WrestleMania week is officially underway. The first major show of the weekend is tonight’s MLW: Rise of the Renegades event from Queens, New York.
MLW will be inside NYC Melrose Ballroom tonight and tomorrow for back-to-back events. Thursday night’s Battle Riot II special will air live on beIN SPORTS, while the matches taped tonight will air in the weeks ahead.
Hey twitterverse, I haven't been banned, just no time. The world of @MLW never sleeps and neither does it's TV crew–10 hours+ preproduction today and 2 ballbuster shows in NYC at the @MelroseBallroom Thursday & Friday! Come see us!
MLW World Championship: Tom Lawlor (c) vs Jimmy Havoc – NYC Street Fight Rules
the Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart, Brian Pillman Jr, and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) vs the Dynasty (Alex Hammerstone, MJF, & Richard Holiday) – 6-Man Tables Match
LA Park vs Pentagon Jr.
MJF vs Brian Pillman Jr.
Sami Callihan vs Mance Warner
Minoru Tanaka vs Daga
Ace Romero vs Josef Samael
Rey Fenix vs Air Wilf
Barrington Hughes vs Jacob Fatu
Gringo Loco vs Hijo De LA Park
Rey Horus vs Ace Austin
Also signed to appear tonight: Low-Ki, Salina de la Renta, CONTRA Unit, Myron Reed, Kotta Brazil, Jordan Oliver, & Ariel Dominguez.
A few major storylines are currently ongoing in MLW. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor won the championship from Low-Ki in February and defended the title against the former champion in March in a steel cage. Now, Lawlor will face the only person to beat him in MLW, Jimmy Havoc, who defeated him last July.
The Hart Foundation and MJF’s Dynasty are also feuding in MLW currently. After losing a middleweight championship match against Teddy Hart, MJR enlisted the help of Alex Hammerstone and Richard Holiday in his feud against the Harts. The Hart Foundation may hold all the gold but the Dynasty has a chance to get the upper-hand in their rivalry if they can put their opponents through tables tonight at Rise of the Renegades.
The CONTRA Unit will also be inside Melrose Ballroom tonight. The new faction consisting of Simon Grimm, Jacob Fatu, and Josef Samael caused a near riot in Chicago. They seem poised to do even worse tonight in New York.
The promotion will then be back tomorrow night for Battle Riott II for a live 2-hour special which will air on BeIN Sports. Saturday’s show on the station will then be a replay.
Eli Drake is not a fan of inter-gender wrestling. He posted several comments to his social media accounts recently indicating as such. Members of Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts division have responded.
Drake issued this response to an Impact Wrestling tweet yesterday:
In February, a planned inter-gender match between Drake and Tessa Blanchard was canceled. Drake would later say he has much respect for Blanchard but is not interesting in competing in a one-on-one inter-gender match.
As of this writing, Drake is not scheduled for Impact’s United We Stand PPV tomorrow night. He had been scheduled to take on Tessa Blanchard but Joey Ryan ended up replacing Eli in the match. The updated lineup for the show is below:
Lucha Bros vs RVD & Sabu
Ultimate X: Jake Crist vs Johnny Impact vs Dante Fox vs Pat Buck vs Kotto Brazil vs Jack Evans
Monster’s Ball: Sami Callihan vs Jimmy Havoc
Brian Cage, Moose, Eddie Edwards (Team Impact) vs Drago, Daga, & Aerostar
Joey Ryan vs Tessa Blanchard
Knockouts Championship: Taya Valkyrie (c) vs Jordynne Grace vs Katie Forbes vs Rosemary
Dave Bautista was not happy when Disney announced the removal of director James Gunn from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise last year. He recently spoke to Variety about his feelings now that the director has been reinstated to work on the franchise.
“I just spoke my mind and was honest about the way I felt about it. I thought he was given a raw deal, I thought it was a bad call, bad decision,” Bautista said.
Disney fired the director last year after old Tweets featuring insensitive remarks from Gunn surfaced. Not long after Gunn was removed from the film, Bautista had the following to say:
“I will have more to say but for right now all I will say is this.. @JamesGunn is one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met. He’s gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He’s made mistakes. We all have. I’m NOT ok with what’s happening to him.”
Bautista and others involved in the film alluded to not wanting to work on a 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film if Gunn was not involved. Disney then announced last month they had decided to hire Gunn back.
