Hiromu Takahashi hasn’t wrestled since the G1 Special in San Francisco earlier this year. During his performance on that show, Takahashi was dropped on his head and sustained a serious neck injury.
Since sustaining the injury there have been scattered reports regarding his status. Some reports have even questioned whether he’ll be able to return to the ring at all.
According to comments made by journalist Fumi Saito, Takahashi could return to the ring in a few months. Saito was a recent guest on Talk is Jericho with Chris Jericho.
“(Takahashi’s) out little longer than we originally thought,” Saito said. Jericho then asked if Takahashi will be able to return to the ring at all. “I think so,” Saito responded. “Still, out like months and months.”
Based on Saito’s comments, it sounds as though Takahashi will be able to return to the ring but that return is still a long way off.
Hiromu Takahashi Updates His Own Condition
Takahashi has also been addressing his own recovery through social media. Some of his updates, however, seem to lack any medical credibility. For instance, some of his self-reported updates include him being 732% better.
Takahashi vacated the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship following his injury. Kushida and Taiji Ishimori will face each other at Wrestle Kingdom for that belt.
Chris Jericho believes Bullet Club should change its name. He made the comments on the most recent episode of his podcast, Talk is Jericho.
“I’m wondering, is it time to change the name?” Jericho asked allowed on the show in regards to the faction.
“Bullet Club has been through so many different phases and is so synonymous over the last couple of years with the Bucks and Kenny and Cody,” Jericho continued. “Now that they are gone, it seems like they should want to change it to something else.”
Many longtime fans of Bullet Club, however, would state the current incarnation of the faction more closely resembles the original.
Jericho and his guest, famed Japanese wrestling journalist Fumi Saito, then discussed how NJPW would still like to sell Bullet Club merchandise.
Bullet Club recently announced Jay White as the faction’s new leader. Tama Tonga responded to critics of the announcement through his YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLEcaePQqbE
“Yes, I said all that (that Bullet Club has no leader),” Tonga says in the video. “Right after I kicked out the Elite and right before we brought in Jay White. Now, think about this. With Jay White in, we got one man covering the direct route to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, right? You’ve got my brother and I; tag team duo, holding it down for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. We got Fale the monster. We got Ishimori chasing the Junior Heavyweight. Now, if it needs to be a junior heavyweight tag-team, we also got Robbie Eagles. We’re covering all angles, that’s smart, don’t y’all think?”
Tetsuya Naito believes that New Japan Pro Wrestling management is going out of their way to cater to IWPG Intercontinental Champion, Chris Jericho. He made the comments recently in an interview with NJPW1972.com.
“I know that New Japan wants to use his name for overseas expansion, but I want them to stop kissing up to him,” Naito said in regards to Jericho. “That’ll happen once I take back that title. I’ve said this many times before, but they should focus on showing the pure New Japan style to the world, instead of altering it.”
Jericho vs Naito II will take place inside the Tokyo Dome on January 4th at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito II
Earlier in the interview, Naito said he understands why NJPW caters to Jericho.
“I can see why New Japan kisses his ass because he’s a good marketer,” Naito continued. “Actually, that all works in my favor because it sets a bigger stage for me to kicks his ass on.”
Naito also responded to Jericho’s comments that Naito is not a star. Jericho said that he didn’t believe Naito was a star because he doesn’t see anyone selling Naito ice-cream bars.
“I read that. It made me laugh, a little,” Naito responded. “Even though I’m extremely popular, he’s right, I don’t have an ice cream bar. He probably knows a lot about ice cream, that’s why his physique has changed so much since his Junior days.”
We are just days away from Wrestle Kingdom 13 inside the Tokyo Dome on January 4th. The main event of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year will be Kenny Omega versus Hiroshi Tanahashi. The two took part in an official contract signing which was live-streamed on the promotion’s YouTube channel earlier today.
Omega addressed his rivalry with Tanahashi when it was his turn to speak.
