Paige has opened up about what has been a difficult last few years for her. The 26-year-old’s recent struggles will be the focus of an upcoming WWE Network documentary. Paige said she wants others to “learn from my mistakes.”
She recently spoke to the media about what fans can expect from the documentary.
“You hear a bunch of my stories, the year and a half I took out, just everything,” Paige said to the Mirror. “I was very open with the taped sex that unfortunately got leaked, and the [failing] of drug tests.”
“I was just very open about everything because I want people to learn from my mistakes, you know?”
Paige On Fan Support After Her Injury
While Paige said she’s had trouble dealing with her recent struggles, it was her fans who helped her pull through.
“I was at rock bottom for a year and a half and the people who got me out of my rut were my fans,” Paige said. “They were just like ‘I know you can get out of this, you’re stronger than what you feel right now, I know you can make a comeback’.”
Former Impact Wrestling star Mahabali Shera has been released from WWE. The 27-year-old had been with the company since February. While Shera competed on the NXT live tour schedule, he never made it onto WWE programming. He had been wrestling under the name Amanpreet Singh while in NXT. His last match with the company was a loss to Brennan Wiliams on the September 6th house show from the National Guard Armory in Crystal River, Florida, USA.
Shera was also the last ever Heavyweight Champion for Ring Ka King, the TNA run promotion in India which ran in 2012. He was with TNA/Impact from 2011 until late last year when he quietly left the company.
Mahabali Shera Wrestling Career
Not much is known about Shera’s in-ring career before TNA discovered him in 2011. He was immediately placed in the thick of things when he debuted for the company in late 2011.
Shera’s first-ever officially recognized match was a loss to Scott Steiner from the Ring Ka King tapings on December 18th, 2011. A match he would film later the same day, a victory over Nick Dinsmore (Eugene), would actually air first, however. He would defeat Nick Aldis for the Ring Ka King title in early 2012. At the time, Aldis was wrestling as Sir Brutus Magnus.
So far in 2018, MLW has hosted a 40-person Battle Riot and a 2-ring steel cage War Games match. The promotion has just released plans to bring back the once-famous “Spin The Wheel, Make A Deal” match as well.
Sami Callihan and Jimmy Havoc will spin a giant wheel before their MLW match on October 4th from New York City. Whatever gimmick match the wheel lands on will be the stipulation for their match at MLW’s “Fury Road” event. The show will also serve as a television taping for future episodes of MLW Fusion.
Spin The Wheel, Make A Deal Match: Sami Callihan vs Jimmy Havoc
“What kind of match will it be?” MLW’s event page asks. “Nobody will know until that night when a wheel containing 11 different specialty matches will be spun.”
The following gimmick matches will be on the wheel:
Chain Match
Body Bag Match
Coal Miner’s Glove Match
Barbed Wire Match
1st Blood Match
Prince of Darkness
Spinner’s Choice
Death Match
Cage Match
I Quit Match
Dog Collar Match
The 3rd option of a “Coal Miner’s Glove Match” is what was landed on for the first-ever Spin The Wheel, Make A Deal match between Jake “the Snake” Roberts and Sting. The match took place in WCW at Halloween Havoc 1993. Roberts left the promotion shortly after.
The 3rd episode of the 2nd Mae Young Classic will air on the WWE Network tonight. Matches 9-12 of the tournament will be featured as we roll into the second half of the 1st round.
Mae Young Classic Preview 9/19
Mia Yim vs Allysin Kay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2FXOKziAV4
These two former Knockouts Champions will clash inside a WWE ring tonight. Kay once won the Knockouts Championship from Yim in a triple threat match also involving Gail Kim. That match took place at Slammiversary in 2016.
They’ve only met in single’s action once before, however. That was on an episode of Xplosion when Yim defeated Kay in October of 2016. Yim wrestled in TNA as Jade and Kay as Sienna.
Kaitlyn vs Kavita Devi
Former Divas Champion, Kaitlyn returns to the ring tonight. She made an abrupt exit from the business 4 years ago despite only being 27 at the time. Kaitlyn got back into wrestling earlier this year in preparation for the tournament. She’ll be in tough tonight with the gigantic Kavita Devi though, one of WWE’s top prospects from India.
Toni Storm vs Jinny
It is Australia vs England in this match as Toni Storm takes Jinny. With the NXT United Kingdom brand starting to take shape, it seems as though these two will be near or at the top of the women’s division.
This match will be the 10th time the two have faced each other in single’s action. Jinny leads the series 5-4 but Storm has had the upper hand the one previous time they met in a WWE ring in 2017. Storm defeated Jinny at the WrestleMania Axxess show last year.