Although he is contractually committed to working on a 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film, Bautista feels Disney would have let him out of his contract if he had pushed the issue.
“I am contractually obligated [to do the third movie], but I think that Marvel and Disney –– if I had really stood my ground and said, ‘I don’t want to do this without James’ –– I think that they are decent enough that they would’ve let me out of my contract,” he said.
Even if he wasn’t brought back as director, Bautista wanted to ensure Gunn’s script was used for the 3rd movie.
“I wanted to bring it home. These guys are like family to me and I wanted to be involved in the third one,” Bautista said. “I wanted to use James’ script because it’s a beautiful script. Moving forward without James was a real personal issue with me.”
Cain Velasquez was announced as participating in AAA’s TripleMania event taking place this summer. The promotion introduced the former UFC Heavyweight champion at a recent press conference. TripleMania XXVII takes place August 3rd, 2019 from Mexico City, Mexico.
According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer, Velasquez won’t be wrestling a single’s match on the card and is likely being brought in to increase casual fan interest for TV Azteca.
“It looks like it’ll be a tag or a trios match that he’s involved in,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
“Right now it’s a one-show deal. He is expecting to fight (MMA) on a 9/21 show in Mexico City, but with his last loss and injury, that may change. If it does he may do a second date this year,” Meltzer continued.
Cain Velasquez AAA
Cain lost his last fight to Francis Ngannou in February. He has fought sparingly due to injuries since dropping the UFC heavyweight championship to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188. His previous fight before Ngannou was a victory over Travis Browne in the summer of 2016.
Velasquez previously expressed interest in joining WWE as well. Earlier this year, he listed his chances of going to the promotion at approximately 70%.
Seth Rollins hit Brock Lesnar with a low blow last night to close their segment on RAW. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, however, what happened last night was as a result of a last-minute booking change. Originally, Brock Lesnar was supposed to be the one standing tall at the end of the segment.
“That segment was originally written to go the other way,” Dave Meltzer said of the Lesnar/Rollins segment. “It was right before the show started they switched it. It was a Vince call and it was the right call.”
Highlights from the segment can be seen in the player below:
Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins – WrestleMania 35
Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar have wrestled in single’s action just once on WWE programming. They wrestled to a no-contest draw at Battleground in 2015. Rollins was defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the match.
Lesnar and Rollins have met twice in multi-person matches. At the 2015 Royal Rumble, Lesnar won a triple threat match against John Cena and Rollins to defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins then beat Lesnar and Roman Reigns for the title at 2 months later at WrestleMania 35.
The match will be just the 2nd title defense for Lesnar after having won the title at Crown Jewel last November. The champion defeated Finn Balor at Royal Rumble 2019.
Things escalated quickly last night between the 3 competitors set to main event WrestleMania Sunday.
In what is being hailed as one of the best WWE segments in ages, police officers were hit, car windows were smashed, and all 3 Superstars were put in handcuffs and arrested.
Rousey is the first of the 3 to comment on what happened last night. The RAW Women’s Champion wasted little time publishing her mug shot.
As of this writing, neither Becky nor Charlotte have posted on social media following their arrests during RAW.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvvbn6uHbcd
Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair Melee
Last night’s segment featuring Rousey, Lynch, and Flair is being praised by several wrestling personalities. The 3 teamed together against the Riott Squad and were not allowed to betray their partners until the match was over or else lose their spot in Sunday’s main event.
After she made Liv Morgan tap to an armbar, Rousey promptly punched Charlotte Flair in the face as soon as the bell rang to end the match. Security and police were called in to separate them but that proved to be a difficult task.
Big E made a request of the media when covering these events:
I hope the news outlets post their mugshots & not pics of them as smiling, upstanding members of society. https://t.co/UIViY4xHcZ
Dean Ambrose took a bow before WWE Universe after Monday’s RAW from Washington D.C. went off the air.
After the credits Rolled, Ambrose came out and attacked Baron Corbin. As he made his way back to the ramp, Ambrose saluted the crowed in what might be his final WWE appearance for a very long time.
Dean Ambrose is expected to leave WWE later this month after 8 years with the company.
Below, check out video of what happened with Dean Ambrose after Monday’s RAW went off the air:
Ambrose has been teaming with Seth Rollins against Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin on WWE house shows as of late.