“From what I’ve heard now, there are over 30% of you that are from foreign countries,” Omega said in English.
Omega has been saying his style of pro-wrestling is more appealing to an international audience than Tanahashi’s is.
“There may even be more of you that speak English,” he continued. “That’s just wonderful. That is the entire point of this main event coming up in Tokyo Dome.”
Unbelievable! Hundreds of thousands of fans have come for the live contract signing for @KennyOmegamanX vs @tanahashi1_100!!
“On January 4th, we have our biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom,” Omega continued. “If you guys aren’t going to watch it, I urge you please give it a try. Believe it or not, I’m the best in the world at doing this thing, and you may actually like it.”
NJPW commentator, Chris Charlton, provided some translations of Tanahashi’s comments.
Tanahashi ‘I’ve given it my all my entire career, but on January 4 I’ll fight harder than I ever have in my life’ #njwk13
As 2018 winds to a close, so too does one of the most eventful years in pro-wrestling history. 2019 could be even more significant, however.
The Young Bucks have been counting down until the new year during recent episodes of Being the Elite. The Bucks are currently in Tokyo preparing for Wrestle Kingdom 13. Matt Jackson recently sent out the following:
On December 26th, Matt Jackson tweeted out the following, which has led to speculation the group plans to unveil or announce something as the clock strikes zero on 2018:
It’s possible the timer that has been prominently displayed on recent episodes of Being the Elite is simply counting down until the faction are all officially free agents. Another possibility, however, is that they plan to release a special episode of Being the Elite tonight.
Cody Teases New Promotion/Wrestling Revolution
On last week’s episode of Being the Elite, Cody spoke about how the fans have given him the confidence to do what they are about to do next year.
“I know a lot of people think what we’re getting ready to do is a big gamble. Some people think it’s very stupid but I’m not filled with false-hope,” Cody said on the episode. “You the fans have given me real hope and that’s what it takes for a revolution.”
Marty Scurll’s “Villain Enterprises” have begun their journey to the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden. The group’s first official match was recently announced. They will take on Silas Young and the Briscoes at Honor Reigns Supreme on January 13th. ROH released footage from their recent set of television tapings where Scurll debut the new faction.
ROH Honor Reigns Supreme – January 13th, 2019 in Concord, NC
ROH World Championship
Jay Lethal (c) vs Dalton Castle
Women of Honor World Championship
Kelly Klein (c) vs Jenny Rose
ROH 6-Man Tag Team Championships
The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia) Vs. Shane “Hurricane” Helms, Luchasaurus, & Delirious
Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO, and Brody King) vs Silas Young and Mark & Jay Briscoe
The event will air live on Honor Club for subscribers.
Marty Scurll will continue with Ring of Honor until at least the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden. ROH COO, Joe Koff, spoke about the promotion’s talent roster on a recent episode of the WINCLY podcast.
“We have no shortage of talent which is why ROH is so exciting to me and we always deliver a product, we wrestle a brand,” Koff said. “We wrestle a style. Regardless of who’s wrestling that brand or style, the fans’ expectations have always been met.”
Kazuchika Okada has spent much of 2018 dealing with “Switchblade” Jay White. First, the New Zealander joined CHAOS but then defected and joined Bullet Club at King of Pro Wrestling in October.
Now, Okada will face Jay White in a special grudge match at Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th. Okada spoke to NJPW1972.com about facing the 26-year-old upstart.
“I feel that Jay White is the toughest foreigner in New Japan right now,” Okada said. “I really do. Tougher than Jericho, tougher than Omega.”
“It’s more than potential,” Okada continued. “I think he’s the toughest right now. The world might not know it yet, but they just might after he faces me January 4th.”
Kazuchika Okada On NJPW in 2019
Not that Okada is looking past his test at Wrestle Kingdom 13 but he’s also looking toward the future. Okada spoke about NJPW’s many lofty plans for the upcoming year as well.