Karen Q vs Xia Li
Li enters the tournament for the second time. She was knocked out of the 1st round last year by the highly-touted Mercedes Martinez. Tonight the martial arts expert from China will face Karen Q, a grizzled veteran of the North American scene. She’s recently been competing in Ring of Honor’s Women of Honor division.
The WWE Network will air 3-hours of newly released pretaped wrestling shows tonight. Starting at 7 PM, 205 Live (not live), NXT, and the Mae Young Classic will air back-to-back-to-back. 205 Live was taped before Smackdown aired last night in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
205 Live Preview 9/19
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander (c) vs Drew Gulak
Only one match is scheduled for tonight’s 205 Live. Cedric Alexander will look to defend his Cruiserweight Championship for a 4th consecutive time. The winner of tonight’s match will go on to face Buddy Murphy in Melbourne, Australia at Super Show-Down.
Gulak has been running rampant in the cruiserweight division since Summerslam in an attempt to get a title rematch. His efforts pay off tonight but ending Alexander’s title reign will be no small task.
NXT Preview 9/19
NXT North American Champion vs WWE United Kingdom Champion Ricochet (c) vs Pete Dunne (c)
It will be champion vs champion tonight when Ricochet clashes with Pete Dunne. The two men have been on the same side in a rivalry with the Undisputed Era but both want a crack at the others title. Both championships will be on the line tonight. The Undisputed Era might be watching this match closely as well.
Dakota Kai and Deonna Purrazzo vs. Lacey Evans and Aliyah
This match came together as a result of an altercation the 4 competitors had recently at the WWE Performance Center. Kai defeated Aliyah in single’s action recently. On NXT last week, we saw Aliyah and Kai arguing in the back. Eventually, Lacey Evans got involved in defense of Aliyah and Deonna Purrazzo then sided with Kai, leading to tonight’s tag-team match.
Jaxson Ryker In Single’s Action
Ryker’s partners in the Forgotten Sons, Wesley Blake & Steve Cutler, made their debut two weeks ago on NXT programming. The faction has been competing on NXT live events for some time, however. This week it’s time for Jaxson Ryker to debut in the men’s single’s division.
The man known as Gunner in TNA will look to make an impact tonight.
Search For Aleister Black’s Attacker Continues
William Regal will continue his investigation into who attacked Aleister Black tonight. There is speculation Regal even conducted his investigation at PWG BOLA 2018 this weekend.
I’d like to thank every one of the staff and competitors at PWG for their hospitality the last two nights.
As the winner of the G1 Climax 28, Hiroshi Tanahashi is currently in position to challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at WrestleKingdom next year. Things could change, however, as Tanahashi will have to defend the G1 briefcase against Kazuchika Okada on Sunday.
Tanahashi recently offered a negative critique of Kenny Omega’s wrestling style to the media. “Kenny’s wrestling is like watching a movie with no Kishotenketsu (dramatic arc of traditional Japanese narratives),” Tanahashi said.
Omega has since responded to Tanahashi’s comments through Twitter.
Strange accusation to make considering I’ve won more MOTY awards than Tana’s had hair transplant surgeries. Can’t wait for Tana vs Okada 71! I swear watching the same recycled match will be just as good in even slower motion! ? https://t.co/CQGZP54AKB
“Strange accusation to make considering I’ve won more MOTY awards than Tana’s had hair transplant surgeries. Can’t wait for Tana vs Okada 71! I swear watching the same recycled match will be just as good in even slower motion!”
Rough day at the office today… All 10 of Tana’s foreign fans took to Twitter to say mean things to me. Rumor has it they even posted stuff on Reddit too…I’ll be okay guys, I swear. pic.twitter.com/xMkFKZd27Y
“Rough day at the office today… All 10 of Tana’s foreign fans took to Twitter to say mean things to me. Rumor has it they even posted stuff on Reddit too…I’ll be okay guys, I swear.”
NJPW Destruction in Kobe – September 23rd, 2018
Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura
Ren Narita and Shota Umino vs Sho and Yoh
Tiger Mask and Jushin Liger vs Desperado and Kanemaru
Yoshida, Taguchi, Honma, Makabe vs Nakanishi, Nagata, Kojima, and Tenzan
the Best Friends vs the Killer Elite Squad
Toa Henare, David Finlay, and Juice Robinson vs Ospreay, Yoshi-Hashi, and Jay White
Sanada, Evil, Naito vs Michinoku, ZSJ, and Minoru Suzuki
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Semi-Final
Kushida vs Bushi
G1 Climax 28 Briefcase
Hiroshi Tanahashi (Holder) vs Kazuchika Okada
Mia Yim has been spotted at the WWE Performance Center. The former Knockouts Champion appears at the end of a video NXT posted to their Twitter account recently. Her inclusion in the video is likely to fuel speculation the 29-year-old could sign with the company in the near future.
