WWE has purchased the rights to the World Wrestling Council’s videotape library. According to a recent report from PW Insider, WWE closed the deal for the Puerto Rican promotion’s content last month.
There is currently no timetable for when the promotion will be added to the WWE Network, however.
World Wrestling Council
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwim05LE404
The WWC was created in 1973 by Carlos Colon Sr, Victor Jovica, and Gorilla Monsoon.
Unfortunately, the promotion is where Bruiser Brody was killed in 1988. Brody was stabbed in the showers by Jose Huertas Gonzalez, who wrestled under the name Invader #1. Gonzalez was later acquitted of murder charges after claiming self-defense.
In addition to running the promotion, Carlos Colon is one of the territory’s most successful wrestlers in history. Colon has somehow won the WWC Universal Championship (est 1982) on 26 occasions and held the belt for over 3000 combined days.
Carly Colon’s son, Carlito, has also been successful in the promotion. As with his father, Carlito has won the WWC Universal title numerous times. He is a 17x champion and has held the belt a total combined days of 1318. Ray Gonzalez has held the same title 21x for 1963 combined days. Other notable former champions include Abdullah the Butcher, Eddie Colon, Greg Valentine, Dory Funk, Sabu, Razor Ramon, and Dory Funk Jr.
Primo and Epico Colon still wrestle for the promotion occasionally even though they are under WWE contracts.
Posted November 6th, 2018 in News, WWE. Tagged: Carlito.
WWE is back in Manchester tonight for Smackdown, 205 Live, and the Mixed Match Challenge. Only Smackdown will air today, however. No matches have been confirmed as of this writing, but several segments have been.
Shane McMahon and Paige Respond to Survivor Series Match-Ups
Last night on Raw, Constable Corbin announced that he would captain the Raw team at Survivor Series. Corbin won’t compete in the match but he did add Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and Braun Strowman to the team. Tonight, expect Shane McMahon and Paige to likely announce a few participants for the Smackdown team.
Becky Lynch’s Message To Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey cut a promo on Becky Lynch last night on Raw. In two weeks, Lynch and Rousey will go one-on-one in a match which could easily (and arguably should) close the show even with Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles on the card.
Becky Lynch will offer up her rebuttal to Rousey’s promo tonight.
Shane McMahon’s WWE World Cup Victory And Team Smackdown At Survivor Series
So, Shane McMahon is the best in the world. McMahon replaced the Miz in the finals of the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel. He had also said if anyone from Smackdown loses in the finals they would be fired. Perhaps that means the Miz will be fired but that’s only speculation.
Tonight, Shane will let the WWE Universe know more about how his win in the World Cup will impact Smackdown moving forward.
AJ Styles Reacts To Rematch With Brock Lesnar
AJ Styles will face Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series in two weeks. It’s a rematch from last year when Styles won the title just days before the event. In fact, Styles defeated Jinder Mahal in Manchester (tonight’s host) for the title around this time last year.
Tonight, Styles will have a message for the man who re-gained the Universal Championship at Crown Jewel.
Matt and Nick Jackson won’t be taking part in NJPW’s World Tag League this year. While the Young Bucks did move up to the heavyweight division this year, Matt Jackson says NJPW never offered a spot on the tour to them. He continued to say that even if they had been offered a spot, they likely would not have accepted.
Matt Jackson’s response to a fans’ question regarding the tour stated the team is too busy and NJPW doesn’t pay enough. “We’re too busy and they don’t pay enough.”
Matt Jackson would expand on his thoughts in a later tweet. “Truthfully we were never even offered the tour. But yes, it wouldn’t make sense to leave our families for close to 4 weeks during the holidays for many reasons; finances only being one amongst many.”
The World Tag League runs from November 15th to December 9th. The Bucks’ ROH schedule would allow them to compete on the tour. ROH’s Global Wars tour ends on November 11th and the promotion doesn’t have another show until Final Battle on December 15th.
The Bucks are, however, promoting their recently released children’s book. They announced a special event on November 15th at a Dave & Busters location to promote and sell the book.
NJPW announced recently that they have reached a deal with Don Callis for him to return on commentary. Callis and NJPW were seemingly on the outs not long after King of Pro Wrestling. With Callis a senior management member with Impact, he’s not always available for NJPW shows and it appeared the company was moving forward without him.
Callis addressed the situation on his “Killin the Town Podcast” released today.
Don Callis NJPW
“I am going back to New Japan,” Callis said. “So, for all the people out there who were claiming I’d been fired and that they didn’t want to use me anymore, that sort of thing. There were some people who said that and had all sorts of reasons for it that they would speculate about. As I said before, I’m busy enough that it’s not that I didn’t notice I wasn’t going back but I hadn’t given it a lot of thought because I’d been so busy.”
