NJPW’s New Beginning in the USA tour is sold-out. Both the January 30th show in Los Angeles and the February 1st’s show in Charlotte, NC were sold-out in mere minutes today.
Kevin Kelly broke the news on Twitter:
So LA @njpw1972 show is sold out. Totally clean in less than 20 minutes. January 30th at the Globe Theater is going to be rocking!
Same for Charlotte and Grady Cole with a first day sellout of the tickets put on sale. More will be put on sale soon. #NJNBGpic.twitter.com/NFofuOyl0r
As is usually the case for any sold-out event, a limited number of tickets could be put on sale at a later date.
If you got shut out for @njpw1972 tickets for #NJNBG in Charlotte, do not despair! There is a chance more tickets could be put on sale soon. All great seats at Grady Cole! Keep checking pic.twitter.com/pIKBO6TuLf
Charlotte, North Carolina’s Grady Cole Center is listed at holding 3,000-3,9000 people. It’s hard to find attendance numbers for LA’s Globe Theatre. PWG held a show there in the spring. One website lists 1500 as a possible capacity but I have no idea how reliable it is.
New Japan Pro Wrestling Ticket Sales
New Japan Pro Wrestling has also been touting that tickets to Wrestle Kingdom 13 are selling even faster than they did last year.
Who has finished their Christmas shopping????? Wrestle Kingdom 13 is the hottest ticket in Tokyo and will soon sell out?? Be a part of history and treat yourself to the best X-Mas?present? ever! Purchase tickets now!! https://t.co/BPMV0Frh0r#njwk13#njpwpic.twitter.com/3FoIOq4yhk
Tickets to New Year’s Dash, NJPW’s “Night after WK” in Korakuen Hall, are sold to only club members and are said to be nearly impossible to obtain.
The strong ticket sales are the latest in a string of good financial news for the company. A report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter earlier this week stated the company’s total earnings are up 25% this year.
Eddie Edwards received a broken orbital bone in January after a botched baseball bat spot with Sami Callihan. At Impact Wrestling’s January 2018 tapings, Callihan struck Edwards in the eye with a baseball bat. Callihan had been swinging at a chair which was positioned atop Edwards at the time.
This week, Impact Wrestling fans voted Sami Callihan as the promotion’s MVP of the year. They also voted the infamous baseball bat spot as “Moment of the Year”.
Edwards spoke to Sports Illustrated not long after the incident. He said his initial concern was losing his eye.
“Losing my eye was my immediate concern. As soon as I got hit, I put my hand over my eye, started walking up the ramp to the back and all I was thinking was that I really hoped my eye was not hanging out of my head or in my hand.”
Callihan also spoke with TMZ Sports not long after the botched spot took place.
“I hit this man in the face with a baseball bat and in the last 24 hours I’ve been getting all this hate and all this negativity online and Impact says ‘Yo, you have to go out of your way to make this right,'” Callihan said. “People are saying we crossed the line, so from the bottom of my heart, I have to tell each and every one of you that I’m not sorry for a single thing that happened. Look at me and tell me I’m not being serious. I do not feel bad. TMZ is messaging and interviewing Eddie Edwards when they should be interviewing me. The most dangerous man in professional wrestling today. Oh yeah, and Jim Cornette, you can kiss my ass too.”
The WWE Network will air 4 new shows over the next week. Over the holidays, the WWE Network will feature a cooking show, gaming show, a Fashion Files cold-case episode, and a blooper show hosted by the Club.
4 New WWE Network Shows Announced
Fashion Files: Cold Case Unit
A new episode of Fashion Files will air on the Network December 24th. Fandango and Tyler Breeze will try and solve the cold case of “the Mysterious Pie Face Perpetrator”. The tag-team will look to solve the long-running mystery of who threw a pie at Kevin Owens a few weeks back. The show will start at 11 PM est following a taped airing of Raw.
Xavier’s Arcade Challenge
On December 25th, the WWE Network will feature Xavier Woods’ new gaming show. Woods will visit the arcade scene in different cities on the show playing games such as “NBA Jam”. He visits Philadelphia first. The show will air at 7 PM est.
WWE Kitchen SmackDown
An Iron Chef type show featuring Bo Dallas will hit the Network on December 26th. Dana Brooke, Alicia Fox, and Curtis Axel will compete in a cookoff with Mark Henry Noelle Foley, and Big E as the judges. The show will air at 7 PM est.