Dean Ambrose Leaving WWE
WWE released the following statement to media earlier this year:
“Dean Ambrose (Jonathan Good) will not be renewing his contract with WWE when it expires in April. We are grateful and appreciative of all that Dean has given to WWE and our fans. We wish him well and hope that one day Dean will return to WWE.”
Ambrose signed with WWE nearly 8 years ago on April 11th, 2011.
Before WWE, Ambrose wrestled for 7 years as Jon Moxley on the independent scene. Most notably, Moxley is a 2x former Combat Zone Wrestling World Champion. From Cincinnati, Ohio, Ambrose is also a former ally of OVE’s Sami Callihan. The two held tag team gold together for Westside Xtreme Wrestling.
Michael Elgin’s NJPW contract was not renewed and he is officially now a free agent. NJPW announced today that Elgin and young lion Teruaki Kanemitsu finished up with the promotion.
“After careful consideration and dialogue, Elgin and NJPW have mutually decided to part ways after his contract expired on March 31, 2019,” an NJPW press release reads. “We wish Michael Elgin nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”
Elgin debuted for the promotion in the 2015 G1 Climax tournament. He leaves NJPW as a former NEVER Openweight and IWGP Intercontinental champion.
Michael Elgin In NJPW
I'll be heavily focusing on these ventures again. If you're a wrestler looking for an edge via your in ring work, or your body get started today! pic.twitter.com/ubtiL41lfL
— “Ronin” Michael Elgin (@AaronFrobel86) April 1, 2019
Elgin competed in 4 G1 tournaments. He finished with 8pts in 2015, 10pts in 2016, 8pts in 2017, and 6pts in 2018. In the New Japan Cup tournament, Elgin made it all the way to the semi-finals in 2016. Elgin then went out in the 1st round in 2017, 2nd round in 2018, and 1st round again in 2019, however.
He defeated Kenny Omega in a ladder match to win the IWGP Intercontinental championship match at Dominion in 2016. Elgin would then defend the title in ROH against Dominik Dijak before dropping it to Tetsuya Naito at Destruction in Kobe that September.
In 2018, Elgin had a brief reign as NEVER Openweight champion. He defeated Hirooki Goto and Taichi in a triple threat match at Dominion in Osaka and then dropped it to Goto in a single’s match at Kizuna Road.
John Oliver bashed Vince McMahon and WWE this weekend on HBO’s Last Week Tonight. Several wrestling personalities have chimed in on the segment as well as the issues presented in it.
Wrestling Personalities React To John Oliver WWE Segment
CM Punk has had a fairly contemptuous relationship with WWE in the past. He encouraged his followers to re-tweet the segment.
Joey Janela invited John Oliver to come see one of his “Joey Janela’s Spring Break” shows.
If John Oliver wants a full wrestling experience he should come to Spring Break and watch a bunch of wrestlers already in debt with no health insurance, kill themselves for a hot dog and a handshake & some twitter fame….
— “The Bad Boy” Joey Janela (@JANELABABY) April 1, 2019
Jim Cornette is never shy about offering his opinion on anything. He offered up that he felt the segment was as honest as any outside media piece he’s seen on pro-wresting in 40 years.
Well, after a complete viewing, this is the absolute most truthful outside media piece I've seen on wrestling in over 40 years:https://t.co/CKsAnqbGUS
Colt Cabana noted a story about ESPN contacting him years ago and him telling them the real story was on the independent contractor status of WWE wrestlers.
ESPN contacted me on doing a story about concussions for e60 years ago. I told them that wasn’t the story. The story was on “independent contractors”. Congrats to @iamjohnoliver & #lastweektonite for their great piece & I hope it gets people taking.
WWE has officially announced that Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Beefcake performed for WWE from 1984 to 1994 and with WCW from 94 to 1999.
“This is the culmination of a lifetime’s worth of work,” said Beefcake to SI.com. “I’m grateful to the WWE, and I cannot wait for the tremendous honor.”
Beefcake is a former WWE tag team champion along with partner Greg “the Hammer” Valentine. The pair were known as the Dream Team.
“I never went to a wrestling school,” Beefcake continued. “So I learned the basics from the veterans, and that is how I learned my craft. It’s a tough way to learn, but there were people like Ivan Koloff and Mr. Wrestling who took a real interest in trying to help me.”