Callis would then continued to talk about NJPW reaching out to him to bring him back to the commentary booth.
“They reached out to me and we had a discussion,” Callis continued. “I don’t think I’m telling any tales out of school but they were quite intent on getting me back and I love the company and I love the boys in the back and I like the product. So, once we were able to resolve everything to mutual satisfaction I made a deal to go back.”
He then announced he would be back with the company November 17th and 18th for the shows in Tokyo.
It’s a busy period for Ring of Honor. Just days after the conclusion of Chris Jericho’s Rock N Rager at Sea, the promotion held television tapings in Pittsburgh on Saturday followed by Sunday’s Survival of the Fittest event in Columbus.
This week the promotion has shows on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday night. They recently announced several new matches for the tour.
Tetsuya Naito says he has no interest in going to WWE. According to a recent report from Tokyo Sports, Naito turned down a WWE offer back in June after NJPW Dominion. The translated quotes come courtesy of NJPW commentator, Chris Charlton.
“I didn’t even give it thought,” Naito said. “This New Japan ring is already the world’s number 1 stage. The fans know this. That’s why I think we should focus on our home crowd before looking international.”
Naito would then turn the focus of the conversation to his rival and pending Wrestle Kingdom opponent, Chris Jericho.
“You should understand that I have no interest in ‘WWE Superstar’ Chris Jericho ring,” Naito continued. “What I want to do is get revenge for what happened in a New Japan ring, in a New Japan ring.”
Normally LIJ members have a contentious relationship with Tokyo Sports. Frequently in the past, Naito and other LIJ members have left the media outlet alone at the table to pay for their meals after an interview.
Tetsuya Naito Vs Chris Jericho – Wrestle Kingdom 13
Chris Jericho turned down Tetsuya Naito’s challenge for an Intercontinental Championship match after Power Struggle on Saturday. Despite this, NJPW officially announced the match during yesterday’s press conference.
Jericho then took to social media to remind NJPW he did not accept Naito’s challenge.
Taya Valkyrie was the guest on the most recent edition of Impact Wrestling’s Press Pass. During the show, Taya was upfront regarding having been bullied in the past, both online in the lead-up to Bound For Glory and as a young person growing up in British Columbia.
I had the chance to ask Taya during the call if she has any advice for people who are going through something similar.
“You can dislike someone but you just don’t have to act like that,” Taya said. “We just don’t need that kind of attitude being spewed out in the universe when there are so many positive things happening.”
Taya then offered up words of support for anyone listening who might be dealing with bullying.
“To any child that’s listening or a fan of mine, or teenager, adult, someone who is older than me, hold your head up high,” Taya said. “At the end of the day, you are the only person in this entire world, this universe, that is like you. Not everybody is going to like you, not everybody is going to think you’re nice, not everybody is going to think you’re pretty or whatever it is. But there are a huge amount of people who do love you so keep your head up and move forward.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gUVXuwfKRc
Taya Valkyrie and Impact Wrestling’s Knockout Division
Taya also mentioned she was bullied growing up.
“I was bullied a lot growing up,” Taya said. “So I have so much personal emotion and connection to that kind of stuff and I can’t imagine what it’s like now. I mean for me it’s hard, even as an adult. So, as a child growing up in a world of social media and where everyone can hide behind a screen and a laptop and a keyboard and say whatever they want – for me, as a grown-ass woman, it was hard, so I don’t know.”
Taya Valkyrie can be seen on Wednesday nights with Lucha Underground and Thursday nights for Impact.
An NXT house show scheduled for next week in San Jose has been changed to a TV taping. The abrupt change with only 10 days before the show is an interesting development considering the taping will take place just two days before Takeover: Wargames on November 17th.
NXT announced the change earlier today through their social media channels:
The stakes for the November 15th live event just got raised. #NXTSanJose has just been confirmed as a TV Taping. Tickets are still available NOW! https://t.co/GNTncYqenF
“The stakes for the November 15th live event just got raised. #NXTSanJose has just been confirmed as a TV Taping. Tickets are still available NOW!”
NXT Takeover: WarGames and NXT San Jose TV Tapings
A few matches have been confirmed for Takeover: WarGames so far on NXT programming.
NXT World Championship
Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs Velveteen Dream
WarGames Match
The Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Adam Cole) vs War Raiders, Ricochet, and Pete Dunne
Aleister Black vs Johnny Gargano
Triple H spoke with ESPN earlier this year and mentioned he’s on the fence regarding NXT going longer than 1-hour.
