Kazuchika Okada is once again the IWGP Heavyweight champion. He defeated “Switchblade” Jay White tonight inside Madison Square Garden at ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard.
Okada earned the right to challenge White after winning the 2019 New Japan Cup. He is now a 5x champion. White’s title reign ends after just 55 days and no title defenses.
Okada holds several IWGP Heavyweight championship records:
Most combined days spent as champion: 1,516
Longest single reign with the title: 706 days
Most consecutive title defenses: 12
He trails Hiroshi Tanahashi in two categories. Tanahashi has held the title 8x and defended it 28x while Okada has won the title just 5x and defended it 25x.
Full Results From G1 Supercard
Kenny Kingwon an Honor Rumble match (eliminated Jushin Liger and the Great Muta to win)
Jeff Cobb defeated Will Ospreay (title vs title) – Cobb wins NEVER Openweight Championship, retains ROH TV title
Rush defeated Dalton Castle
Kelly Kelin defeated Mayu Iwatani (c) – new WOH World Champion
Flip Gordon, Juice Robinson & Mark Haskins defeated Bully Ray, Shane Taylor & Silas Young – Streetfight rules
Dragon Lee defeated Bandido vs Taiji Ishimori (c) – new IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion
Guerillas of Destiny (c) defeated EVIL & Sanada, the Briscoes, and PCO & Brody King – retain IWGP Heavyweight tag team championships, win ROH tag team championships
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi – retains British Heavyweight Championship
Kota Ibushi defeated Tetsuya Naito (c) – new IWGP Intercontinental champion
Matt Taven defeated Jay Lethal (c) and Marty Scurll – ladder match – ROH World Championship
Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White (c) – new IWGP Heavyweight Champion
Matt Taven is the new ROH World Champion. He defeated both the former champion Jay Lethal and Marty Scurll in a ladder match tonight inside Madison Square Garden as part of ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard.
Taven becomes an ROH Grand Slam champion, having won the ROH World, TV title, tag team, and 6-man titles.
In the match’s final moment, Taven climbed a custom purple ladder. He then hit Jay Lethal with the title belt, causing him to crash through another ladder positioned below.
Taven’s teammates in the Kingdom joined him in the ring to celebrate after the match.
Kenny King won an Honor Rumble Match (eliminated Jushin Liger and the Great Muta to win)
Jeff Cobb defeated Will Ospreay (title vs title) – Cobb wins NEVER Openweight Championship, retains ROH TV title
Rush defeated Dalton Castle
Kelly Kelin defeated Mayu Iwatani (c) – new WOH World Champion
Flip Gordon, Juice Robinson & Mark Haskins defeated Bully Ray, Shane Taylor & Silas Young – Streetfight rules
Dragon Lee defeated Bandido vs Taiji Ishimori (c) – new IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion
Guerillas of Destiny (c) defeated EVIL & Sanada, the Briscoes, and PCO & Brody King – retain IWGP Heavyweight tag team championships, win ROH tag team championships
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi – retains British Heavyweight Championship
Kota Ibushi defeated Tetsuya Naito (c) – new IWGP Intercontinental champion
Matt Taven defeated Jay Lethal and Marty Scurll – ladder match – new ROH World Champion
Jay White (c) vs Kazuchika Okada – IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Enzo and Big Cass crashed the G1 Supercard today. They appear to have hit the ringside area shortly after the Guerillas of Destiny won both the ROH tag team and IWGP heavyweight tag team championship titles.
Several people have been posting about Enzo and Big Cass’ antics on social media.
Host of the Pacific Rim podcast, Jim Valley, noted he believes this to be a storyline attack.
It was at least being played up as a real invasion on NJPW World, however. The cameras cut away and commentary did not mention what was going on (for the most part) or who they were.
The scuffle was not shown to viewers but several people have posted videos on social media of what occured:
Ok, @real1 and Big Cass just invaded the wrong show. They tried to keep the off the broadcast but they’re getting tons of internet time. But seriously, they got their asses whooped when they were being kept off screen. #G1Supercardpic.twitter.com/lrG0QVTDWC
Ok so… Enzo and Big Cass just invaded ROH and disrupted the post-match celebration for G.O.D. No, I’m not working you! WTF did we just see?! #G1Supercardpic.twitter.com/ib0xeGMQEW
NJPW World Broadcast Does Not Show Enzo and Big Cass Invasion
During the broadcast, the camera cut to the commentary position where a scuffle at ringside could be seen but the people involved could not be made out. The camera would then cut to just the G1 Supercard logo before both were escorted away and the next match began.