“It’s full on for sure. MSG is coming up and we’re tearing it up overseas too,” Okada continued. “But I think we need to do our thing in Japan and make sure neither side is neglected. If we’re doing well in Japan, we’ll do well internationally as well, and the other way, guys killing it in the US are making the fans in Japan proud. ‘The NJPW we love so much managed to sell out Madison Square Garden’. I think there’s all sorts of ways we can blow fans away.”
A controversial angle played out this week on MLW: Fusion. Just two weeks after the company presented its first live special, MLW Champion, Low-Ki, assaulted Konnan with a shank (homemade knife often used in prisons) to close out this week’s episode.
53-year-old Konnan was challenging Low-Ki for the title but the match disintegrated into a series of run-ins early. The match was eventually declared a non-contest after numerous members of Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado attacked Konnan.
Low-Ki then stabbed Konnan in the back with the shank. The incident takes place in the closing moments of the MLW Fusion episode below:
MLW To Add Women’s Division
In other MLW news, Court Bauer announced the promotion will be adding more women to the roster in 2019. Plans are also in place to introduce a title for the division.
“Yes! It’s very important part of the next phase to me,” Bauer said when addressing a potential women’s division on Twitter. “Just saw the first wave of designs for a women’s title… but before we can talk about that I want to hear from everyone who we should be looking at for the division.”
MLW Fusion airs Friday nights on BeIN Sports. Full episodes of Fusion are uploaded to YouTube on Saturday evenings.
Chris Jericho was in attendance at Sunday’s Minnesota Vikings NFL game. In a post to Instagram, Jericho made sure to thank Jacksonville Jaguars executive for the tickets.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsBlF0pFVSF/
Chris Jericho and All Elite Wrestling
Jericho’s name has been linked to Tony Khan since our world exclusive back in October regarding the upstart wrestling promotion in the works, now known as All Elite Wrestling.
In an interview with Drew Dalby this fall, Jericho spoke about the rumors of Tony Khan starting his own promotion. In typical Jericho fashion, he managed to avoid saying much.
“Is Tony Khan opening his own company? I’ve heard nothing that says he’s not, and of course, WWE is WWE and I have a 20-year history there,” Jericho said when discussing his options for 2019. “I could walk in the door tomorrow and know exactly what to do to get a reaction.”
“So it’s exciting for me to know there’s options,” he continued. “I can go anywhere and not have to worry about anything. The fact that we did the cruise with six guys (Alpha Club vs. Bullet Club), none of us under contract and able to sell out a cruise with it. It really makes all of us top contenders as to ‘who’s going to go where?’”
Dana White commented on Brock Lesnar’s ability to negotiate between WWE and UFC recently. The UFC President made the comments during the post-fight press conference from UFC 232.
White was asked if Brock Lesnar is still in the title picture in UFC’s heavyweight division.
“So, we were talking about it (Lesnar coming back) and then he ended up signing a new deal with WWE,” White said.
Then Dana White commented on what he believes has been taking place between Brock Lesnar and WWE during recent contract negotiations.
“What I think happens is, he’s in a very unique position because he can play this thing between UFC and WWE,” White continued. “They get right down to the wire and I think Vince (McMahon) throws so much money at him that he says ‘Alright, I’ll do it again’ because (the UFC) is here for him no matter what. When he’s ready, he can come in here and fight and he’s going to make a s**t load of money here too. So, it makes sense, I’m assuming that’s what’s going on.”
White continued to say he won’t be waiting for Lesnar in terms of his match-making moving forward specifically concerning Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. Lesnar confronted Cormier inside the octagon after the UFC heavyweight champion won his last fight. Similarly, Jones called out Lesnar after his UFC 214 victory but instead called out Cormier after his win over Alexander Gustafsson on Saturday.
WWE.com has unveiled their top 25 matches of the year. As always there will be some controversy here.
Topping the list was Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair from Evolution.