Similar to the popular underground blooper series, Botchamania, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows will host a blooper show on December 27th on the Network. The “Titus Worldslide” which occurred in the Greatest Royal Rumble will be featured on the show. The show will get going at 7 PM est.
Despite recent vignettes stating he is returning soon, Sami Zayn says he is “not even close” to doing so. Zayn had double-shoulder surgery this summer. At the time, his timeline for return was listed at just before WrestleMania.
Zayn was Chris Jericho’s most recent guest on Talk is Jericho and spoke about his recovery from double rotator cuff surgery. Jericho asked him if he is close to returning on the show.
“No, I’m not even close, I need a few more months,” Zayn said about his pending return.
He would later mention he is currently rehabbing at the WWE Performance Center.
Sami Zayn On Being Injured
Zayn also said he’s been enjoying his time away from WWE.
“I know wrestling fans, maybe don’t want to hear this, but I’ve been loving being off,” Zayn said. “I think wrestling fans want to hear, ‘I can’t wait to be back and I miss everything.’ I don’t miss anything, I don’t miss it yet. I’m surprised by how little I’ve missed it. Five months and I don’t miss it. What’s up with that?”
Kevin Owens is also scheduled to come back in the first quarter of 2019. Zayn also spoke to his friendship with Owens on the show with Jericho:
“He lives like two blocks from me and when he lived in Montreal, he lived like two blocks from me. We can’t get away from each other if we tried. I get moved to RAW, he gets moved to RAW. Even when he got signed he got put into a program with me right away and since our names have been linked here in one way or another since. We can’t get away from each other if we tried. I’m sure he’d like to get away a little bit. There are times I’d like to get away a bit. It’s good.”
Several other topics were discussed by Jericho and Zayn on the episode. They opted to title the show “The Mental State of Sami Zayn”.
I sat with @IAmJericho to discuss where my mind has been the last 6 months!
It's a very honest conversation about how I view myself, the world, pro wrestling, and much more.
Impact Wrestling will be moving to the Pursuit Channel in 2019. The first episode of Impact Wrestling on their new channel will be on Friday, January 11th, 2019 at 10 PM. Anthem Sports and Entertainment owns a minority stake in the Pursuit channel as well.
Impact co-Vice President, Scott D’Amore, spoke to Nick Hausman of the WINCLY podcast regarding the move:
“First and foremost, I have to say POP TV — despite all the frustrations that are our very passionate fan base has — they have been a very supportive partner over the years that we’ve been there, and they’ve been supportive through this process,” D’Amore said. “We’ve been looking and evaluating things on an ongoing basis, when myself and Don [Callis] came on board at the beginning of the year, we always said it was going to be a slow process. It was going to be a bunch of small victories, a bunch of small maneuvers that would lead us to bigger and better things. We think we had a great 2018 where we made a lot of positive steps, and as we look back to the beginning of the year to where we are now, we’re very hopeful and excited about things.”
Impact Wrestling Moves To The Pursuit Channel
A key part to the deal appears to be the demographics of who watches Pursuit versus who watches POP.
“POP is changing up things on the network and while both sides acknowledged we were never the right fit for a female-dominated network, we enjoyed a few years together,” D’Amore continued. “We’ve been looking at moving on, doing some other things, as we looked at the options it seemed like the best time to make a move to Pursuit, which is a sister company to Impact Wrestling. There’s an ownership stake that [Impact parent company] Anthem Sports & Entertainment has in them and Pursuit is a male-dominated demographic.”
When “Switchblade” Jay White joined Bullet Club at King of Pro Wrestling this fall, it was made clear he was not the new leader. A few weeks after his defection, White commented that he was not the faction’s leader in a backstage promo.
Evidently, something has changed. Today, Bullet Club founding member, Tama Tonga, declared on his social media accounts that White is, in fact, the new Bullet Club leader.
Jay White was scouted into NJPW and Bullet Club by Prince Devitt in early 2014. Devitt was performing on a VPW show in Australia and was impressed by White. Not long after Devitt’s visit, White received a phone call from Bad Luck Fale, who has a dojo in White’s native New Zealand.
Arrangements were made for White to train at the New Japan Dojo starting in early 2015. He would leave for excursion to the United States the following year. He would return in time to challenge Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 12. This year at Wrestle Kingdom, White has another top NJPW star opposing him. White, with Gedo in his corner, will take on Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 13. The two have built up an intense rivalry after White spent much of 2018 ruffling feathers from within as a member of CHAOS.