G1 Supercard From Madison Square Garden Lineup
IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: “Switchblade” Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada
ROH World Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match: Jay Lethal (c) vs Matt Taven vs Marty Scurll
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Kota Ibushi
British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship/ROH World Tag Team Championship 4-Way Match: Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) vs PCO & Brody King (c) vs the Briscoes vs EVIL & SANADA
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 3-Way: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs Dragon Lee vs Bandido
NYC Street Fight Open Challenge: Bully Ray vs Juice Robinson
WOH World Championship Match: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs Kelly Klein
Dalton Castle vs Rush
NEVER Openweight vs ROH TV Title Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs Jeff Cobb (c)
Honor Rumble: Jushin Liger, Kenny King, PJ Plack, The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas), and Cheeseburger
Kagetsu, Jenny Rose and Hazuki v. Hana Kimura, Stella Grey and Sumie Sakai
Angelina Love, Velvet Sky, and Mandy Leone have formed a new faction in ROH.They debuted tonight inside Madison Square Garden at ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard.
Kelly Klein had just regained the WOH World Championship when Angelina Love and Velvet Sky unexpectantly walked to ringside. They were soon joined by Mandy Leone. The three then attacked Klein, leaving her laying beaten in the ring.
Madison Rayne Pitched Beautiful People To ROH, Then Left For Impact
Madison Rayne and ROH recently decided to part ways. Her departure was covered in a report from the Wrestling Observer last month.
“(Madison Rayne) pitched the return of The Beautiful People and ROH agreed that maybe they would try,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “Different people came up with ideas on introducing The Beautiful People. They pitched her the scenarios and she at first gave an indication she liked them, but a few days later she sent them an email saying she didn’t like any of the ideas. Both sides did leave the process amicably.”
Bret Hart almost had to stretch an invading fan during the Hart Foundation’s WWE Hall of Fame induction speech tonight. Security and a group reportedly consisting of Shane McMahon and Travis Browne escorted the fan away from the ceremony instead, however.
The fan appeared seemingly out of nowhere, entered the ring and appeared to grab at Bret before the screen cut to black. The fan was quickly dealt with by security. Video of the attack can be seen below:
Bret Hart Tackled By Fan During Hall of Fame Ceremony
Drake Maverick would instruct the crowd to ignore the fan. Bret Hart would eventually resume his speech but not before being cheered loudly by the fans in attendance.
Jeff Cobb defeated Will Ospreay tonight inside Madison Square Garden during the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard. The title vs title match kicked off the main portion of the show. Cobb now holds both the NEVER Openweight and ROH TV championships.
??? Create Your Legacy!! Congrats to SPLX Athlete Jeff Cobb!!
He is the 15th person to hold the title and begins the 24th championship reign in its lineage. Ospreay had won the title at Wrestle Kingdom this year by defeating Kota Ibsuhi inside the Tokyo Dome. Ospreay’s first and only title defense came last month when he defeated Dalton Castle at ROH’s Honor Rising show in Korakuen Hall.
Cobb defeated Punishment Martinez for the ROH TV championship last September at a set of TV tapings. Since then Cobb has defended the title successfully 7 times.
G1 Supercard in Madison Square GardenG
IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: “Switchblade” Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada
ROH World Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match: Jay Lethal (c) vs Matt Taven vs Marty Scurll
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Kota Ibushi
British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship/ROH World Tag Team Championship 4-Way Match: Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) vs PCO & Brody King (c) vs the Briscoes vs EVIL & SANADA
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 3-Way: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs Dragon Lee vs Bandido
NYC Street Fight Open Challenge: Bully Ray vs Juice Robinson
WOH World Championship Match: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs Kelly Klein
Dalton Castle vs Rush
NEVER Openweight vs ROH TV Title Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs Jeff Cobb (c)
Honor Rumble: Jushin Liger, Kenny King, PJ Plack, The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas), and Cheeseburger
Kagetsu, Jenny Rose and Hazuki v. Hana Kimura, Stella Grey and Sumie Sakai
As pro-wrestling legends from past and present get ready for tonight’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Superstars Charlotte Flair and Andrade walked the red carpet together, officially declaring themselves an item. The pair referred to tonight as their “coming out party”.
WWE correspondant, Charly Caruso caught up with WWE’s newest power couple outside of Barclays Center.
Both Superstars will compete tomorrow night inside MetLife Stadium at WrestleMania 35. Andrade will participate in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal while Charlotte Flair will be featured in the main event.
Andrade and Charlotte Flair
While tonight might be the couple’s “coming out” party, they have not been shy at alluding to their relationship on social media. In particular, Flair has posted a few Tweets where she is either wearing Los InGobernables gear or otherwise looking tranquilo.