WWE Top 25 Matches Of 2018
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair — SmackDown Women’s Championship Last Woman Standing Match (WWE Evolution)
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa — Chicago Street Fight (NXT TakeOver: Chicago)
Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan — Champion vs. Champion Match (Survivor Series)
Moustache Mountain vs. The Undisputed ERA — NXT Tag Team Championship Match (NXT, July 11)
Seth Rollins vs. The Miz — Intercontinental Championship Match (Backlash)
Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre vs. Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins — Raw Tag Team Championship Match (Hell in a Cell)
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Johnny Gargano — NXT Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia)
John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Finn Bálor vs. Braun Strowman vs. Elias — Gauntlet Match (Raw, Feb. 19)
Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon & Triple H (WrestleMania 34)
The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day —SmackDown Tag Team Championship No Disqualification Match (SmackDown LIVE, Aug. 22)
Ricochet vs. Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole —NXT North American Championship Triple Threat Match (NXT, Oct. 10)
Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane — NXT Women’s Championship Match (NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn)
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka — SmackDown Women’s Championship Triple Threat Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match (WWE TLC)
Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy — No Disqualification Match (205 Live, July 3)
Roman Reigns vs. Finn Bálor — Universal Championship Match (Raw, Aug. 20)
Meiko Satomura vs. Mercedes Martinez (Mae Young Classic, Round 2)
Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy — WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match (205 Live, May 29)
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (SummerSlam)
Ricochet vs. Adam Cole vs. The Velveteen Dream vs. EC3 vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dain — NXT North American Championship Ladder Match (NXT TakeOver: New Orleans)
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura — WWE Championship Last Man Standing Match (Money in the Bank)
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe — Intercontinental Championship Match (Raw, Jan. 1)
Kalisto vs. Buddy Murphy (205 Live, April 3)
Ricochet vs. The Velveteen Dream (NXT TakeOver: Chicago)
Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura — Champion vs. Champion Match (Survivor Series)
“Woken” Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt — The Ultimate Deletion (Raw, March 19)
Seth Rollins plans to open a coffee shop soon. The location will be in the same building of his wrestling school, the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy in Davenport, Iowa.
Media for the Illinois Quad Cities area ran an article on Rollins’ wrestling school in 2016. He described the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy as “a nice punch in the gut with physical fitness.”
“I think it’s a great avenue for people to get their feet wet in the independents before jumping into the WWE,” Rollins continued.
Rollins also described how rehabbing his ACL injury played a role in helping him create the school.
“I spent some of my rehab in Birmingham, Ala., some of it at Plaza Physical Therapy in Davenport. But, it was nice to have the school in session during the time I was off to be around the industry without having to be a huge part of it,” Rollins said. “I had my own space to do my own thing when I wanted to. It was nice to have home time to be able to sleep in my own bed and cook my own breakfast and do Quad-Cities things.”
Major League Wrestling presents matches from their recent Miami shows tonight on Fusion. Tonight’s main event features an MLW World Championship match pitting champion, Low-Ki, against Konnan.
2 other matches are scheduled for tonight.
MLW Fusion 12/28 Preview
Simon Gotch $20,000 Prize Fight Challenge
Last week on BeIn Sports, Gotch lost in the main event to Tom Lawlor. While Lawlor will shift his focus to his MLW title shot at SuperFight, Gotch will be back in action tonight. Eager to prove he is still a dominant force in MLW, Gotch will bring back his Prize Fight Challenge tonight. He’ll offer someone a $20,000 prize if they can defeat him on tonight’s episode.
Andrew Everett vs Ariel Dominguez
Andrew Everett defeated Dezmond Xavier on last week’s episode. He’ll look to make it two in a row against middleweight competition this week when he takes on Ariel Dominguez, a wrestler trained by Afa the Wild Samoan and Lince Dorado. Dominguez is aligned with Tom Lawlor’s “Team Filthy”.
MLW World Championship
Low-Ki (c) vs Konnan
Salina de la Renta’s Promociones Dorado would love to get Konnan out of MLW. They’ll have that chance tonight when Konnan challenges MLW World Champion, Low-Ki. The current champion has taken out Shane Strickland, and Konnan’s allies, Fenix, and Daga. Tonight, Konnan will have a chance to write the comeback story of the ages. The 54-year-old will attempt to win one last championship in his long and storied career.