Beyond EXCITED to be inducted into the WWE HOF!!! New York here I come!!! #wrestlemania#HOF
When Beefcake and Valentine split up at WrestleMania III, he adopted “the Barber” gimmick. He would often cut, style, or just shave an opponent’s hair after matches. As Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake, he became one of the most popular babyfaces in the company for a time.
Beefcake would follow his longtime friend Hulk Hogan to WCW in 1994. They also got their start in the wrestling business together.
“Terry and I were just a couple kids from Tampa living our dream,” said Beefcake. “We had sat on the beach for endless days talking about wrestling, and then there we were, living it, working territories in Florida and Alabama with guys like Ox Baker, Bob Armstrong, and Professor Toru Tanaka. They took us under their wing and helped make us into what we became.”
Hogan and Beefcake had a following out a few years back but were able to patch things up recently.
We lost Dusty just 4 days later. At the time, the 4 Horsewomen of NXT were starting to come into their own. Sasha Banks was NXT Women’s champion and had just defeated Lynch in a title match at Takeover: Unstoppable the month prior to Dusty’s passing.
Earlier today, Becky Lynch responded to the Tweet, noting that at WrestleMania she has the opportunity to prove just how right about her Dusty was.
While Lynch had Dusty Rhodes pulling for her while in WWE developmental, it appears she had her fair share of detractors as well. Not long after learning her match would headline WrestleMania this year, Lynch noted that some were pushing for her to be released when she was still in developmental.
“I got a couple of text messages this week from people here at work and NXT or worked in the office side of things. (They said) I don’t know if you knew this, but there are some people that wanted to fire you when you were in NXT. Congratulations on the main event.”
Tenille Dashwood is a free agent. After competing for Ring of Honor’s Women of Honor division for the last year, Dashwood announced her free agency earlier today on social media.
There will likely be no shortage of suitors for Dashwood, including her previous longtime employer, WWE, where she wrestled as Emma. She was let go from the company in October of 2017.
Most recently, Dashwood had been a member of the Lifeblood stable in ROH along with the likes of Juice Robinson, Bandido, and Tracy Williams.
She underwent shoulder surgery last fall and hasn’t wrestled since.
A report last month from Pro Wrestling Sheet indicated that Dashwood and ROH were in talks on a new contract. Evidently, the two sides were unable to make a deal, however.
Dashwood’s WWE release in 2017 came as somewhat of a surprise. Speculated reasons as to why she was released could involve frequent injuries and the failure of the “Emmalina” character but those are only guesses.
Dashwood signed with Ring of Honor in early 2018. Along with Kelly Klein, Sumie Sakai, and Madison Rayne, Dashwood helped establish the WOH division as a regular part of ROH shows during her time with the company. Her last match was in September at Death Before Dishonor when she dropped a WOH title match to Sumie Sakai.
When Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey main event WrestleMania 35 next weekend, Michelle McCool hopes they get paid as much as men who have main event’ed the same show. TMZ caught up with the former Divas and WWE women’s champion recently and she talked about WrestleMania.
“I do think the women should get paid, a main event is a main event,” McCool said when asked if the women should get paid as much as the men.
McCool didn’t hesitate with her reply. “I hope they do and think they should.”
Due to the secretive nature of WWE’s bonus system, it will be difficult to know if the women are compensated in a similar manner to main event wrestlers of WrestleManias past.
McCool also spoke about how much she’s enjoyed the WrestleMania storyline. The TMZ interview can be seen in the player below:
Equal Pay In Pro Wrestling
With women’s wrestling growing in popularity inside and outside WWE, the topic of equal pay has come up with regularity as of late. Chief “Brandi” Officer for AEW, Brandi Rhodes, has said that wrestlers across genders in the promotion will be paid equally in regards to their position in the company.
“Equal pay means equal opportunity regardless of sex. It does not mean that everyone will be paid the exact same salary regardless of their position. It means the gender pay gap does not apply. An entry level woman won’t make less than an entry level man because of her gender.”
Impact Wrestling presented a special branded show “Against All Odds” last night on Pursuit and Twitch.
Here are 8 Takeaways from Impact Wrestling 3/29:
Allie Killed Off In The Undead Realm
Rosemary traveled to the undead realm last night in an attempt to regain Allie’s soul. It was then revealed that Kevin Sullivan (or a being in Kevin Sullivan form) was the leader of the realm. During Sullivan’s speech to Rosemary, Su Yung struck and stabbed Allie in the neck.