The 29-year-old has competed in the last two Mae Young Classics and can be considered one of the top female free agents in wrestling at the moment. She has also only taken one indy booking since the MYC filmed, which was with Warrior Wrestling in Chicago the night after All In.
This morning @WWEPerformCtr our female Superstars hit a upper body circuit that ended with incline banded resistance bench presses. pic.twitter.com/Dd7YtmpZ95
Yim’s first WWE match came in 2014 when she lost to Charlotte Flair on an episode of NXT from Full Sail University. In last year’s Mae Young Classic, Yim defeated Riott Squad’s Sarah Logan in the 1st round. She’d be eliminated the next round by Shayna Baszler, however.
Her matches from this year’s MYC have yet to air.
Yim is also roommates with several of the 4 Horsewomen of MMA in Orlando. Jessamyn Duke posted the following video of her, Yim, and Baszler reading aloud mean-Tweets they have received.
Mia Yim Inter-Gender Wrestler
Yim has taken part in multiple inter-gender matches recently. She defeated Andrew Everett at a show for RISE, lost to Matt Riddle for Smash Wrestling, and defeated Keith Lee in a match for Beyond Wrestling back in May.
Speaking of Yim and Keith Lee, they posted the following to social media recently:
WWE is teasing several “dream matches” for the upcoming Smackdown 1000 special. The milestone episode of SmackDown Live takes place on Tuesday, October 16th from Washington D.C. The event is scheduled in the middle of a busy period for WWE. The promotion will be 10 days removed from Super Show-Down and 12 days ahead of the all-women’s Evolution PPV.
In an effort to drum up interest for the show, WWE ran an interesting post on Facebook. The company asked, “With the 1000th episode of WWE SmackDown Live on the horizon, can we have these matches, please?” They included match graphics for the following matches:
Daniel Bryan vs Kurt Angle
Samoa Joe vs Batista
Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles
Charlotte Flair vs Michelle McCool
The APA vs. The Bar
Batista On Smackdown’s 1000th Episode?
An appearance by Hollywood megastar Dave Batista at SmackDown 1,000 would be a huge deal. The former World Champion vented on Twitter last week that he has not received an invite for the show, despite it taking place from his home town.
Batista has stated in multiple interviews that he would like to return to WWE for another run. He even turned down a WWE Hall of Fame induction because he does not consider himself retired from the ring. During a recent appearance Good Morning Britain, the man formerly known as The Animal commented on his desire to perform in front of the WWE Universe again.
“It’s always an ongoing conversation with myself and WWE,” he said. “I never burnt that bridge, intentionally because I never had any reason to. I left for certain reasons. But I love professional wrestling and I love that company.”
Which of these ‘dream matches’ do you want to see at SmackDown 1,000?
WWE is reporting that Alexa Bliss has withdrawn from the Mixed Match Challenge Season 2 tournament due to injury. In a video statement released on Tuesday morning, Cathy Kelly revealed that Bliss woke up today with numbness in her arm.
“Despite appearing on Monday Night Raw last night, Alexa Bliss woke up this morning and sought medical attention complaining about numbness in her left arm,” Kelley said. “As a reminder, Alexa had a match against the Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey this past Sunday night at WWE Hell in a Cell where Alexa tapped to the champion’s armbar. We can officially announce at this time that Alexa Bliss has not been medically cleared to compete at the WWE live events this weekend or in tonight’s WWE Mixed Match Challenge.”
We are asking around to get clarification as to whether this is a storyline to sell the effects of Rousey’s finisher or a legitimate injury.
With Alexa Bliss injured, Braun Strowman’s new partner for the Mixed Match Challenge tournament will be Ember Moon. They will face Kevin Owens and Natalya on tonight’s Season 2 premiere.
Mixed Match Challenge Season 2 premieres tonight on Facebook Live after SmackDown Live.
Last night’s episode of Ring of Honor was the first to air from the promotion’s August 25th tapings in Philadelphia. ROH TV begins airing over the weekend on various networks and is posted to Honor Club on Mondays.
ROH TV Results 9/17
Jay Lethal Promo
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal started the show off with an in-ring promo. He talked about how much he loved his match with Jonathan Gresham last week. Lethal defeated Gresham in a 30-minute Ironman match 2:1 in a 5-minute overtime period.