Sarah Logan of the Riott Squadd and Ray Rowe of the War Raiders were married yesterday.
They were married in a Viking style ceremony as well. Several members of the WWE Universe, including Logan’s Riott squad teammates, were in attendance.
NXT Women’s Champion, Shayna Baszler, isn’t one for weddings. She posted that she enjoyed the dress code for Ray Rowe and Sarah Logan’s Viking wedding, however. Baszler sent this out on Instagram:
Despite the match being announced on a recent episode of Main Event, Asuka vs Becky Lynch is not confirmed for the Royal Rumble. Former Smackdown General Manager, Paige, Tweeted that she made the match before she was relieved of her position and that the match is not official.
“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”
Paige’s statements do leave the door open for the match still taking place, however, only the match is not official. It’s not clear what led to the match being announced and then later retracted.
Royal Rumble 2019
Three matches are confirmed so far for the Royal Rumble PPV this year. Braun Strowman will challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. There will also be the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches with R-Truth and Carmella having earned the 30th entrant in their respective Rumbles.
Royal Rumble 2019 is scheduled for January 27th, 2019 from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.
“I love any instance where people feel comfortable enough with self to be expressive,” Cena said of Lunch. “For so long I didn’t know what or who Becky Lynch was. And now I do. And that fires me up.”
BJ Whitmer is no longer with Ring of Honor. The 40-year-old tendered his resignation earlier this week. According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, Whitmer was unhappy with the company, leading to his departure.
“We’re told BJ had been unhappy with management for months and that was his reasoning for quitting,” wrote Ryan Satin.
According to PW Insider, Whitmer sent an email to ROH employees which was critical of the company. He said he had been treated with “utter disrespect” by ROH in the email. The report from PW Insider would continue to say an incident involving a WWE PC guest-coaching spot may have been the catalyst for these events. ROH evidently would not let Whitmer accept a guest-coaching spot with WWE. Such temporary positions are often offered to industry veterans for a few days at the Performance Center in Orlando.
“In leaving ROH, I want to say thank you and it’s been a pleasure working with all of you,” Whitmer wrote to ROH employees. “I wish everyone nothing but the best and I’m certain I’ll cross paths with most of you again.”
ROH has declined comment on the matter.
BJ Whitmer Leaves Ring of Honor
Whitmer has spent the majority of his career with Ring of Honor. He first debuted for the promotion in 2003 in a match against CM Punk. Whitmer’s last wrestling match was in March of 2017.
Kenny Omega will defend his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13. In many ways, the match has become about Tanahashi’s style of pro-wrestling versus a new style Omega is looking to usher in.
Omega addressed the sub-plot during a recent interview with NJPW1972.com.
“I feel like I have given my heart, my soul, all of my passion to this company, but everyone keeps telling me about how Tanahashi’s given up so much,” Omega said.
“Everyone is evolving. I’ve become an inspiration to everyone, and people are trying to follow my lead. Tana just can’t accept that. He wants to be the leader. He wants to do it in his own way.”
Kenny Omega on Hiroshi Tanahashi
Omega would continue to say that Tanahashi relies too much on reminding fans what he has done for the company in the past.
“Here’s the thing, I have this style that can’t be duplicated,” Omega continued. “It eats Tana up alive, he hates it. Tana speaks to his cult and says, ‘my style is the true style, it’s the right way!” “Do you remember 15 years ago when I saved the company? That was me! That was me! I’m going to do it again! You still believe me, right? Right? Still?’”
Chris Jericho recently posted a video message to his Wrestle Kingdom 13 opponent, Tetsuya Naito. In the video, Jericho promises that January 4th inside the Tokyo Dome will be the last match of Naito’s career.
Jericho posted the following to his social media channels:
“It felt good yesterday Naito,” Jericho begins his video. “At Korakuen Hall, after you spit in my face in the New Japan office, I beat the hell out of you with a chair in Korakuen Hall.”
Jericho was in Japan last weekend for a Wrestle Kingdom press conference. He also made an appearance in Korakuen Hall on the 2nd night of the Road to Wrestle Kingdom, attacking Naito.
“It’s going to be the last night of your career at Wrestle Kingdom 13 Naito,” he continued. “All of your fans, thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of fans all around the world, will be crying as soon as our match is finished. I’ll still be the IWGP Intercontinental Champion and you will be finished.”