Ric Flair To Guest On Watch Along During WrestleMania 35
As Charlotte Flair prepares to main event WM35, her father will be there live. Ric Flair will be a guest on “Watch Along” which airs at the same time as WrestleMania. Watch Along debuted last month at Fastlane. The show features guests giving their real-time reactions to the PPV.
Torrie Wilson’s father, Al Wilson, has passed away. It is believed that Wilson passed away earlier this week. WWE released the following press release on the death of Al Wilson today:
“WWE is saddened to learn that Al Wilson has passed away. The father of WWE Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson, Al appeared on SmackDown in 2002 through ’03 and took part in many memorable segments that endeared him to the WWE Universe. WWE extends its condolences to Wilson’s family, friends and fans.”
Wilson posted the following to her social media accounts recently:
Torrie Wilson was a featured performer in both WCW and WWE during her time in pro-wrestling. Upon her debut in WCW in the late 1990s, she was immediately placed in major storylines. She then debuted with WWE not long after the Invasion angle of 2001 began. Although she never won a title during her pro-wrestling career, Wilson was always someone featured prominently in the promotion she was working for.
The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony takes place tonight inside the Barclays Center. It will stream live for subscribers on the WWE Network.
Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder recently commented to Fox Sports Australia that they believe tag team wrestling has become more than just a “lost art”. The RAW tag team champions also said they blame WWE for this.
“It’s not a ‘bit’ of a lost art. It’s become Atlantis,” Wilder said.
“This is going to sound terrible, but I kind of blame our company for that,” Dawson added. “Because the individual stars made so much money, so people had that goal in mind to be an individual star here. And for us we knew that to make the most money, we needed to be a tag team, we needed to be a unit. Collectively we’re individuals but mentally we’re one.”
Dawson continued to say that tag wrestling was big in the 80s, saw a resurgence in the 90s with Edge & Christian, the Hardyz etc. but then saw a sharp decline.
“In the 80s obviously tag team wrestling was huge, then it kind of died off a little bit, then you had Edge and Christian and the Hardys and the Dudleys, even Too Cool and the APA bringing back tag team wrestling, and then it just got lost.”
Dave Bautista has landed another big movie role. The man who takes on Triple H tomorrow night at WrestleMania will star in Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead”. The zombie film will be produced by Netflix.
Director Zack Snyder made his directorial debut with 2004’s “Dawn of the Dead” and was originally to direct a sequel to the film in 2012 but plans for the film were ultimately scrapped. “Army of the Dead” is listed as a semi-sequel to Dawn of the Dead.
Speaking to THR, Snyder said this of the upcoming film:
“There are no handcuffs on me at all with this one…I thought this was a good palate cleanser to really dig in with both hands and make something fun and epic and crazy and bonkers in the best possible way…I love to honor canon and the works of art, but this is the opportunity to find a purely joyful way to express myself though a genre. It will be the most kick-ass, self-aware — but not in a wink-to-the-camera way — balls-to-the-wall zombie freakshow that anyone has ever seen. No one’s ever let me completely loose [like this].”
WrestleMania 35 will be the 15th time Batista and Triple H have met in single’s competition. Batista leads the all-time series 14-0. Of those 14 victiories, however, 10 of them occured on live events. 3x Batista has beaten Triple H on PPV. These occured at WM21, Backlash 2005, and Vengeance 2005. Batista also defeated Triple H once on RAW (June 13, 2005).
Think WrestleMania would be more fun if you could hear Ric Flair’s thoughts about it live in real-time? WWE will present “Watch Along” tomorrow night live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter during WrestleMania 35.
The show will be hosted by Pat McAfee and include guests such as Ric Flair, the Big Show, Candice LeRae and the newly crowned NXT Champion, Johnny Gargano.
“Ever wanted to watch WrestleMania with Ric Flair?” A WWE press release for the show reads. “You’ll get the chance on Sunday night when WWE Watch Along streams live on WWE’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter during WrestleMania 35!”
Considering his daughter is in the main event, Ric Flair might even give his live thoughts as Charlotte Flair takes on Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey.
Watch Along debuted last month for the Fastlane PPV. Guests for that episode of Watch Along featured Alexa Bliss, The New Day, Mustafa Ali, The IIconics, Natalya, Beth Phoenix, Christian and Cathy Kelley.