“There are times when I look at NXT and part of me loves the hour format because everybody’s got busy lives,” Triple H said. “By the time you get to Wednesday … if you’re a huge fan, by the time you get to Wednesday, you’ve watched five hours of WWE, and then you’re watching NXT. And that’s if you didn’t watch ‘205 Live.’ There’s a lot out there. The great thing is they’re all slightly different, so there’s a little bit of something for everybody. I run into things, for me, when we’re scripting out weekly episodes of NXT, [where] it’s like, ‘Oh, man, I’d really like to debut this person, or do this thing with this new character, or help get a persona going or something [else], and I don’t have the room to do it. There’s a fine line between that and leaving them wanting more, so it’s a balance.”
Paige responded to a fan on Twitter recently who said WWE makes their female talent wear revealing clothing. According to the Smackdown General Manager, WWE does not force or coerce female talent to wear anything they are uncomfortable with.
“Wrong. We dress the way we wanna dress. We aren’t coerced or forced into dressing like anything other than what we feel comfortable, confident and beautiful in. The men technically show more skin than the women… does that make them “whores” or?”
Paige’s Wrestling Career Moving Forward
Despite only being 26, WWE’s doctors have said they will no longer clear Paige to compete. She has suffered wear-and-tear damage to her shoulder and neck area that doctors are no longer comfortable allowing her back in the ring. Part of her history with injuries can be attributed to her having scoliosis. The condition causes a curving of the spine and while not serious, can be challenging for athletes.
Paige had the following to say regarding her retirement during a recent appearance on Lillian Garcia’s podcast.
“Everything I knew my entire life, like literally for 26 years all I’ve known is wrestling and for it to be ripped out of my hands just like that – and it’s no one’s fault, it just comes with the business sometimes, like spinal stenosis with Edge and Stone Cold, it happens. For it to be cut short, it’s devastating. It’s horrible. My dad was just crying and he was like, ‘Everything is gonna be OK sweetheart. You’re gonna do bigger things now. Don’t worry this isn’t the end of your story,’ and I was like, ‘Thank you dad.’ That same day, I was just devastated, Hunter called me to make sure I was OK. I went to work and Vince [McMahon] gave me a big hug and said, ‘We’ll look after you. We just want you to look after yourself first.’”
Posted November 5th, 2018 in News, WWE. Tagged: Paige.
Hulk Hogan returned to WWE at Crown Jewel on Friday. The formerly removed member of the WWE Hall of Fame served as host for the show. Following Crown Jewel, Hogan was evidently displeased with how he looked. He posted the following to Twitter in relation to his appearance in Saudi Arabia:
Ok, today is a new day. After seeing myself on Crown Jewel I have decided to get serious and get under 300lbs. I looked huge, swole, jacked and my arms are still bigger than most wrestlers legs. I don’t want to look like I can beat up the whole @WWE roster anymore. Only Love HH
“Ok, today is a new day. After seeing myself on Crown Jewel I have decided to get serious and get under 300lbs. I looked huge, swole, jacked and my arms are still bigger than most wrestlers legs. I don’t want to look like I can beat up the whole @WWE roster anymore. Only Love HH”
Hulk Hogan WWE Status
Hulk Hogan apologized to the WWE locker room this summer for racist comments he made back in 2006. Hogan was secretly recorded and the tapes leaked. Several members of the WWE roster did not feel Hogan’s apology was sufficient, however. Titus O’Neal made the following comments in regards to Hogan’s apology this summer.
“This is not about second or third chances,” O’Neil said. “This is about a man making a decision to make statements that he truly felt in his heart I believe at that time. He may not feel that way now, he may regret it. But to come out and say, ‘I didn’t know I was being recorded’ and ‘ be careful what you say’ and ‘I don’t remember saying that stuff.’ When you start out an apology like that. Dude, you lost it already. I wanted to give him a chance, I didn’t know what that meeting was about going in but I wanted to give him a chance.”
Matt Hardy got involved in the action at a WWE house show in Spain this weekend. Hardy took part in a brawl to close a house show in Madrid. Video of his appearance can be seen below:
Hardy insinuated back in September that his in-ring career is possibly over. He never technically said he was retired though. He clarified his status recently on Lillian Garcia’s podcast.
“People throw around the word retirement where typically if someone teases that, it’s retirement, but retirement is not a word I ever said,” he explained.
Several social media posts by Hardy since August insinuated his career’s worth of injuries had begun to take their toll, however. He posted the following back in August:
This maneuver was called EVENT OMEGA..
And is most likely the reason that I’ve recently learned that my lower back & pelvis have started fusing together. https://t.co/FzYebvIIc0
Matt Hardy’s first official match in WWE was on May 23rd, 1994. He lost a single’s match to Nikolai Volkoff.
