recently featured in an article from the Miami Herald as Dynamite will emanate from the campus this week. She has a Master’s Degree from the University of Miami to go along with her degree in journalism from the University of Michigan.
Rhodes also spoke to the Bleacher Report recently about her on-air relationship with Awesome Kong.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Awesome Kong because she came to me wanting something specific for herself and that’s always a great thing, a great sign from a talent when they come in and say, ‘Hey, this is my vision, this is what I see. Can you help me create this?’” Rhodes said in the interview. “Because nobody’s going to be able to create their own vision better than they do themselves.”
The town of Corbin, Kentucky was officially renamed King Corbin, Kentucky for one day this weekend. The mayor of the town made the name change official after being presented with a WWE petition this weekend. WWE was in town for a house show on Sunday.
The official proclamation is below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Psgkth-S_/
WWE held a live event in the city yesterday at the Corbin Arena.
Already laying the smackdown on King Corbin… also, for the record… no filtered in cheers needed this place erupted when his music hit. #WWECorbinpic.twitter.com/YxkZzY2PQf
Corbin recently spoke to Chiefs Wire about the influence the Undertaker has had on his career.
“He’s a guy I grab onto every time he’s around, and he seems very willing to help,” Corbin said. “He’s really played a significant role helping me find success and fame.”
Corbin also spoke about why he feels Vince McMahon is a fan of his during an interview with Cheap Heat.
“I think Vince McMahon has been a fan of mine because I’m a big dude, a little bit old school, and have legitimate toughness. He sees motivation in certain guys and certain guys want to have it and some don’t.”
Major League Wrestling presented a new episode of Fusion on BeIN Sports and YouTube this weekend. The show was headlined by the second Opera Cup semi-final match between Timothy Thatcher and Brian Pillman Jr. and also featured a tag title match between the Von Erichs and the newly named “Filthy Squad.”
MLW Fusion 1/11/20 Quick Results:
MLW World Tag Team Championships The Von Erichs (c) defeated the Filthy Squad
Opera Cup Semi-Final #2 Brian Pillman Jr. defeated Timothy Thatcher
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
Tom Lawlor has said he’s putting “Team Filthy” back together and this week we found out that Ken Doane and Mikey Mondo will now be going by the name “the Filthy Squad.” They were pitted up against the Von Erichs in a tag team title match this week.
The Squad targetted Marshall Von Erich’s injured knee throughout the match. After Marshall managed to tag out, however, the Von Erichs went on offense. They would finish the Squad off with an Iron Claw assisted slam (the Iron Slam) to retain.
After the match, the Von Erichs were attacked by the newest member of Team Filthy, Rip Von Erich. The imposter Von Erich lost to Tom Lawlor on last week’s episode.
As Fusion was kicking off this week, Alicia Atout attempted to get an interview with Brian Pillman Jr. As she was doing so, however, Pillman was attacked by the members of Injustice. Pillman had previously gotten into a backstage disagreement with Kotta Brazil last week.
At this point, it is unclear if Pillman will be available for the night’s main event against Timothy Thatcher.
Not since Randy Savage arrived in WWF in the mid-80s have managers fought over the services of a wrestler to this degree. Since Gino Medina’s arrival in MLW was announced, Konnan and Selina de la Renta have been seen in the back trying to negotiate with him.
This week, Konnan came out and recalled being in the Gringos Locos stable with Medina’s father, El Sanguinario. Selina de la Renta also came out who had some words about Konnan. Finally, the Dynasty came out and MJF touted how he has 2 big-time wrestling contracts and everyone in the Dynasty are top guys as reasons why Medina should join their faction.
When it came time for him to make his decision, Medina shook Konnan’s hand only to boot him in the stomach directly after. Selina de la Renta would scatter from the ring as the Dynasty put the boots to Konnan. Medina has joined the Dynasty.
Brian Pillman Jr. Advances To The Opera Cup Finals
Pillman went into this match with an injured shoulder courtesy of the earlier attack by the members of Injustice. An injured body part is just what Timothy Thatcher loves to focus on in a match.
It looked like the match was all but over when Thatcher had Pillman trapped in an armbar but the youngster countered the submission into a pinning combination and scored the surprise 3-count. With the win, Pillman advances to the finals of the tournament next week.
MLW has two big matches set up for next week’s episode of Fusion. The Opera Cup finals take place next week with two members of the Hart Foundation squaring off, Brian Pillman Jr. vs Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s early life is set to be featured on a new NBC sitcom. NBC Universal announced they have ordered the sitcom for their 2020/21 season on a recent press tour. The show will be titled “Young Rock.”
The Rock will serve as an Executive Producer on the show. He posted the following video announcing the project:
Former WWE head writer Brian Gerwitz is also set to be involved.
Here’s the official word from the People’s Champ himself:
“We’re going to find the Rock wreaking havoc in the streets of Hawaii getting arrested,” Johnson said in the above video. “We were forced to leave the island and move to all places, Nashville, Tennessee. Those were the years that were very formative and helped shape me. The confluence of wild personalities that came in and out of my life during these times are just fascinating.”
Rock also mentioned in the video that his WWE wrestling days will not be featured on the show. His days wrestling for smaller promotions will be, however.
This will be the second show on NBC that Rock has served an Executive Producer for. He also worked on NBC’s “The Titan Games.”