“WWE Watch Along invites you to watch WrestleMania with host Pat McAfee and a revolving door of Superstars and celebrities,” WWE’s press release continues. “In addition to The Nature Boy, guests announced so far include Big Show, newly crowned NXT Champion Johnny Gargano, NXT Superstar Candice LeRae, the holder of a WrestleMania undefeated streak Maria Menounos and the stars of truTv’s Impractical Jokers”
WrestleMania 35 will stream tomorrow night on the WWE Network live from Metlife Stadium.
Impact Wrestling presented a show on Twitch and Pursuit last night from their recent TV tapings in Windsor.
8 Takeaways from Impact Wrestling 4/5
LAX Lose To Eli Drake & Eddie Edwards After Lucha Bros Distraction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bUKS6xm5T0
Eddie Edwards and Eli Drake picked up the upset victory over LAX last night in the main event. They received some help from Pentagon Jr. and Fenix, however, who provided a momentary distraction which allowed Drake and Edwards to gain the advantage.
The tag champs then continued the attack on LAX after the match was over, perhaps to soften up their opponents before Rebellion. The two teams will face each other in a Full Metal Mayhem match on the PPV. Pentagon put Santana through a table to conclude the show. Tables and all other weapons will be legal at Rebellion.
Jordynne Grace vs Taya Valkyrie II Booked For Rebellion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBfThfMc6mY
Jordynne Grace defeated Madison Rayne this week to earn another title shot against Taya Valkyrie. The first time the two met, Valkyrie utilized her champion’s advantage to duck tail and run, resulting in a count-out victory for Grace.
After Grace’s victory tonight, she was attacked by Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie. Impact World Champion, Johnny Impact, accompanied Taya as the promotion’s power couple continues to protect each other’s titles.
Brian Cage Makes The Save For Jordynne Grace
After Grace had defeated Rayne, she was attacked by Taya Valkyrie and Johnny Impact. The Impact World Champion was going to deliver a top rope move to Grace but Brian Cage made the save.
A mixed tag match was booked for next week between Brian Cage & Grace vs Johnny & Taya.
Rosemary Vows Revenge
Rosemary was shown in a cemetery this week. She cut a promo about Allie’s death from last week. During her promo, it may have been revealed that Kevin Sullivan (or a being in Kevin Sullivan form) is Rosemary’s father.
Rosemary lamented that she could have done more to protect Allie.
Petey Williams Picks Up X-Division Scramble Win
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTybKCRAZcY
Williams made his return to Impact Wrestling last night with a win in an X-Division 6-man scramble match to kick off the show. Williams pinned Jake Crist after a Canadian Destroyer from the top.
Is this the beginning of Williams moving back to the top of the division?
Tommy Dreamer Rescues Rich Swann From OVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Gvolz1iU4
Rich Swann may have defeated Sami Callihan when the X-Division title was on the line but the Draw picked up a measure of revenge on the champion this week. Callihan teamed with the newest member of OVE, Madman Fulton, and defeated Swann and Willie Mack in tag action this week.
After the match, OVE continued the beatdown of Swann but Tommy Dreamer made the save.
Later in the night, Impact would announce Rich Swann and Sami Callihan will once again face each other for the X-Division championship at Rebellion.
Rohit Raju Gets In The Win Column
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYd8iAyvTvs
Gama Singh’s Desi Hit Squad don’t have the greatest win/loss record in the tag team division, but Rohit Raju got in the win column this week. Although it took outside interference from his stablemates, Raju defeated Fallah Bah. Unfortunately for him, the action wasn’t over after the bell rang.
Scarlett Bordeaux and Fallah Bah Take Out The Desi Hit Squad
After Raju defeated Fallah Bah this week, Scarlett Bordeaux hit the ring. Her distraction allowed Fallah Bah to take the Desi Hit Squad down with a double clothesline. This allowed Bordeaux to land a running hip attack to the downed squad in the corner.
Will we see Scarlett Bordeaux and Fallah Bah team up more in Impact?
Quick Results:
6-Man Scramble: Petey Williams defeated Jake Crist, Trey, Idris Abraham, Ace Austin, and Aiden Prince
Alexa Bliss will host WrestleMania 35 tomorrow night but don’t count the former 5x women’s champion (3x RAW, 2x Smackdown) out of the title picture just yet. She spoke to TMZ Sports recently and said she wants the winner of Sunday’s main event.
Bliss said during the interview that she plans on getting back in the ring after WrestleMania, and has her eyes on the winner of the WM35 main event.
“My plan is whoever wins that WrestleMania main event, that’s who I’ve got my eyes on,” Bliss said.
Bliss predicted Charlotte Flair will be the one to come away with both belts tomorrow night.
Bliss wants fans to know she is not injured but rather has been focussing on her “Moment of Bliss” segment. She has been performing on WWE live events just not on television.