Also tonight:
An update on Kotto Brazil, who was assaulted recently at a nightclub.
Tommy Dreamer comments on his match against the Hart Foundation from last week.
Speaking of the Hart Foundation, the faction debuted H2tv recently, a YouTube series following Teddy Hart, Brian Pillman Jr., and Harry Smith/Davey Boy Smith Jr.
MLW recently announced that their middleweight champion, Teddy Hart, has signed a new deal with the promotion.
“I love a good comeback story,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer in a company press release announcing Hart’s signing. “Teddy has lived up to his end and has brought it in every match. He’s hands down one of the most talented wrestlers of his generation and his commitment to MLW has been exceptional so we’re committing to him.”
If you missed it, MLW released a special Christmas Day special on YouTube only featuring previously unaired matches from their Chicago tapings.
John Cena wrestled WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan, last night at a WWE house show in Unionville. Cena replaced a sick AJ Styles, who is said to be suffering from some type of cold or flu bug.
The following Twitter user posted some videos of the steel cage match between Bryan and Cena.
Here are the results from last night’s house show in Unionville:
Mustafa Ali defeated The Miz
R-Truth and Carmella defeated Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega
Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Shelton Benjamin defeated The Colons and Aiden English
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated “Sanity” Eric Young and Killian Dain
Rey Mysterio defeated Randy Orton
Smackdown Tag Team Championships
Sheamus and Cesaro defeated The Usos and “New Day” Kofi Kingston and Big E
Jeff Hardy defeated Samoa Joe
WWE Championship Steel Cage
Daniel Bryan (c) defeated John Cena
John Cena To Miss 2019 Royal Rumble
John Cena may be back but he’s not going to be participating on WWE programming much. We reported yesterday that Cena’s upcoming schedule does not include the Royal Rumble:
12/26: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
12/27: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
12/28: Royals Farms Arena, Baltimore, MD
12/29: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA
12/30: Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL
1/4: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, GA
1/5: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, Tallahassee, FL
BJ Whitmer recently left Ring of Honor, a company he had been with for the majority of his career. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Whitmer is expected to join All Elite Wrestling in 2019.
“Whitmer did a little bit of everything behind the scenes,” Dave Meltzer wrote. “Helping produce matches, was part of the booking team, trained wrestlers, did commentary at times, ran the Gorilla position and at some points was Bernard the Business Bear. He’s expected to be headed to AEW in a similar role.”
BJ Whitmer Leaves Ring of Honor, Expected In All Elite Wrestling
We previously reported that Whitmer left Ring of Honor this month amidst frustrations with the promotion. Whitmer was frustrated when ROH wouldn’t let him accept an invitation to be a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center. Instead, ROH asked him to sign a non-compete agreement after being informed of his invitation to WWE’s developmental facility.
Whitmer is reported to have sent an email to all ROH employees prior to leaving.
“In leaving ROH, I want to say thank you and it’s been a pleasure working with all of you,” Whitmer wrote. “I wish everyone nothing but the best and I’m certain I’ll cross paths with most of you again.”
It was a Christmas Eve special this week on Being the Elite. While much of the episode focussed on the cast’s memories of 2018, Cody also sent out a message regarding where they plan to go in 2019.
“I know a lot of people think what we’re getting ready to do is a big gamble. Some people think it’s very stupid but I’m not filled with false-hope,” Cody said on the episode. “You the fans have given me real hope and that’s what it takes for a revolution.”
In this week’s episode, members of the Elite shared their favorite and least favorite memories from BTE in 2018.