Chris Jericho vs Tetsuya Naito – IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 13
The Jericho and Naito rivalry goes back to Wrestle Kingdom 12 when Jericho began claiming that his match with Kenny Omega was the real main event. Naito, who wrestled Kazuchika Okada to close the show, took exception to this.
Jericho defeated Naito for the Intercontinental Championship at Dominion on June 9th. He then successfully defended the title against EVIL at Power Struggle 2018.
Becky Lynch will challenge Asuka for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble. In peculiar fashion, WWE announced the match during an episode of Main Event. The syndicated show is filmed before RAW and rarely broadcasts much of any significance.
The announcement was made after a recap of Asuka vs Naomi from Smackdown was played on the show.
Becky Lynch vs Asuka – Royal Rumble 2019
Asuka and Becky Lynch have never faced each other in single’s competition on WWE programming. When house shows are factored in, however, the Rumble will be their second single’s match. Asuka successfully defended the NXT Championship against Lynch at a WWE house show in Japan on July 2nd, 2016.
They’ve twice been on opposing sides of each other on WWE programming, however. The first time was the 2017 Royal Rumble, which Asuka won, and the second was Sunday’s TLC triple threat match which again was won by Asuka and also involved Charlotte Flair.
Royal Rumble 2019
Lynch facing Asuka at the Rumble throws a wrench in the idea that Lynch would enter the Rumble match itself in order to win and face Ronda. Though, if WWE does want to do Becky vs Ronda in the main event of WrestleMania, there are several avenues they can take to get there.
Bully Ray was revealed as the President of Aces and Eights in 2013. The TNA Wrestling faction was a major angle in the promotion from the summer of 2012 to winter of 2013. During the course of the angle, Bully Ray held the TNA World Championship twice. According to Bully, without Aces and Eights, there would be no Bullet Club.
Bullet Club and Aces and Eights do have one former member in common. Luke/Doc Gallows joined Aces and Eights in late 2012 and was a member until the following summer when he left for NJPW. Gallows arrived in New Japan in late 2013 and teamed with Karl Anderson in the World Tag League that year. Anderson and Gallows won the World Tag League and then went on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships at Wrestle Kingdom that year.
Bullet Club debuted in May of 2013, a little under one-year after the debut of Aces and Eights.
Other notable members of the Aces and Eights faction in TNA Wrestling included: Devon, Ken Anderson, Tito Ortiz, Garett Bischoff, Knux, Taz, D-Lo Brown, Ivelisse, and Wes Briscoe.
PWI voted the TNA vs Aces and Eights angle as the feud of the year in 2012.
The Young Bucks finished up with ROH this weekend but there was still speculation they could end up performing on the big ROH/NJPW Madison Square Garden show this spring. Although the Bucks are leaving ROH, they could potentially be contracted NJPW performers come that time.
According to recent comments from Matt Jackson, however, the Bucks will definitely not be on that show even if they are with NJPW come that time.
Cody Says He’s Leaving WrestleMania Weekend To WWE
Cody doubled-down on his comments about not performing on the Madison Square Garden show either during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.
“I have a massive amount of respect for Joe Koff and [GM] Greg Gilleland. My exclusivity with Ring of Honor ended a while back and they’ve maintained everything on a handshake deal. I think Greg is a revolutionary in how he allows talent to play with without overproducing,” Cody said. “But I can’t imagine me being on that particular show. After two ‘supercards’ and breaking my back essentially against Kenny last year, it still can’t change the fact that people are in town for WWE.”
He continued to say he’s performed that weekend for many years but is now leaving it to WWE.
“After 10 years with WWE doing ’Mania weekend and two more with ROH, I am leaving that weekend for the boys and girls of the WWE.”
Carmella won the first two women’s Money in the Bank matches in 2017. She cashed-in the briefcase the Tuesday after WrestleMania and defeated Charlotte Flair to win the title. ‘Mella then went on to defend the title 3x on WWE programming within a 131-day reign.
She spoke to Metro UK about possibly being champion again someday.
“I will become champion again,” Carmella said. “That’s for sure, but right now everyone has their moment and then you get back into the mix. I’m not in any rush, when it happens it’ll happen.”
As for what Carmella is up to now, however, she’s happy in her role with R-Truth. The tandem recently won the Mixed Match Challenge and earned the last entrance into their respective Royal Rumbles.