As Allie lay dying, she became “whole again” and reverted back to the Allie of old.
Gail Kim To Face Tessa Blanchard At Rebellion
Gail Kim did resign from her position in Impact Wrestling as Tessa Blanchard wanted her too. What Blanchard likely did not want, however, is for Gail to announce she was coming out of retirement in order to come after her.
With Rebellion coming up next month from Gail Kim’s hometown, could we see the Hall of Famer face arguably the hottest women’s wrestler in the industry today? A match between the two was made official for the PPV later in the evening.
Taya Valkyrie Saved Her Title Against Jordynne Grace
Taya Valkyrie used her champion’s advantage at Against All Odds against Jordynne Grace. The champion missed a moonsault and Grace looked to capitalize but the champion chose to duck tail and run instead, with help from Impact World champion, Johnny Impact.
Grace might feel as though she is owed another shot at the Knockouts championship.
Johnny Impact Helped Killer Kross Defeat Brian Cage
There was some controversy at the end, but Killer Kross pinned Brian Cage this week. It looked as though Brian Cage kicked out after a Saito suplex at 2.5 but the ref called for the bell. After the match, Johnny Impact continued to deliver the beatdown to his challenger at Rebellion.
Taya brought out a chair which Johnny used to target Cage’s arm. It seems Impact and Taya will do anything to save each other’s titles. Johnny wants to make sure that Cage goes into Rebllion injured.
Scarlett Bordeaux Defeated Glenn Gilbertti
Scarlett Boardeaux defeated Glenn Gilbertti this week on Impact in inter-gender action. The Smoke Show is now showing she can get things done in the ring as well but will her success against the former Disco Inferno carry over when she enters the Knockouts division?
LAX Vs Lucha Bros – Full Metal Mayhem At Rebellion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJwIiK-ie1c
Konnan warned each team against entering into this rivalry. Now, one team, the Lucha Bros, have turned their back on Konnan completely. This week, it was having Konnan in their corner which gave LAX the advantage. Konnan’s taunting of his former allies, allowed LAX to recover and put both Pentagon and Fenix through tables.
This feud has been contested 2-on-2 up until now. With Konnan now in the corner of LAX and pulling for their victory over Pentagon and Fenix, that could be all Santana and Ortiz need to regain their titles.
A match between the two teams was made later in the evening, under Full Metal Mayhem rules to take place at Rebellion.
Sami Callihan Introduces The Newest Member of OVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6RXsGkzt34
Last week, Madman Fulton was introduced as the newest member of OVE. Fulton attacked Rich Swann following Swann’s successful X-Division title match against Callihan. This week, we saw backstage segments of OVE along with their newest and largest member.
With this new member of OVE in his midst, Callihan might be at his most dangerous.
United We Stand – April 4th
United We Stand takes place on Thursday. On the Twitch version last night, Rob Van Dam vs AJ Styles was shown as the GWN Moment of the week. RVD’s return to the promotion is now just days away. Here is the lineup for Thursday’s PPV on FITE:
Extreme Dream Tag Match: The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) vs Rob Van Dam & Sabu
Knockouts Championship: Taya Valkyrie (c) vs. Rosemary vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Katie Forbes
X-Division Championship: Rich Swann (c) vs Yamato (Dragon Gate)
Ultimate X: Jake Crist vs Dante Fox vs Pat Buck vs Kotto Brazil vs Jack Evans vs Johnny Impact
Monster’s Ball: Sami Callihan vs Jimmy Havoc
Impact vs Lucha Underground Brian Cage, Moose, Eddie Edwards, & TBD (Impact) vs Drago, Aerostar, Daga, & King Cuerno (Lucha Underground)
Quick Results:
Scarlett Bordeaux defeated Glenn Gilbertti
Knockouts Championship: Jordynne Grace defeated Taya Valkyrie via DQ
Impact Wrestling’s Allie is no more. Her character was killed last night in the undead realm (not sure where she’ll end up now). During an intense battle which involved demons, zombies, and Kevin Sullivan being revealed as the leader of the realm, Allie was stabbed in the neck by former Knockouts champion, Su Yung.
Allie is survived by her longtime ally, Rosemary. Real name Laura Dennis, Allie has signed with All Elite Wrestling and was featured on a recent episode of Road to Double or Nothing. She finished up with Impact Wrestling earlier this year.