Matt Jackson Watches Scorpio Sky Eat A Candy Cane
Members of the Elite and SCU are enjoying the holidays at the Young Bucks house. Scorpio Sky then announced he was going to make a toast. He said this was the best year of his career and he owes it to everyone there. This led to Matt Jackson slowly walking up to Sky and offering him a candy cane. Jackson has been gifting Sky candy bars for several weeks now on the show. Then Jackson just watched Sky eat the candy cane for several awkward moments.
Hangman Page Shares His Favorite and Least Favorite Moments Of 2018
Adam “Hangman” Page was shown sitting by a Christmas tree. He shared several of his favorite stories from BTE in 2018. He enjoyed the episode where Cody got “the Money Shakes” and also the one where Marty Scurll sang “Complicated” when the rivalry between Kenny Omega and Cody had broken the faction apart.
Marty Scurll Shares His Favorite BTE Episodes
Scurll then shared a few of his most notable ups and downs from Being the Elite this year. He mentioned getting fired from his recording contract as particularly memorable.
Cody On His Favorite And Least Favorite BTE Moments In 2018
Cody is shown smoking a cigar while holding his front door open, seemingly because someone doesn’t want him smoking in the house. He listed his favorite moment from BTE this year as having been when the words “Bullet Club is Fine” were first uttered. Cody said he felt that saying defined the rivalry he was in at the time.
He also mentioned an unaired bit from BTE that was apparently filmed on the Chris Jericho cruise as his low point on BTE This year.
Cody then addressed the Elite’s future in 2019 with the quotes referenced above.
Kazarian Gets His Holiday Bonus
Kazarian was concerned he didn’t get his holiday bonus. Then, Christopher Daniels found a letter addressed to him. When he opened up what was his holiday bonus, however, it was only a one-year subscription to Honor Club.
Kazarian then chugged a Monster Energy drink and said he wished his boss was there so he could tell him off. I’m pretty sure this was from the Christmas Story movie.
Kenny Omega In An Ugly Sweater
Omega shared a message on Christmas Eve from Winnipeg. He calmly spoke of his favorite moments on the show. Omega then asked the fans to comment on their favorite episodes.
The Young Bucks Tease A Big Announcement
The Young Bucks reminded everyone that the next episode is due to be released on New Year’s Eve. It seems as though next week’s episode could be a particularly interesting one. Earlier this week, Matt Jackson posted a countdown clock on Twitter that expires on January 1st.
The parties behind the All Elite Wrestling upstart promotion have reportedly turned down an offer to purchase Impact Wrestling, according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “It is not a secret that there were forces attempting to sell Impact to AEW a few months ago,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “But that proposal was turned down.”
We’ve reached out to Impact Wrestling for their comment on the matter.
Impact Moving to Pursuit Channel
Impact Wrestling recently announced they will be moving to the Pursuit channel in 2019. Anthem owns a minority stake in the channel as well. The promotion will debut on their new channel on Friday, January 11th, 2019 at 10 PM. Once WWE Smackdown moves to Fox Sports in October, Impact’s new timeslot would air right after it.
One possible outcome of the switch to the Pursuit channel is the potential for edgier content. This was addressed in a recent company press release.
“With IMPACT Wrestling coming off a tremendous year of audience growth globally and positive fan engagement,” an Impact press release reads. “We look forward to leveraging our respective resources to bring fans more of the wrestling content they want to see: tougher, edgier action.”
Mandy Rose could be in line for a push soon. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE is set on trying to make the former fitness model a star.
“Vince is also very high right now on the idea of making Rose a star,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “Basically, it’s the similar mindset they earlier with Lana, with the big introduction, before she faded into becoming another woman on the roster and then was put back with Rusev.”
Mandy Rose on Smackdown
27-year-old Mandy Rose was called up to the main roster on November 20th, 2017. In the 13 months since, she’s been featured in Absolution and then furthered her alliance with Sonya Deville after Paige’s retirement.
A budding rivalry between Mandy Rose and Naomi is currently brewing on Smackdown as well. A match between the two was scheduled and then scrapped earlier this month, however.