“It’s not that I’m injured or that I’m out of the ring,” Bliss said regarding being medically cleared to perform. “I feel great, I’ve been doing live events, just right now I’m really focussed on hosting because I don’t want to go out there and make a fool of myself.”
You can view the full interview in the player below:
Becky Lynch is set to perform in the main event of WrestleMania 35 tomorrow night. Her rise to the top of the industry did not come without its fair share of obstacles, however. Lynch recently spoke to Fanbyte and said she used to try not to outshine anyone she was working with.
"I used to dumb myself down because I didn’t want to outshine anyone or make anybody feel uncomfortable. And then once I stopped doing that and was like, no, you wanna get on my level, come meet me up here, I think it sparked a bit of a fire in everyone.” https://t.co/jUxpVw0946
— Scarlett Harris same name ??? (@ScarlettEHarris) April 5, 2019
Lynch says that when the 4-Horsewomen were having matches in NXT, she was hesitant to “outshine” any of her opponents.
“With the Four Horsewomen when we started to break out, everybody wanted to see better from the other, instead of being competitive, you know, everyone wanted to step up their game,” Lynch says. “Everybody wanted to have the best match, everybody wanted to have the best reactions, and that helps everybody step up because nobody wants to be left behind. I think for a long time I used to dumb myself down because I didn’t want to outshine anyone or make anybody feel uncomfortable. And then once I stopped doing that and was like, no, you wanna get on my level, come meet me up here, I think it sparked a bit of a fire in everyone.”
Don Callis was interviewed recently and commented on his attempts to bring Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho to Impact Wrestling.
According to Callis, Impact would have signed both Jericho and Omega had AEW not come on the scene.
“Obviously I have a relationship that goes back a long time with both,” Callis said. “We made an offer to Chris that was a real good offer. If you could go back in time a year and it was us and WWE and NJPW, I think we would have had both of them but AEW has come on the scene and I think it’s great for the business. It is what it is. I just saw Kenny last week and I remain really good friends with both guys.”
Don Callis, Chris Jericho, and Kenny Omega
Callis expressed interest in signing both Jericho and Omega to Impact at a press conference in Toronto to promote last year’s Slammiversary PPV.
“There’s a young Canadian kid I like, we’d love to sign him, his name is Kenny Omega,” Callis said. “Another is Chris Jericho.”
Jim Ross recently stated on a radio interview that AEW TV will begin airing in October. When it does, JR says, it’ll be on a major network which everyone will know how to find.
“[AEW] is overwhelming for me,” J.R said on WFAN Radio. “To be 67 years old and be anointed the voice of a brand that’s gonna be debuting in October on national television on a major cable network, which can’t be named now. When people hear what network we’re going on, they’re gonna be doubly excited. It’s a network we can all find.”
Ross recently spoke on his podcast about why he chose to sign with AEW.
“At some point in your life, you will understand that you are on that back nine,” said Ross on his podcast last week. “And you’ve done more things in your life, to date, than you have the time left to do more tomorrow.”
Ross would continue to say that since his wife died 2-years ago, he prefers to keep busy.
“And our tomorrows are never guaranteed, right? My point is, I just needed to be involved. I needed to be on the team, I want to play. I want to contribute.”
In addition to D-X, the Hart Foundation, Honkey Tonk Man, Harlem Heat, Torrie Wilson, and Brutus Beefcake, 9 other legends will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame tonight.
According to a report from PW Insider, the following names will be inducted into WWE’s HOF Legacy Wing tonight:
Bruiser Brody
Wahoo McDaniel
Luna Vachon
S.D Jones
Professor Toru Tanaka
Primo Carnera
Joseph Cohen
Hisashi Shinma
“Playboy” Buddy Rose
WWE Legacy Wing
The legacy wing of WWE’s Hall of Fame was created in 2016. The following names have been inducted into this wing in previous years:
Inducted in 2016:
Mildred Burke
Frank Gotch
George Hackentschmidt
Ed “Strangler” Lewis
Pat O’Connor
Lou Thesz
“Sailor” Art Thomas
Inducted in 2017:
Martin “Farmer” Burns
June Byers
Haystacks Calhoun
Judy Grable
Dr. Jerry Graham
Luther Lindsay
Toots Mondt
Rikidozan
Bearcat Wright
Inducted in 2018:
Stan Stasiak
Lord Alfred Hayes
Dara Singh
Cora Combs
El Santo
Jim Londos
Rufus R. Jones
Sputnik Monroe
Boris Malenko
Hiro Matsuda
WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony takes place tonight inside Barclays Center. In addition to the inductions being made to the Hall of Fame this weekend, WWE also honored “Rowdy” Roddy Piper with a bronze statue at Axxess.