Hardy’s last official match was a September 15th, 2018 house show from Corpus Christi, Texas. The match was a triple threat for the WWE Raw tag-team championships along with Bray Wyatt. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre won the match and the B-Team were the other team involved. That was also the last time Bray Wyatt wrestled a match in WWE.
The House of Hardy Halloween Special debuted on the WWE Network on October 28th after the Evolution PPV. Hardy would later say on Lillian Garcia’s podcast that the show would be turned into a regular series on the network but no further details are available regarding this.
The NJPW young lion has been with the company since 2015 but hasn’t wrestled since February. He is believed to have suffered a concussion at the New Beginning in Hiroshima but details of his injury are hard to come by. There has been speculation Kitamura may have to retire due to his injuries.
Katsuya Kitamura To Bullet Club?
The 32-year-old Kitamura was a highly accomplished amateur wrestler before joining the NJPW dojo. A 3x national champion, his amateur career ended after a failed drug test in 2011. His subsequent suspension likely cost him a spot on the 2012 Japanese Olympic team. Kitamura said he took the substances by accident when they were in some over-the-counter supplements he purchased. He started training with NJPW in 2015.
Kitamura often teamed with Tomoyuki Oka, sometimes under the team name “Monster Rage.” Oka is currently on an excursion with Revolution Po under the name Great O’Kharn.
Tama Tonga On The Elite No Longer Being Bullet Club
Tama Tonga’s Firing Squad wished the Elite good luck in their future endeavors at the G1 Special In San Fransico. Members of the Elite confirmed they are no longer Bullet Club on Chris Jericho’s Rock N Rager at Sea this weekend.
Kurt Angle wrestled his first WWE single’s match in 12 years at Crown Jewel. It was his first single’s match for any promotion since March 2017. Angle lost a 1st round match to Dolph Ziggler in the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel.
The WWE Hall-of-Famer posted the following after the loss:
The last time Kurt Angle wrestled a single’s match in WWE was 12 years ago. At the time, he was on the re-vamped ECW brand. Angle’s final single’s match during his initial run with the company was over Danny Doring on an ECW house show in 2006.
Kurt Angle at WWE Crown Jewel
All of Angle’s WWE matches since returning last year were either multi-person matches (such as the Greatest Royal Rumble) or tag-team matches. He teamed with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania this year and was a fill-in member of the Shield at TLC 2017. Angle was also the victorious Team Raw in last year’s Raw vs Smackdown traditional Survivor Series match.
Dolph Ziggler would defeat Seth Rollins in the semi-finals of the tournament and advanced to the finals. Things got weird in the final match of the tournament, however, when Shane McMahon replaced the Miz. McMahon won the match and was subsequently declared the Best in the World.
Ember Moon may not have won the battle royal at Evolution but she had one epic wedding recently. She married her fiance of 3-years, Matthew Palmer, in a fantasy style ceremony, similar to Harry Potter or Game of Thrones.
Jessica Havoc posted the following after attending the wedding.
A massive shout out to @SteveKayeLV and @HardRockHotelLV for creating an amazing experience for us this past week. thank you for the memories and a fun time! pic.twitter.com/ffdnABz9Ew
— Athena is ROH and All Elite! (@AthenaPalmer_FG) November 3, 2018
Ember Moon and Matthew Palmer Wedding
“A massive shout out to @SteveKayeLV and @HardRockHotelLV for creating an amazing experience for us this past week. thank you for the memories and a fun time!”
Veda Scott was the maid of honor:
A few days ago, I was maid of honor in a Game of Thrones/Harry Potter themed ceremony and now no one else can ever get married because that was an absolutely unable-to-be-topped, fully bonkers Ultimate Wedding.
The couple met while training together. Palmer noted during an interview earlier this year that it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.
“Her definitive memory of us meeting was when we actually had to do a training drill together, and I dropkicked her in the face,” said Palmer. “And then she hated me for a while. I thought she was gorgeous and awesome — and then I drop kicked her in the face. It was the drill, I had to do it.”
Palmer proposed to Moon before she started at the WWE Performance Center in 2015.
Anthem Sports and Entertainment filed a motion on Thursday to have Jeff Jarrett’s lawsuit against the company dismissed. Jarrett filed the lawsuit against the company in August.
Jarrett’s suit claims Anthem “reproduced, distributed, publicly displayed, offered for sale, and sold the GFW Amped content without providing any compensation or royalties to GFE or Mr. Jarrett.” This stemming from the failed merger between Impact and Global Force Wrestling last year.
Anthem Responds To Jeff Jarett’s Lawsuit
Anthem’s response is that Jarrett himself was the one who authorized Anthem’s use of GFW content. They provided their own records of trademark filings as well as a non-disclosure agreement signed by Jarrett.