Rose played it off as though she couldn’t make the match due to a photoshoot:
The real truth is that I was too busy to wait around and had a photoshoot, something @NaomiWWE doesn’t know anything about. You should be glad bc I was going to embarrass you tonight SIS! #Priorities ? #SDLivepic.twitter.com/abPbXIc5M7
“The real truth is that I was too busy to wait around and had a photoshoot, something @NaomiWWE doesn’t know anything about. You should be glad bc I was going to embarrass you tonight SIS!”
The angle between the two took another turn this week:
While nothing is official, it is looking more likely that Christopher Daniels is finishing up with Ring of Honor. The 48-year-old has been booking independent dates in 2019, likely meaning he has no intention of signing a new ROH contract.
His status was addressed in the recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“Christopher Daniels has taken a number of independent dates, which means he’s not planning on signing a new contract (with ROH) any time soon,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “He’s also not being advertised for the January dates.”
The report continues to suggest Daniels could work in ROH as a producer (as he has been doing) and still work independent dates as a wrestler.
Christopher Daniels in 2019
Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Kazarian gained momentum in 2018 as members of SCU. The trio has appeared on numerous episodes of Being the Elite as well.
Daniels won the ROH World Championship in 2017. He spoke to Sportskeeda about the accomplishment.
“I’m just glad that I finally had that opportunity to win the big one. I feel like it was a good period of time in my career, and I think people look back at that and just the overall art of my career to finally get it 25 years in was an accomplishment that I’m very proud of and something that I’ll always look back on fondly with.”
If you want to see Christopher Daniels in a non-wrestling role, you can do so at Universal Studios Hollywood. For the past few years, Daniels has played the lead villain at the park’s Waterworld exhibit. Joey Ryan posted the following sneak peak of his show:
Darren Young was recently interviewed on the Roman Show hosted by Rodolfo Roman. On the show, Young teased a possible return to WWE next year.
“Recently, I was just at WWE in LA,” Young said. “They invited me back with open arms. So who knows? 2019 you could see me as an ambassador with the company. It’s just amazing, wrestling right now.”
Roman continued to ask if it’s possible we see Young back in a WWE ring next year as opposed to just being in an ambassador’s role.
“Just because moves aren’t being announced doesn’t mean moves aren’t being made,” Young teased. He continued to say he has interest in competing for both Ring of Honor and in Japan as well.
Young also commented on current Smackdown Superstar, Sonya Deville, who came out as gay while being interviewed by Triple H on Tough Enough.
“That’s my girl (Deville),” Young said. “We need more representation, that’s what it’s all about. It’s not just about me, it’s not just about Sonya, it’s about everyone living their truth, living their honest life.”
He also commented on Finn Balor wearing the Pride colors on his merchandise.
“My dude, Finn is an amazing guy,” Young continued.
Ring of Honor’s heavyweight division is going to be interesting to watch in 2019. The recent signings of Jeff Cobb, Brody King, and PCO will add a big boost to the promotion’s roster next year.
Shane Taylor, who wrestled his first match for ROH in late 2014, recently announced he has agreed to terms on a new exclusive contract with the promotion as well, bringing him back for another year with ROH.
“Incredibly excited to announce that I’ve officially agreed to terms on an EXCLUSIVE contract with @ringofhonor for 2019!! Trust and believe I’m going to continue to #ShatterTheGlassCeiling & show why I’m #TheREALBreakoutStar in ROH!!”
Taylor wrestled 28 times for ROH in 2018. His last televised match was a loss to Jeff Cobb.
Shane Taylor Featured In Orlando Sentinal Article
Taylor was featured earlier this year in an article by the Orlando Sentinal. He spoke in the article about how he knew wrestling was the profession for him shortly after debuting.
“I heard the crowd and felt that rush. It’s hard to explain, but I knew I was where I needed to be,” Taylor said. “Anytime you can love what you’re doing and get as much energy out of it as you’re putting into it, whether that’s music, painting or whatever, you know that’s truly what makes you happy.”