Wrestlemania 35 takes place tomorrow but one of WWE’s greatest all-time performers does not have a match scheduled. John Cena recently spoke to journalist Chris Van Vliet about not having a role at WrestleMania 35, wanting to be Kurt Angle’s final opponent, and AEW.
John Cena Not Scheduled For WrestleMania 35
“I will be at WrestleMania every year no matter what. I just don’t have anything this year and I’ve come to grips with that,” Cena said during the interview. “To all those out there who just don’t have a match at WrestleMania and don’t feel like they are a part of WrestleMania, take it from me, you can still contribute to the weekend without physically being a performer in the ring and I actually like that spot, I do.”
There had been speculation Cena could be named as Kurt Angle’s opponent in his farewell match. Cena isn’t worried about that, however, as it is out of his hands.
“That is beyond my control. My response to that is control the controllable. Everyone always asks me ‘What do you want to do for WrestleMania?’ or ‘What’s your dream opponent?’ and I have never ever gone about our business that way.”
Cena, like many others, feels AEW will offer only healthy competition to WWE.
“I think competition is great because it forces you to step up or step aside and I think that is fantastic. We have internal competition of performers trying to be the best in our umbrella and that is wonderful because you sink or swim on your own investment.”
Cena speaks for 25-minutes in the only interview he plans to give during WrestleMania weekend. You can view the full interview in the player below:
One of the greatest junior heavyweights in NJPW history is now officially a member of the NXT roster. Ahead of tonight’s Takeover event, Triple H and William Regal officially welcomed KUSHIDA to NXT.
Triple H posted the following to Twitter earlier:
We’re making history tonight… …and the show hasn’t even started.
KUSHIDA announced in early January his plans to leave NJPW. He wrestled his final match for the promotion against Hiroshi Tanahashi on January 29th in Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.
35-year old Yujiro Kushida is one of the most decorated champions in New Japan’s junior heavyweight division. He is a 6x former IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion, tying him for 2nd most all-time with Tiger Mask. Only Jushin Liger (11) has won the title more times.
Kushida also won the promotion’s Best of the Super Junior tournament in 2015 and 2017.
As 1/2 of the Time Splitters along with Alex Shelly, KUSHIDA is also a former 2x IWGP junior heavyweight tag team champion.
KUSHIDA MMA/Pro-Wrestling Training
While he was still only in junior high school, Kushida began training pro-wrestling and MMA at the Takada Dojo. The academy is run by Nobuhiko Takada, who is perhaps best known for his fights with Rickson Gracie at PRIDE 1 & 4.
Kushida had his first MMA fight just weeks after his 20th birthday. He amassed a 6-0-2 record before he left to pursue a career in pro-wrestling. Kushida would debut in Takada’s Hustle promotion in 2006. He’d eventually sign with New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2010.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. competed on Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport card yesterday. He defeated Killer Kross in the uniquely-styled event. Afterward, Smith took to Twitter to both praise Game Changer Wrestling and also to critisize his booking by “overseas companies.”
Thanks to @GCWrestling_ for having me on Bloodsport tonight. I’m glad I got to show the fans what I think is my true style ? and I’m not going to bite my tongue on this one, a much better showing than the absolute crap I’ve been put in by overseas companies lately ???????? pic.twitter.com/XNFxT2gv59
— Harry Smith, “Davey Boy Smith JR” (@DBSmithjr) April 4, 2019
The Bloodsport event from yesterday featured several former MMA stars such as Phil Baroni, Frank Mir, and Dan Severn. It also featured several pro-wrestlers presenting a more realistic style such as Killer Kross and Jonathan Gresham. Josh Barnett and Minoru Suzuki wrestled in the main event.
Bloodsport is available on-demand on the FITE app as part of Game Changer Wrestling’s collective.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. will compete in MLW’s Battle Riot II tonight inside Melrose Ballroom.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. currently performs for New Japan Pro Wrestling as 1/2 of the Killer Elite Squad along with Lance Archer. The team are 3x former IWGP Heavyweight tag team champions, 2x former GHC heavyweight tag team champions (Pro Wrestling NOAH) and have twice won the NWA tag team championships as well.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. also is currently 1/2 of the MLW tag team champions along with Teddy Hart too. The Hart Foundation faction in MLW has quickly become fan-favorites and Teddy Hart is also the promotion’s middleweight champion.
FS1 will begin airing a weekly in-studio show dedicated to WWE on Tuesday nights beginning this fall. Triple H appeared on “First Things First” today to break the news.