“There can be no doubt that Jarrett provided the content at the request of Defendant Anthem Wrestling and that he intended that Anthem Wrestling use and distribute the content, using Plaintiffs’ trademarks,” Anthem’s response reads. “Moreover, because Plaintiff Jarrett granted this license in exchange for his salary and the promise of the anticipated merger, it is supported by consideration and is irrevocable.”
In a nutshell, Anthem’s response is that Jarrett sold his content in exchange for a salary and job.
“As often happens, the parties’ merger plans did not work out as expected,” Anthem’s response continued. “Mr. Jarrett was terminated near the end of October 2017. The sale and marketing of the Amped Content was not successful and did not turn a profit.”
Shane McMahon’s wife, Marissa McMahon, is a movie producer and her latest film tells the true story of war correspondent, Marie Colvin. It is her first film since 2012’s, “What Maisie Knew”, a story about a child going through a custody battle.
Incredibly proud of my wife Marissa for producing her amazing film @APrivateWar. Based on the true story of fearless war journalist Marie Colvin, the film opens this weekend in NY and LA and nationwide on Nov 16. View the trailer at https://t.co/UXeoCZScSApic.twitter.com/f0KNrqe6hi
“Incredibly proud of my wife Marissa for producing her amazing film @APrivateWar. Based on the true story of fearless war journalist Marie Colvin, the film opens this weekend in NY and LA and nationwide on Nov 16. View the trailer at http://APrivateWarFilm.com”
An IMDB description of the movie reads as follows:
“One of the most celebrated war correspondents of our time, Marie Colvin is an utterly fearless and rebellious spirit, driven to the frontline of conflicts across the globe to give voice to the voiceless.”
Shane and Marissa McMahon
“Marissa McMahon was born in New York City and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut,” her IMDB biography reads. “She attended the private all-girls school Greenwich Academy and graduated from Boston University. Marissa began her career in public relations working for Dan Klores. Before founding Kamala Films in 2005, she was director of public relations for World Wrestling Entertainment.”
Shane and Marissa have 3 sons, the oldest of whom was born in 2004. The couple have two other sons born in 2006 and 2010 respectively.
Several wrestling personalities have given their thoughts on WWE recently. Impact Wrestling producer, Gail Kim, is no different. Last night, Kim said the reason WWE isn’t concerned about bringing back Hulk Hogan after having made racist remarks is that they are racist themselves.
She would later respond to someone who refuted the WWE is racist claim:
Oh ok Bc they hire people of ethnicity doesn’t mean they aren’t racist. It’s business number one. Two, you don’t know anything about what happens backstage mr diehard https://t.co/1ZXDE1ngYE
Kim then took a shot at a media outlet for misconstruing her remarks, leading this media outlet to be a little nervous about posting this article now:
I DID say they were racist. Never mentioned anything about Hulk Hogan…..are you guys that desperate for clicks that you have to make up headlines? Bc you know reporting the truth ACTUALLY makes you credible. https://t.co/ljaaW0PXzc
It seems as though the outlet misconstrued Gail Kim’s comments. She was saying WWE is racist and therefore don’t mind that Hogan made racist comments not that WWE is racist as a result of having brought back Hogan after he made racist comments.
Gail Kim – Impact Wrestling
The Knockouts Division in Impact Wrestling is arguably the most talked about division in the company at the moment. Tessa Blanchard’s Knockouts title reign has drawn significant interest from fans. While controversial, the Allie/Su Yung/Kiera Hogan program has been praised by fans who enjoy that newly developing style of sports entertainment.
A controversial finish to the Bound For Glory rematch between Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie this week will likely lead to a third match somewhere down the road.
Natalya writes a weekly article for the Calgary Sun. It’s a tradition her Uncle Bret began a generation ago. This week, Natalya wrote about the mood backstage at the Raw when Roman Reigns announced he is battling Leukemia.
“Backstage, our world stood still,” Natalya wrote. “We all were watching the monitor and hugging one another, crying and in total disbelief. To me, Roman Reigns was WWE’s version of Superman and he was our locker room leader on Raw. I thought back to how hard he worked to realize his dream to win the Universal Championship from Brock Lesnar and it made me sad to think everything now needed to be put on hold for him to battle this horrible disease.”
Natalya On Roman Reigns
Natalya’s article continued to refer to Roman Reigns as the locker room’s “Superman”.
“And a week later here I am, still thinking about what Roman said and what he is going through. I’m reminded that life is fragile and no one is guaranteed anything. Roman reminded me that we can aspire to inspire others and lead by example. I thought about all of the children I’ve visited who were struggling with cancer who needed a hero and someone to remind them to keep fighting, dreaming and believing.”