“I didn’t know (R-Truth) that well before we started this whole thing but he’s such an easygoing guy,” Carmella said. “It’s been really fun getting to know him, and honestly, how you see us on TV is how we are in real life. We finish each other’s sentences, we’re so silly and we have turned into such good friends. I feel super lucky, he’s a great, great guy and he’s not afraid to make a fool out of himself and have a good time.”
The angle between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch has taken a new turn: Ronda is claiming that Becky stole her underwear. The alleged theft is believed to have taken place during the Smackdown invasion of Raw in the build-up to Survivor Series.
Becky Lynch was a guest on Edge and Christian’s podcast last week. She spoke about how even now she is not “the chosen one” by WWE brass.
“No matter how much things change, they stay the same,” Lynch said on the show. “I’m the champ and I’m still not on those posters. So there is that, there is that I’m still not completely the face of the company no matter how much I do, no matter how much interest I’m drumming up, I’m still not the chosen one and that’s fine because that gives me more fuel for the fire.”
Fans of Finn Balor have been underwhelmed with how the Superstar has been used in recent months. Balor has not been used as a main event talent for the most part since returning from a shoulder injury which forced him to vacate the Universal Championship in 2016.
According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, Finn is likely in line for a push. “Finn Balor, after being mired in the middle, is about to get a significant push, at least for a little while,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
Balor was victorious over Drew McIntyre at TLC on Sunday. Outside interference from Dolph Ziggler played a role in the outcome, however. Balor then defeated Ziggler on Raw this Monday. A triple threat match between McIntyre, Ziggler, and Balor has been scheduled (i.e taped) for next week.
Finn Balor in WWE
Balor left New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2014 to sign with NXT. At the time, Balor had been wrestling as Prince Devitt and was a founding member of Bullet Club.
He arrived in NXT in 2014 and spent over 2 years in WWE developmental before cracking the main roster. Balor won the NXT Championship by defeating Kevin Owens on a WWE Network special from Japan. He’d continue to hold the title until 2016 when he dropped it to Samoa Joe.
Becky Lynch might be the hottest thing in WWE at the moment but she still doesn’t feel like she gets the respect she deserves. The Man was a guest on Edge and Christian’s podcast last week and spoke about how WWE still doesn’t treat her as the face of the company. Lynch relayed a story on the show about how even now it’s Charlotte Flair and not her who is on the posters for Smackdown.
“No matter how much things change, they stay the same,” Lynch said on the show. “I’m the champ and I’m still not on those posters. So there is that, there is that I’m still not completely the face of the company no matter how much I do, no matter how much interest I’m drumming up, I’m still not the chosen one and that’s fine because that gives me more fuel for the fire.”
Lynch would credit the fans with helping to put her in the position she is in now, however.
“Thankfully, the fans have believed in me,” she said. “That’s who I thank all the time for putting me in this spot because they never stopped believing in me.”
Lynch began making her comments at approximately 45 minutes into the episode:
The WWE Network will present two previously unaired shows in primetime tonight. 205 Live will get going at 7 PM followed by NXT at 8. Tonight’s episode of NXT features a steel cage match main event as well.
NXT 12/19 Preview
Johnny Gargano vs Aleister Black – Steel Cage Match
Johnny Gargano was responsible for putting former NXT Champion, Aleister Black, on the injured list for months earlier this year. Tonight, Black will have his chance at revenge when he and Gargano are locked inside an unforgiving steel cage.
Io Shirai & Dakota Kai vs Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke
The 4 Horsewomen of MMA, Jessamyn Duke & Marina Shafir, will make their NXT debuts tonight. They will take on the team of Io Shirai and Dakota Kai. No doubt Shayna Baszler and Kairi Sane will both be watching this match closely as their allies go two-on-two with their rivals.
Dominik Dijakovic Arrives In NXT
Former ROH star, Dominik Dijakovic, will make his NXT debut tonight. The tag-line the promotion is attaching to him appears to be “Feast Your Eyes”. His opponent for tonight has yet to be named, likely meaning they are enhancement talent.
Heavy Machinery In Action
Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight will face the NXT Champions, Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly, next week. Tonight, however, the recently announced call-ups to the main roster will be in tag action against opponents to be determined.
205 Live 12/19 Preview
Lio Rush in Action
Although Rush is busy working as the hype man for Bobby Lashley on Raw these days, he will be returning to the 205 Live ring tonight. His opponent has yet to be named, however.