“To take people deeper into what goes on behind the scenes to being a WWE superstar… I can’t wait for this. If you’re a WWE fan, across the board, this is the show that will be a can’t miss.”
.@TripleH announces the launch of an all new weekly WWE studio show on FS1 this fall:
“To take people deeper into what goes on behind the scenes to being a WWE superstar… I can’t wait for this. If you're a WWE fan, across the board, this is the show that will be a can't miss." pic.twitter.com/81wBHkOG09
The show is expected to begin airing on Tuesday nights in the fall. Smackdown is expected to move to Friday nights when it moves to Fox in October. The first Smackdown on Fox is expected to be on October 4th, 2019.
“This is something I’ve wanted to happen for a long time,” Triple H said. “I think this is the perfect opportunity for it. A studio show, for us, it kind of, because of the sports entertainment aspect of it, it’s an endless show where you’re talking about the athletic component of it, it’s also an entertainment, where you’re talking about where things are going, the storylines and the characters all of it.”
Triple H would continue to say that he expects this show to be “can’t miss” programming for WWE fans.
“This is going to be one of those shows, that if you’re a WWE fan, across the board, this is the show that will be ‘can’t miss‘ because it’s going to talk about everything you love, in a way you can’t get anywhere else.”
Kofi Kingston has a chance to win the WWE Championship on Sunday. He plans on representing all people who have struggled and that is what the phrase “People Like Us” is meant to convey.
Jim Ross recently commented on his podcast he feels the “People Like Us” phrase used by New Day members in the build-up to this match too closely alludes to the topic of race and racial injustice.
Race should never have been brought into the @TrueKofi storyline.
It’s a classic, underdog story.
Race, Religion & Politics have no place on rasslin tv, IMO.
Kingston appeared on Busted Open radio and clarified that “People Like Us” is not meant to mean someone of a specific race, gender, or nationality, however, but rather just people who have struggled.
Kofi Kingston On Representing People Who Have Struggled
“We left it open-ended for a reason,” Kingston said. “It means a lot of direct things. For example, myself, I wear pigtails in the ring, I wear pink, I skip, I clap, I twerk, you know what I mean? You don’t see someone like that in the main event.”
Race does play a role in the Kofi Kingston WrestleMania storyline, however.
“There’s obviously the element of race concerned in it, right? You haven’t seen many African-American champions hold major titles. So, that is definitely a big piece of it.”
In particular, Kofi is cognizant of being a role model to younger fans.
“So, I think what’s awesome about this whole storyline is that so many people can identify with it. Whether it be people who are like black children, who are looking at the screen, and they see black men doing excellent things and excelling and doing excellent things. Now, they believe they can do excellent things.”
Kofi also spoke about how his WrestleMania storyline transcends race.
“But also, from the perspective that kind of transcends race, is the fact that this is a legitimate 11-year journey,” Kofi continued. “People like us, like people who work as hard as they possibly can, who are told “no”. Even before I became a WWE Superstar, I was told I was never going to make it because I wasn’t big enough.”
“People who are always climbing obstacles – climbing mountains, only to find more mountains at the top of those mountains and having to climb again. You know, ‘people like us’ it involves – it’s everybody who has struggled, you know what I’m saying?”
WrestleMania 35 takes place this Sunday from MetLife Stadium and will broadcast live on the WWE Network. You can listen to Kofi’s comments below:
Major League Wrestling will present the 2nd ever Battle Riot event tonight inside New York’s Melrose Ballroom. In what has already become a signature event for the promotion, 40 wrestlers will compete in a no-rules, weapons-legal, battle royal where eliminations occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope.
The 2019 Battle Riot will air live tonight on beIN SPORTS from 8PM – 10PM. MLW’s normal Saturday evening timeslot will air a replay tomorrow. Episodes of Fusion are normally added to the promotion’s YouTube channel on Sunday’s at 12 PM. If you are in the area, limited tickets were recently made available.
2019 Battle Riot Lineup:
Battle Riot II Participants:
Teddy Hart
Pentagón Jr.
Low Ki
Davey Boy Smith Jr.
MJF
Rey Feníx
Brian Pillman Jr.
Sami Callihan
Daga
Dan “The Beast” Severn
LA Park
Hijo de LA Park
Ricky Martinez
Rey Horus
Mance Warner
Alex Hammerstone
Gringo Loco
Rich Swann
Minoru Tanaka
Richard Holliday
Jimmy Havoc
Air Wolf
wXw Shotgun Champion Emil Sitoci
“Avalanche” Robert Dreissker
Ken Kerbis
Ariel Dominguez
Jordan Oliver
Ace Austin
Lance Anoa’i
Barrington Hughes
Myron Reed
Kotto Brazil
Jimmy Yuta
The Dirty Blondes
5 entrants have yet to be confirmed.