Natalya’s full article this week can be read here.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated released their top-100 list of women wrestlers recently. As per usual, the list is filled with controversy. The #1 ranked female wrestler in the world according to PWI in 2018 was Ronda Rousey. Despite only ever having wrestled in 25 matches, the magazine ranked Ronda Rousey as better than any other female in the world.
“That’s absolutely incredible,” Rousey said on the phone to PWI. “I don’t really know how to react to that. I mean, I really appreciate it.”
Ronda would admit she’s not certain her 6 months in the business is enough to have earned the honor, “I don’t know how much I deserve it, but, wow. Thank you.”
PWI said that while she hasn’t wrestled much and has only been an active wrestler for 6 months, the impact she has had in that time is significant enough to earn her the #1 spot.
Rousey continued to tell PWI about how happy she is in her WWE career.
“Honestly, coming into this I expected all the fans and everyone in the locker room to hate my guts from day one,” Rousey said. “I really did. I was really blindsided by how accepting and amazing everyone has been and how amazing the WWE Universe has been, how amazing everybody in the back has been. I’m really not here for a quick paycheck or some extra fame or anything like that, honestly. I just really love this and I really want to contribute as much as I can, I don’t want to take credit for the Women’s Evolution.”
Ronda Rousey PWI 100
Top-10:
Ronda Rousey
Alexa Bliss
Charlotte Flair
Io Shirai
Asuka
Shayna Baszler
Carmella
Nia Jax
Mayu Iwatani
Kairi Sane
The heavily WWE-influenced top-10 will likely cause much debate. The only non-WWE wrestler in the top-10 is Mayu Iwatani from Stardom. The Knockouts division in Impact Wrestling and the Women of Honor division seem to be completely ignored at the top of this list, surprising considering the historical role Impact’s women’s division has had over the years.
Impact Wrestling presented their 3rd episode from Melrose Ballroom last night. There will be one more episode from New York (Final Hour next week) before the promotion heads to Las Vegas for 3 nights of tapings.
The OGZ Vs Lucha Brothers Rivalry Continues To Build
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302kfjH5QXU
Pentagon Jr defeated Homicide
King has found another way to get at Konnan since the New York bosses won’t let him go after LAX. Now King’s OGZ has their sights on Konnan’s allies, Pentagon Jr. and Fenix. While Pentagon picked up the win this week over Homicide with a schoolboy, the OGZ had the numbers advantage in the post-match beatdown.
Tessa Blanchard DQ’ed, Taya Valkyrie Denied Championship Again
Knockouts Championship Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard (c) via DQ
In a rematch from Bound For Glory, Taya looked as though she had the upper-hand against Blanchard. She had been able to avoid Blanchard’s “Magnum” move which beat her at the PPV but the champ found another way out of the situation. Blanchard straight up punched the referee in the face, causing a DQ and saving her title. Did she sense she wouldn’t be able to defeat Taya and did what she had to do to save her title?
Sami Callihan Beat Up An Imposter Brian Cage In Ohio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vFb_lV30A
Sami Callihan announced that he would face Brian Cage at a show in Ohio but all was not quite what it seemed. When Brian Cage entered the ring area it was clear Callihan had simply hired an imposter to dress and act like Cage.
Cage cut a promo later in the night that he’ll be in Ohio next week and he’s bringing the X-Division title.
There’s Something Wrong With Allie
Allie told Kiera Hogan she left her soul in the undead realm at Bound For Glory. She feels something dark has a hold of her. Allie also said she is unable to get the thought of what happened to Rosemary out of her head.
Hogan then told Allie they will finish this by ending Su Yung. Evidently, Impact opted not to put highlights of this on YouTube.
Rich Swann Defeated His Friend, Willie Mack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTYjyo3UV0
Rich Swann defeated Willie Mack
As this was Willie Mack’s single’s debut in the promotion, he chose Rich Swann as his opponent. He said he wants to show everyone what the two of them can do in a ring together. As the night’s opener was drawing to a close, Swann was able to get his foot on the rope after Mack hit a stunner. A few moves later, Swann hit the Phoenix Splash and got the 3-count.
LAX Defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhhp5yXaGbA
LAX w/Konnan defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page
This non-title match was made after a backstage confrontation last week. LAX picked up the victory over Sydal and his new teammate. With the OGZ out of the tag-team title picture, things are wide open in the division for new challengers to emerge.
Raj Singh Is The Great Gama Singh’s Son
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPq3FDRVggA
Desi Hit Squad defeated the Beach Bums
Before the Desi Hit Squad were in action this week, the Great Gama announced the new member who attacked Rohit Raju last week is Gama’s son, Raj Singh. The new and improved Desi Hit Squad were victorious this week over the Beach Bums, TJ Crawford, and Freddie IV.