Rosemary traveled to the undead realm last night on Impact in an attempt to regain Allie’s soul. Just when it appeared she had fought off all the evil demons, however, Kevin Sullivan was revealed as the leader of this alternative universe.
“You of all people, know how this works,” Sullivan said. “This is my realm, you are nothing but a serpent. Remember that. All of this that you’ve done is for nil. You don’t own this garden, I do.”
While Sullivan and Rosemary were speaking, Su Yung struck and stabbed Allie. As she lay dying, “Dark Allie” turned back into regular Allie and told Rosemary she was happy to be “whole again.”
Former Smackdown women’s champion Asuka has picked up a measure of revenge on Charlotte Flair. Asuka attacked Flair last night at a WWE house show in Pikesville, Maryland.
Flair had just defeated Becky Lynch in a match for the Smackdown women’s championship when Asuka hit the ring area. Flair had used the ropes for leverage and looked to be headed to the back when Asuka attacked and threw her back in the ring to take a stunner from the Man.
Charlotte Flair has defeated Becky Lynch to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship. Charlotte held the ropes. Some post-match shenanigans, Asuka attacks Charlotte and tosses her back in the ring and Becky nails a STUNNER! #WWEPikeville
Flair and Asuka have met 3x in single’s action on WWE programming (i.e not including house shows). The first match between the two was at WrestleMania 34 when Flair ended Asuka’s unbeaten streak. Asuka would then defeat Flair on a subsequent episode of Smackdown via disqualification.
The 3rd time they met in single’s action was last Tuesday on Smackdown when Flair defeated Asuka to regain the Smackdown women’s championship.
#WWEPikesville Results
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) defeated Tony Nese
Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The Usos (c) defeated the Bar vs Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (Triple Threat)
United States Championship: Samoa Joe (c) defeated AJ Styles via DQ
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Becky Lynch
Intercontinental Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) vs Finn Balor – Double Count-Out
Becky Lynch will face Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey in the main event of WrestleMania 35. She’s come along way from almost getting cut from WWE developmental only a few years back.
Lynch spoke to CBS News recently about how close she came to getting cut from WWE. She mentioned that she got texts from people in the company recently letting her know she was almost fired several years back.
“I got a couple of text messages this week from people here at work and NXT or worked in the office side of things. (They said) I don’t know if you knew this, but there are some people that wanted to fire you when you were in NXT. Congratulations on the main event.”
Lynch would continue to say that she was already aware she had been close to getting cut.
Lynch would also say she sometimes suffered from a lack of confidence but the fan support she received always gave her the boost she needed.
“If it wasn’t for those fans making their voices heard…” Lynch said. “It comes back to the beginning. No matter what, they’ve always been there. They’ve always supported me. Now it’s on such a bigger level, but I think what happened is that Money In The Bank, every time I stepped on that ladder they went crazy. It just made people pay attention.”
Lynch would continue to say that she started strategizing how to get into the WrestleMania main event as soon as her character started to get hot.
“Just as soon as I got hot, I was just strategically planning this. How could I make the story so compelling? How could I get people so invested that they have to see this as the main event because they’re just so invested? Even though it feels like this build has been happening for about 12 years now, I think the blowoff at WrestleMania is perfect.”
32 years ago today Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat and “Macho Man” Randy Savage stole the show at WrestleMania III. The Intercontinental championship clash between the two has long been heralded as one of, if not the greatest match in WrestleMania history.
Steamboat sent the following out on Twitter today in recognition of the anniversary.
Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage – WrestleMania III
Steamboat also spoke to the WINCLY podcast in 2018 about the match.
“Randy and I never really got to work (before WMIII),” Steamboat said. “The first time was when we hooked up at WrestleMania, so we didn’t have a chance to have a bunch of matches under our belt to get ready for the big show and try some stuff.”
In storyline, Macho Man had damaged Steamboat’s throat by hitting him with the ring bell from the top rope onto the guardrail below. Several vignettes were shown featuring Steamboat learning to speak again on WWE programming.
“Everything that was put together for the match was strictly based on our gut feeling on the story we were trying to tell. We tried to make it a championship match and that’s the bottom line.”
One of the stories surrounding this match was that Savage wanted it entirely planned out in advance. Steamboat would later say this was a far cry from how he was used to doing things at that point.