The Brian Kendrick & Akira Tozawa vs Gentleman Jack Gallagher and Drew Gulak
A tag-team grudge match will take place tonight under street fight rules. Gulak and Gallagher kicked Kendrick out of their group earlier this year and tonight, Kendrick will have a chance for revenge.
Asuka became the new Smackdown Women’s Champion on Sunday night. She climbed the ladder at TLC and secured the title after Ronda Rousey had tipped both Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch off another ladder.
The win was covered by the famed Japanese media outlet, Tokyo Sports. Asuka would later speak to the media outlet directly about her victory.
Translations are cleaned up versions of what Google Translate provided.
“I finally arrived,” Asuka told Tokyo Sports. “After I finished the match, many people were clapping for us in the back.”
Asuka would continue to say that Vince McMahon complimented the match, hugged her, and said he was “really happy”. The article also brought up how Asuka surpassed Goldberg’s undefeated streak during her time in NXT.
Asuka told the media outlet that Ronda Rousey’s interference on Sunday did not change the outcome of the match. “I think the result would not have changed even if there would not have been interference from Ronda,” Asuka said confidently. “Why did I take the belt? Because I’m Asuka!”
Asuka Says She Wants To Defend Title At WrestleMania
She would continue to tell Tokyo Sports that she wants to defend her title at WrestleMania in April. Asuka is hoping she gets a chance to face Ronda Rousey at the event.
Finally, Asuka would say the reason she came to WWE is to help elevate the women’s divisions, something which has indisputably happened in recent months.
“The reason why I came to WWE is raising the quality of the girls,” Google Translate estimated Asuka’s comments as. “That is my mission.”
Posted December 19th, 2018 in News, WWE. Tagged: Asuka.
WWE taped next week’s episode of Smackdown last night in Fresno, CA. The episode is scheduled to air next week on December 25th, 2018. A notable spoiler took place during last night’s tapings as well.
In a match for the United States championship, Rusev defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the title for the third time in his career. Both the date the match was taped on and the date it will air on happened to fall on Rusev Day.
On the edition of Smackdown which aired last night, Rusev spoke about winning back “his” United States Championship.
Nakamura would later reply that Rusev was not a true challenger for his title but rather a “Total Diva”.
Rusev, Shinsuke Nakamura, United States Championship
The last time Rusev held the United States Championship was in 2016. He lost the title during that reign to Roman Reigns. His previous run with the belt was from 2014 to 2015. That reign ended when he was defeated by John Cena for the title.
Nakamura won the United States title from Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules this year. He defended it successfully against Hardy at SummerSlam as well. Nakamura previously defended the title successfully against Rusev on the Crown Jewel Kickoff show too. He also defended the title successfully against Tye Dillinger and was twice DQ’ed in title defenses against Jeff Hardy.
Earlier this year, Hiroshi Tanahashi voiced his criticism of Kenny Omega’s in-ring style. The G1 Climax 28 winner said that only the last 5 minutes of a Kenny Omega match matter because there is no story to them.
He said Omega’s matches are “like watching a movie with no Kishotenketsu (dramatic arc of traditional Japanese narratives).”
Omega recently responded in an interview with Rolling Stone Japan. NJPW commentator, Chris Charlton, provided the translation.
“To suggest that mine is a style that isn’t New Japan is a big problem,” Omega said. “It’s saying Tanahashi’s style, the style that presents himself as the ace, is the only style that’s correct.”
Omega then takes a shot at his Wrestling Kingdom 13 challenger.
“I absolutely understand and respect that Tanahashi did so much to pull NJPW out of the dark ages,” Omega continued. “Recently, the ones that have brought us to this awesome level have been Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and of course, the best bout machine, Kenny Omega.”
Kenny Omega’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship Reign
Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the title in a best 2-of-3 falls, no time-limit match in Osaka, Japan on June 6th, 2018. He followed up the win at NJPW Dominion by defeating Cody in his first title defense at the G1 Special in San Francisco. Omega then defeated rival, Tomohiro Ishii, at Destruction in Hiroshima in September. In his latest defense, he defeated Cody and Kota Ibushi in a triple threat match at King of Pro Wrestling.
The NWA has booked David Arquette to appear on their pop-up event on January 5th in Clarksville, TN. NWA World Champion, Nick Aldis, is scheduled to defend his title against James Storm at the event.