Jordynne Grace Debuts Next Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHlKXKHNmqI
The Knockouts division gets a new powerhouse next week. Jordynne Grace received the biggest exposure of her career thus far in the Over Budget Battle Royal at All In. She’s one who could move up the rankings quickly in the Knockouts division.
Final Hour Next Week
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV7ujl7EvNU
Impact Wrestling will present a branded episode next week. Final Hour will feature Johnny Impact defending the Impact World Championship against Killer Kross. It was also revealed this week that Moose and Eddie Edwards will go one-on-one next week.
Johnny Impact (c) vs Killer Kross – Impact World Championship
Brian Cage (c) vs Sami Callihan – X-Division Championship
Moose vs Eddie Edwards
Jordynne Grace debuts
Quick Results:
Rich Swann defeated Willie Mack
Desi Hit Squad defeated the Beach Bums
Knockouts Championship Taya Valkyrie defeated Tessa Blanchard (c) via DQ
LAX w/Konnan defeated Matt Sydal & Ethan Page (non-title)
In the build-up to Bound For Glory, the line between reality and fiction was blurred. As it turns out, even management wasn’t entirely sure how much was fact and how much was fiction.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, Impact and Aries decided to run with a social media angle without the company’s permission.
“The twitter stuff was actually Aries and John Morrison trying to work their own angle and making it personal with Aries calling Taya husky,” Dave Meltzer wrote. “Management wasn’t happy with that because they don’t want people working angles they aren’t appraised of, because it could contradict where they are going.”
Austin Aries’ “Loose Cannon” Gimmick
Aries is said to have suffered a mild concussion during his match at Bound For Glory. He was sent home from the New York tapings the following day.
“On the Austin Aries thing, as noted last week, his contract has expired but the company is very high on him,” Meltzer continued. “My sense is he’ll be back and there’s a lot of Brian Pillman stuff in what he’s been doing.”
The Aries vs Impact match itself appeared to be quite stiff. Early moments in the match indicated the two were trying to make the bout look as real as possible. Aries then no-sold the finish to the match and flipped off Don Callis before leaving the arena.
Don Callis also commented on the worked-shoot/unplanned parts of the angle on his podcast, Killin the Town.
“Effectively we had an issue earlier in the week with some Tweets between talent. They were told to take those Tweets down,” Callis said. “Things got a little heated at the press conference. People said ‘Well, why didn’t this happen at the press conference if they were going to have a face-to-face?’ Well, because it wasn’t really planned. I’m just going to leave it at that.”
Impact Wrestling will present their third show since Bound For Glory tonight. The episode was filmed inside New York’s Melrose Ballroom. The main event will be a rematch from Bound For Glory when Tessa Blanchard defends her Knockouts Championship against Taya Valkyrie.
Impact is also just one-week away from their next branded episode, Final Hour. Johnny Impact will defend the title against Killer Kross on that show.
Impact Wrestling Preview 11/1
Knockouts Championship
Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Taya Valkyrie
Last week, Blanchard confronted Taya in the back. Two weeks ago, Taya had said she doesn’t respect Blanchard anymore after she used underhanded tactics to secure the victory at the PPV. Tonight, Blanchard wants to show she doesn’t need any help from the referees to defeat Taya.
Impact Wrestling Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs Ethan Page and Matt Sydal
Despite losing at Bound For Glory, Ethan Page and Matt Sydal will get a title match against LAX tonight. The third-eye seeing tandem confronted Konnan and LAX in the back last week which led to them receiving a title match this week.
As for LAX, they might believe they don’t have to worry about King and the OGz anymore but King seems to have found a way to get to Konnan without going through them.
Pengaton Jr. vs Homicide
Kings’ OGZ have figured out they can get to Konnan without skirting the rules set out by the crime bosses in New York. To do so, they just have to get to Pentagon Jr and Fenix, the Lucha brothers. Tonight, former Ring Of Honor World Champion Homicide takes on former Impact (and LU) World Champion Pentagon Jr.
Willie Mack vs Rich Swann
Last week on Impact Wrestling, Rich Swann and Willie Mack were shown in the backstage area. They appeared to be celebrating their win at Bound for Flory when Mack said he wanted to face Swann in his single’s debut next week. His reasoning was that he wants to show everyone what the two of them can do. Meanwhile, the team they beat at Bound for Glory will take on the tag team champions tonight.
Reports coming from the Chris Jericho Rock N Rager At Sea are that Johnny Impact and Jay Lethal have agreed to a match. While no date or time has been scheduled, the ROH World Champion and the Impact World Champion have agreed to go one-on-one.