“We took notes on a legal pad, a yellow legal pad, and, God, I can’t remember how many steps we had, but once we got the match down, I’ll give you an example, at night, I would get with Randy and say, ‘okay, number 32 is this, this, and this. Tell me the rest of the match.’ And he would go, ‘number 33 is this, this, and this. 34 is…’ and we would quiz each other back and forth, back and forth, just so we would have it.”
Linda McMahon’s time spent in the Presidential Administration appears to be over. Multiple sources close to the White House are reporting that McMahon plans to step down from her current position and rejoin the private sector.
One source, however, stated that McMahon still plans to play a role with Donald Trump’s quest for re-election in 2020. According to this source, McMahon will serve in a fundraising role for the President as he seeks re-election next year.
The move is being seen as a surprise to some who expected her to replace Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who is also expected to resign at some point.
McMahon was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009 by Governor Jodi Rell. She ran for Senator in 2010 and 2012. McMahon is considered a major Republican fundraiser and donor. She donated $6 million to “Rebuilding American Now” in 2016. Following the 2016 Presidential Election, McMahon was given a role in the Trump Administration, being named the head of Small Business and Administration.
Shortly after being named to the Trump Administration, McMahon stated she would not be involved with WWE.
“I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., unless I first obtain a written waiver,” she wrote.
Raise your hand if you want to see WWE expand SmackDown Live to three hours every week. Anybody?
If you’ve ever considered purchasing WWE stock, one highly-reputed Wall Street analyst says now is the time to buy. One reason they listed for having this belief that WWE has big money ready to grab if they expand SmackDown Live.
Guggenheim analyst Curry Baker met with WWE recently and believes the company’s stock is going to continue rising. Baker listed multiple reasons the company will see continued growth in the near future. Increased content and a potential new pricing system for the WWE Network likely represent the biggest opportunities for the company.
“Additionally, we see incremental content deals (‘third hour’ of SmackDown), sponsorship growth, and the WWE Network re-launch as significant opportunities not currently reflected in our estimates,” Curry wrote.
Curry estimated the value of a 3rd hour of Smackdown at $75 million.
In terms of a change to the WWE Network, a new tiered-pricing system has been talked about for some time. WWE sent out a survey to fans in order to get feedback last fall.
Curry also believes WWE is under-performing in terms of sponsorship deals. The analyst believes the company could add an additional $50-$100 million over the next 3 years by improving its sponsorship deals.
As a public company, WWE has an obligation to its shareholders to maximize revenue. On the other hand, a 3rd hour of Smackdown might be damaging to the brand in the long-run.
An additional $75 million per year would be hard for WWE to turn down. Whether or not Fox is willing to offer WWE that third hour is another story entirely.
Taiji Ishimori is scheduled to defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship at the G1 Supercard against Bandido and Dragon Lee in a triple threat match. He spoke to NJPW1972.com recently about the match and his reign as champion.
“I’ve been very public about my plans for the junior heavyweight division,” Ishimori said. “You’ve heard me say I want to tear the whole thing apart and build it up again in my image, make it reborn. I think little by little I’ve started to do that.”
Ishimori defeated KUSHIDA for the title at Wrestle Kingdom this year inside the Tokyo Dome. Since that time, Ishimori defeated Jushin Liger at the NJPW Anniversary show.
“He’s a legend,” Ishimori said of Liger. “Just the icon of junior heavyweight wrestling in the Heisei era. If you look at me size wise, I’m a small guy, even for a junior. But Liger opened the door for people like me to become wrestlers. His influence went worldwide and there are countless people who became wrestlers because of Jyushin Thunder Liger. He raised the bar. Considerably, no doubt.”
After losing to Ishimori, Liger announced he’ll retire after the Tokyo Dome show next year.
Ishimori also spoke about each of his opponents coming up at the G1 Supercard.
“Obviously his background is in lucha, but that’s not all he has going for him,” he said of Bandido. “He’s wrestled in Dragon Gate before, so has some Japanese experience. I think he can wrestle Japanese style, can wrestle American style. He could really wrestle for any promotion in the world.”
Ishimori also spoke about Dragon Lee, someone’s he’s yet to face in the ring.
“We were in opposite blocks during Best of the Super Junior last year. The first time we shared a ring was when he came out at the Anniversary event,” Ishimori said of Dragon Lee.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) will present ALL IN 2 from the Sears Center outside Chicago, IL on Saturday, August 31st, according to the Wrestling Observer.