The winner will receive a shot at the MLW World Championship at a date of their choosing. The promotion has also advertised there will be surprises, WTF entrants, and legends.
MLW Storylines
MLW also held a show last night in Melrose Ballroom. The matches from that event will air on Fusion in the coming weeks.
Last year’s Battle Riot winner, Tom Lawlor, would wait until SuperFight earlier this year to cash in his title shot. When he did, however, he defeated Low-Ki inside the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia to take the title. He later defended it inside a steel cage against the former champion in Chicago. Last night, he wrestled Jimmy Havoc in a NYC Street Fight. That match will air on Fusion in the coming weeks.
MLW Factions
MLW features several factions which are worth noting.
The Hart Foundation faction of Davey Boy Smith Jr, Teddy Hart, and Brian Pillman Jr. began their tenure in the promotion as heels but have quickly won over the support of the MLW faithful. Promociones Dorado and the CONTRA Unit are other factions fans might want to keep their eyes on.
Salina De La Renta’s Promociones Dorado formerly had the MLW World Championship in their midst but with that gone, the faction is turning to the likes of Ricky Martinez, LA Park and Hijo De LA Park to do Salina’s bidding. She’s targetted Mance Warner as a rival but he might prove to be tougher than she expects.
Simon Gotch, Jacob Fatu, and Josef Samael look to have started guerrilla warfare in MLW. Their CONTRA faction caused near-riot conditions last month in Chicago. Battle Riot seems to be a fitting match for them to have success in.
Rob Van Dam is back in Impact Wrestling. He’ll main event tonight’s “United We Stand” PPV along with his longtime partner Sabu against the Lucha Bros. He was the guest on today’s Impact Wrestling Press Pass. RVD spoke about facing the Lucha Bros, his contract with Impact, and changing attitudes towards cannabis.
His documentary “Headstrong” is also currently available at FITE, on Itunes, and other outlets.
“Lots of excitement coming into this. I’m getting a lot of feedback online and in-person,” RVD said about his Impact return. “People are excited.”
“I see that a lot of the wrestlers are doing RVD moves,” Van Dam said when asked about the current Impact roster. “Which doesn’t surprise me. That’s what always happens when someone’s gone off of the TV for a minute.”
He then expressed he was surprised it took the wrestling industry so long to start taking his moves.
“I think I might start by leveling some of those guys out and letting them know they got another several years before they need to start comparing themselves to RVD.”
RVD On Cannabis In Pro-Wrestling
I asked Rob Van Dam his feelings on the changing attitudes towards cannabis in the pro-wrestling industry.
“I think that’s a reflection of the attitude towards cannabis changing all across the world,” he said.
He would continue to say that he doesn’t feel the need to advocate on behalf of cannabis as much anymore, as there is already so much momentum heading in that direction.
“Over the last several years, I find there’s a lot more wrestlers and athletes in general, whether they have a vape pen or using cannabis to calm their anxieties,” he continued. “Whatever it is, it’s not so stand-out and ‘one-of-a-kind-ish’ to be pulled in that direction now.”
“I’ve always said it’s a safer alternative than pills and alcohol and all that,” he continued. “Now that it’s a lot more accessible, I think people’s health will benefit from that, wrestlers and everyone.”
RVD On Impact Schedule, Who He Wants To Face, and more
You can listen to the full interview in the player below:
WWE and A&E have announced a new partnership today. The television station and WWE Studios will collaborate on 5 separate 2-hour biographical documentaries to air on A&E.
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels will be the subject of the biographies.
“We are thrilled for the tremendous opportunity to partner with WWE Studios to produce these special films that honor some of the most impactful personalities who have left a lasting imprint on pop culture,” stated the Executive VP and head of programming for the A&E Network Elaine Frontain Bryant.
WWE Studios issued a statement as well.
“This project further solidifies WWE Studios’ commitment to deliver new programming across genres and platforms,” said senior VP and head of WWE Studios Susan Levison.
A&E’s biography series has been running since the early 1960s and has been a flagship show for the station. They have previously produced documentaries on the Rock and Andre the Giant as well.
Kevin Dunn, Chris Kaiser, and Richard Lowell will serve as Executive Producers on the project.
Vice is also producing a series of wrestling-related documentaries. “The Dark Side of the Ring” 6-part series will begin airing later this month.