Johnny Impact vs Jay Lethal
“Johnny Impact, the Impact champion and Jay Lethal, the ROH champion, agreed to a title vs. title match,” wrote Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. “We don’t have the date and place confirmed. Impact and ROH talked about this months ago, the idea of a match with neither title at stake.”
Earlier this year, then Impact World Champion Austin Aries, appeared on several ROH shows as part of a program with Kenny King.
Ring of Honor and Billy Corgan’s NWA
Ring of Honor has also been working with the National Wrestling Alliance as of late. ROH COO, Joe Koff, had the following to say in regards to the relationship.
“We have a great relationship with Dave and Billy with meetings planned down the road to make decisions that benefit both companies but more importantly the fans.”
Billy Corgan offered up the following, “Our relationship with ROH thus far has been stellar and beyond beneficial to the NWA. And we owe much of where we stand currently to Joe. His trust means a lot to us, I can assure you.”
Daniel Bryan will not be at Crown Jewel tomorrow in Saudi Arabia. His reasons for missing the event aren’t purely to do with Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, however. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer, Bryan’s reasons for missing the event are more diverse.
According to the report, Bryan decided at the Greatest Royal Rumble that he would be unable to go back to the country.
“It wasn’t so much that the women weren’t allowed to perform,” Dave Meltzer wrote of Bryan. “But the key was what he learned about the treatment of homosexuals, and also, that they wouldn’t allow Sami Zayn to perform on the show, and he considered that racism.”
Daniel Bryan Crown Jewel
The report continues to say Bryan requested he lose to the Miz in Australia for this reason. According to a report from PW Insider, an empty-arena match was then planned. It would be filmed near the Performance Center and air during Crown Jewel. When that didn’t pan out either, it was eventually decided to just have Styles beat Bryan on Smackdown. Samoa Joe then returned and was named Bryan’s replacement.
The report doesn’t name sources but it reads much like Bryan was speaking directly to the outlet, although that is only speculation. Crown Jewel takes place Friday, November 2nd and will air beginning at 12 PM est on the WWE Network.
WWE will present 205 Live and NXT tonight on the WWE Network. Matt Riddle will make his NXT debut and there is title implications on the line in tonight’s 205 Live main event.
205 Live Preview 10/31
“Gentleman” Jack Gallagher vs The Brian Kendrick
Gallagher and Drew Gulak threw Brian Kendrick out of their trio earlier this month. Gulak claimed Kendrick had become a weak link. Now, Kendrick gets a shot at revenge against Gallagher tonight.
Tony Nese vs Mustafa Ali (#1 Contenders Match)
Tony Nese defeated Cedric Alexander two nights after Cedric lost the Cruiserweight title to Buddy Murphy at Super Show-Down. Then Nese defeated 4 of the top other cruiserweights in the division in a fatal 5-way match. If he beats Mustafa Ali tonight, he’ll earn a title shot against his training partner, Buddy Murphy.
Mustafa Ali defeated Hideo Itami in a Falls Count Anywhere match to blow-off their rivalry. They had been working a program since the summer.
The winner of this match will be the next to challenge Buddy Murphy for the title.
NXT Preview 10/31
Fallout From Last Week
Johnny Gargano was revealed as Aleister Black’s attacker last week. His actions have been met with admiration from his former tag-team partner and current NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa.
William Regal was set to announce who would challenge Ciampa at Takeover: WarGames before the attack was made. It was an announcement that Lars Sullivan and Velveteen Dream had been waiting on. We will see if Regal is able to make an announcement regarding the title match at Takeover tonight.
War Raiders vs Adam Cole & Bobby Fish
The War Raiders were unable to defeat Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly two weeks ago for the tag titles after a returning Bobby Fish caused the distraction. Tonight, the War Raiders get a chance for revenge against the Undisputed Era.
EC3 has also had issues with the Undisputed Era recently. He might be watching this match closely.
Matt Riddle NXT Debut
After being introduced to the NXT live crowd in August, Matt Riddle will make his debut on WWE programming tonight. The King Of Bros’ opponent has yet to be named, likely meaning he’ll face enhancement talent tonight.
The Street Profits vs The Mighty
The new EVOLVE tag-team champions, the Street Profits, will face their longtime tag-team rival in NXT, the Mighty. These two teams are 1-1 against each other on WWE programming. The Street Profits won their first match back in July while the Mighty won the rematch in September.
Nikki Cross In Single’s Action
Nikki shared her secret with Aleister Black two weeks ago. Tonight, she’ll be back in single’s action as she looks to climb back up the rankings of the women’s single’s division in NXT. She’s likely still looking for another rematch against Bianca Belair.