The report states the event was always going to be held in the Chicago area, but there was some preliminary talk about hosting it at the larger Allstate Arena. In the end, the promotion decided to bring All In back to the Sears Center.
“The Labor Day weekend All In 2, as it’s being called, will be on 8/31 back at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, IL,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
This would mark the third official event under the AEW banner. Here is an updated look at the AEW live event schedule, including this rumored show:
It’s worth noting that AEW trademarked the name ALL OUT last year, so that might be the name of the show.
All In 2: August 31, 2019
There were also reports from C2E2 this weekend that the Bucks and Omega were telling people at the expo they would return to Chicago for All In 2.
The Sears Center honored its involvement in the first All In by placing a plaque outside the venue. The Young Bucks showed the plaque on a recent episode of Being the Elite.
The first All In event aired on ROH’s Honor Club for subscribers on September 1st, 2018.
By the time All In 2 rolls around, Jim Ross might be with AEW. JR provided an update on his negotiations with the promotion recently.
Former UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has signed with Mexico’s Lucha Libre promotion AAA.
At a press conference held on Tuesday, it was announced that Velasquez will be appearing at TripleMania XXVII this summer, which takes place August 3rd from Mexico City.
Lucha Libre site, LuchaBlog, has been live Tweeting reports from the press conference. They confirmed that Cain has 2-3 fights left on his UFC contract. Evidently, his deal with AAA will not impact his UFC career.
Velasquez defeated Brock Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight championship on October 23rd, 2010. He’d go on to win a trilogy with Junior Dos Santos 2-to-1 before dropping the belt to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188.
Since that time, injuries have piled up for Velasquez. He’s only fought twice since losing the title in the summer of 2015, defeating Travis Browne and then losing to Francis Ngannou last month.
At the G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden on April 6th, 4 teams will vie for both the ROH tag team and IWGP Heavyweight tag team titles. One week beforehand, however, PCO & Brody King will look to defend their ROH tag team titles against the former 10x champions, the Briscoes.
ROH has just announced that the title rematch between the two teams has been added to the Road to G1 Supercard show on March 31st in Baltimore.
Jay Briscoe recently cut a promo stating he and his brother have rematch clauses they want to cash in before MSG.
“We got this show coming up Sunday night, March 31 — everybody forgot about that,” Jay Briscoe said. “Everybody worried about the damn Garden. We’re going to Baltimore first. … I’ll be damned if come Madison Square Garden, April 6, I’ll be damned if anyone gonna walk in [there] the tag team champions if it ain’t gonna be us. … We’ll see y’all boys in Baltimore. Rematch clause.”
PCO & Brody King defeated the Briscoes for the ROH Tag team titles earlier this month at ROH’s 17th Anniversary PPV.
Ronda Rousey says she pitched what would have been a highly controversial/entertaining prank to Paul Heyman recently. Unfortunately, Rousey will not be able to follow through with the idea.
Rousey revealed today on her website that she wanted to announce on the April 1st, 2019 episode of Monday Night RAW that she is pregnant. Not only that, Rousey would say because of her pregnancy she would not compete at WrestleMania and the women would not be in the main event. Then at the end of RAW, she would let the fans know it had all been an April Fools Day prank.
Ronda Rousey On Pregnancy Announcement Prank
Rousey explained the idea toRondaRousey.com. She was asked how she found out that her match would be headlining WrestleMania this year.
“I found out from Paul Heyman,” Rousey said. “And the reason I found out is I sent him this long text, basically saying: ‘Hey, Paul, let’s do an April Fool’s Day joke on April Fool’s Day on RAW, saying that I’m pregnant and that the women are no longer the main event in WrestleMania, because I’m out.’ Then at the end of the show, we can say, “April Fool’s!”
“Then he called me back immediately, and he said, ‘Yeah, great idea and all, but they’re going to announce to all major outlets and everything that the women are actually going to main event, this Monday. So we can’t do your April Fool’s Day joke. They’re making that official, official.’ I was like, oh, shoot! So yeah, Paul Heyman told me is the short version of the answer. But he told me to explain why I couldn’t do my April Fool’s Day joke and tell everyone I’m pregnant.”
Rousey also discusses watching WrestleMania growing up, whether she deserves the WM main event spot, and being “Mrs. WrestleMania”. the full interview can be read here.