We are pleased to announce that @DavidArquette will be appearing and wrestling at #NWAPopUp on January 5, 2019 in Clarksville, TN.
The announcement specifically mentions Arquette will be wrestling at the event. NWA regular, Jocephus, later replied “This is very interesting. I have an idea…”, indicating he’d be interested in facing Arquette.
Arquette’s booking has evidently led to his detractors voicing their criticism. He responded to them in a series of Tweets.
“I love all the hate I’m getting here. It baffles me that these people can love wrestling just like I do but I’m a joke in their eyes. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. 8 months of training. Two surgeries, 3 broken ribs, traveling across the US, getting…”
His Tweets continued:
“Stiffed by promoters, helping shine a light on talent I believe in that aren’t getting recognized, doing little things I won’t mention to give back to both wrestling and individual wrestlers and I’m the asshole? Wrestling is for the people and by the people…”
“I may have grown up in Hollywood but I’m not some stuck up punk. I had and opportunity to be a part of WCW when I was in my 20’s to travel with some of my heroes in the ring and I took it. I’m done apologizing. Now I just want to kick some ass so any of you bitches have a…”
“Problem with me I’ll see you in Tennessee or wherever I’m wrestling and we can settle it like men.”
NWA Pop Up Event
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Nick Aldis (c) vs James Storm
NWA Women’s World Heavyweight Championship
Jazz (c) vs Allie
NWA National Heavyweight Championship
Willie Mack (c) vs Matt Cross
Tonight’s episode of Smackdown will emanate from the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Smackdown is under new management as well. Last night on Raw, the McMahon family announced they will be taking control of both Raw and Smackdown.
Smackdown General Manager, Paige, reacted to the news:
On Sunday, Asuka climbed the ladder and grabbed the Smackdown Women’s Championship title. Tonight on Smackdown, the era of Asuka begins. Will there be someone from the Smackdown women’s division who wants to end her title reign quickly, however? We could find out more about what is in store for Asuka and her title reign as we head towards the Royal Rumble tonight.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair Respond To Ronda Rousey’s Actions On Sunday
Ronda Rousey cost both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair the Smackdown Women’s title on Sunday. While it’s not yet clear what will be in store for that two former friends as WWE heads into the Royal Rumble, tonight both will respond to Rousey’s actions from Sunday.
Will Daniel Bryan Introduce A New Strap For The WWE Championship?
Daniel Bryan promised that if he could defeat AJ styles at TLC on Sunday that he would replace the strap on the WWE championship. According to Bryan, he wants to introduce a new sustainable strap. Bryan evidently realized on Sunday the strap for the title is made of leather and leather comes from cows which create methane and contribute to global warming when mass-bred through factory farming.
Will Bryan follow through on his promise? If so, what will the strap be made out of? Will he mistakenly refer to it as a belt? We could find out the answers to these questions tonight on Smackdown.
Who Will Be Next For The Bar?
The Bar defeated arguably two of the best teams in WWE history on Sunday. In a triple threat match, they defeated both New Day and the Usos. Just like that, new title contenders will need to be determined in the Smackdown tag team division. We could find out tonight what is next in store for Sheamus and Cesaro tonight.
Sami Zayn is on his way back to WWE according to a hype video which aired last night on Raw. Zayn has been on the shelf since June. He underwent double-shoulder surgery this summer and was estimated to be out for 8 months.
Based on the video which aired last night, however, Zayn’s return could be coming sooner than originally expected. He posted the following to Twitter in response to his pending return:
During this time off, I've been working on becoming a better person, and letting go of a lot of toxic elements that come with egotism & ambition.
But I just watched that teaser for my return on #Raw and remembered how good I am at pro wrestling. I actually forgot how great I am.
“During this time off, I’ve been working on becoming a better person, and letting go of a lot of toxic elements that come with egotism & ambition. But I just watched that teaser for my return on #Raw and remembered how good I am at pro wrestling. I actually forgot how great I am.”
Zayn had been dealing with shoulder problems for some time when it was finally decided this summer he’d take time off to deal with it.
“I was apprehensive [at WWE Money in the Bank], but it was still manageable,” Zayn explained to Sports Illustrated this summer. “It’s just so weird how you get so used to what we do: I could go in there and wrestle main events on Live Events for 25-30 minutes, but I couldn’t really get the sheets off me in bed. It’s weird how that works. Your body just adapts. And I guess my body’s used to being in the ring and that kind of punishment.”