Tama Tonga has released a video on his YouTube channel where he addresses criticism some have of Jay White being named the new leader of Bullet Club. Tonga named White as the new leader of the faction in a series of Tweets last week.
“Yes, I said all that (that Bullet Club has no leader),” Tonga says in the video. “Right after I kicked out the Elite and right before we brought in Jay White. Now, think about this. With Jay White in, we got one man covering the direct route to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, right? You’ve got my brother and I; tag team duo, holding it down for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. We got Fale the monster. We got Ishimori chasing the Junior Heavyweight. Now, if it needs to be a junior heavyweight tag-team, we also got Robbie Eagles. We’re covering all angles, that’s smart, don’t y’all think?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLEcaePQqbE
Bullet Club at Wrestle Kingdom 13
The next show for NJPW will be Wrestle Kingdom 13 inside the Tokyo Dome. Tama Tonga and his brother, Tanga Loa, will defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against both the Young Bucks and Evil & Sanada in a triple threat match. Jay White will also take on Kazuchika Okada in a one-on-one grudge match.
One of NXT’s newest and brightest stars, Matt Riddle, was a guest on Edge and Christian’s “Pod of Awesomeness” this week. The 32-year-old spoke on having to earn over the respect of fans at EVOLVE and other independent wrestling events early in his wrestling career.
At first, Riddle said, the fans taunted him for coming from an MMA background.
“I remember my first match for EVOLVE, at EVOLVE 49, when I came out, the crowd chanted ‘Baby Lesnar’,” Riddle said. “And then the next night in Long Island the crowd chanted ‘You Can’t Wrestle.'”
Over time, however, Riddle won over the respect of not only fans of EVOLVE but fans from all over the independent scene.
“So I wrestled all over and by the time I got back to where they said I couldn’t wrestle, all they kept chanting was ‘Bro.'”
Matt Riddle will be wrestling on a WWE house show in Madison Square Garden on December 26th. Several members of the NXT roster are in a multi-person tag-team match on the show.
Riddle recently Tweeted out, “Wow I just can’t stop! If you haven’t heard my year isn’t over and I get to wrestle in the Legendary MSG in NYC on the RAW brand, which makes this my biggest DeButt of 2018 and it’s gonna be the DeButts of all DeButts!”
Asuka vs Becky Lynch at Royal Rumble Announced And Then Withdrawn
In other news concerning the Smackdown women’s division, a potential championship match was announced and then canceled last week. Asuka defending her title against Becky Lynch was announced for Royal Rumble 2019 on Main Event this week. Not long after, however, Smackdown General Manager Tweeted out that she had made the match before being relieved of her position.
“Soooo I tried to make one last match before my time as #SDLive GM came to end…but unfortunately @BeckyLynchWWE vs. @WWEAsuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship is NOT official for #RoyalRumble. #Oops”
The LLC “All Elite Wrestling” has filed for a new trademark. The trademarked term appears to be for a potential charity wrestling event. Both the term “Fight For The Fallen” and an accompanying logo were filed on Friday.
All Elite Wrestling Trademarks
Previously filed trademarks for All Elite Wrestling also include:
All Elite Wrestling and AEW
Tuesday Night Dynamite
AEW Double Or Nothing
AEW All Out
All Elite Wrestling and Members of The Elite
One of the bigger questions surrounding the newly formed LLC is if wrestlers from the Elite will be permitted to perform for both NJPW and a new wrestling promotion based in the United States that isn’t Ring of Honor.
“Obviously, both AEW and ROH will want a business relationship with New Japan,” Dave Meltzer wrote recently in the Wrestling Observer.
“New Japan has blocked its talent from working for Impact, even though Don Callis is an announcer for New Japan, because of the ROH relationship,” he continued. “They have not blocked people from working for MLW.”
As it stands now, several members of the Elite have matches scheduled at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Kenny Omega will face Hiroshi Tanahashi, the Young Bucks will be in a 3-way for the heavyweight tag titles, and Cody will face Juice Robinson.