Lethal said he wants to have more matches like that. He then issued a “Lethal Challenge” to not only the ROH locker room but any wrestler around the world to face him.
His challenge was immediately accepted by Will Osprey via video on the big screen. Lethal accepted and the match has now been made official for September 28th, 2018 at Death Before Dishonor.
Brandi Rhodes joined the commentary team for this match. In any proving ground match if the non-champion can defeat the champion they earn a title shot.
Sakai took the victory with Smash Mouth, however, meaning Steelz doesn’t earn a title shot. Rhodes brought up how Sakai’s Smash Mouth is similar to the Cross Rhodes.
After the match, Sumai Sakai cut a promo which was interrupted by Tenille Dashwood. She told Sakai she respected her and what she’s done for Women of Honor. Dashwood also said, however, that she wants to take the WOH title from around her waist. It was then made official that Dashwood will challenge Sumai Sakai for the WOH Championship at Death Before Dishonor.
Jonathan Gresham Promo
Ian Riccaboni was interviewing Jonathan Gresham when Bully Ray interrupted. Bully ordered Ian out of the ring but Gresham confronted him. Gresham and Bully went back and forth with Gresham saying D-Von carried Bully for years. Bully then said Gresham was a nobody. Gresham then said if he can beat him, Bully needs to shake his hand. An impromptu match was then scheduled.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Bully Ray via DQ
As soon as the bell rang, Bully kicked Gresham in the groin to cause the DQ. Bully then shook Gresham’s hand and continued to beat him up with his chain. Flip Gordon then made the save but Bully was able to get the better of him. That brought out ROH World Champion Jay Lethal who was able to get the better of Bully only for Silas Young to make the save for Bully.
The commentary team wondered why Silas would make the save for Bully after Bully abandoned Young in a tag match recently. Young then left the ring without celebrating with Bully.
SCU defeated The Briscoes & Punishment Martinez
Chris Sabin was on commentary as he will take on Martinez for the ROH TV title at Death Before Dishonor. The commentary team also mentioned how SCU’s contracts are up after Final Battle in December and they will need to hold championships come that time or Joe Koff will simply let them leave.
The match came unglued when Jay Briscoe hit the referee with a chair. The Briscoes and Martinez then took it to their opponents, taking out all 3 members with chairs. Sabin then came out to make the save and he and Punishment Martinez battled to the back. With Martinez gone, SCU hit the “Best Meltzer Ever” on Mark Briscoe for the win.
Next week:
Silas Young and Bully Ray vs Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal
Smackdown and the Mixed Match Challenge will take place inside the Bok Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma tonight. No episode of 205 Live will air following Smackdown, however. The cruiserweight division will now begin airing on Wednesday nights before NXT.
Smackdown Live 9/18
AJ Styles vs Andrade “Cien” Almas
2 nights ago at WWE Hell in a Cell, controversy clouded the finish to the WWE Championship match. Although the referee counted Samoa Joe’s shoulders to the mat while he had the Koquina Clutch locked in, video replay would show Styles tapped before the ref’s hand hit the mat for the 3rd time.
Smackdown General Manager Paige has said Styles and Joe will clash for the title once again at Super Show-Down. Joe likely will not want to wait until Australia to send a message to the champion, however.
United States Championship Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs Rusev
Rusev and Aiden English failed to win the Smackdown Tag-Team Championships on the Hell in a Cell pre-show Sunday. Tonight, Rusev will have another chance to win gold when he takes on Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship.
Nakamura has defended the title 3x on WWE programming since winning it at Extreme Rules. He’s defended the title all 3 times against Jeff Hardy, beating him once and dropping the other two matches via DQ.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair Segment
Becky Lynch won the Smackdown Women’s Championship on Sunday in San Antonio. Tonight we will get reactions from both the new champion and the woman who just lost the championship.
In a segment which will likely cause fans to debate who is being booked as a heel and who isn’t, this much-talked-about storyline will continue. The likely time and place for the next title match between Lynch and Flair seems like it would be Super Show-Down in Melbourne but we willl find out more tonight.
Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy Segment
WWE gave a medical update on Jeff Hardy recently. After his match with Randy Orton inside Hell in a Cell, Hardy was taken to a local medical facility for treatment. Hardy was complaining of severe abdominal pain but then checked out of the facility on his own early Monday morning.
With Jeff Hardy’s injury and Matt Hardy’s retirement, change is in the air for the brothers.
MizTV with Mystery Guest
Following their victory Sunday against Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan, Miz and Maryse should be riding high tonight. WWE has scheduled an episode of MizTV for tonight’s Smackdown but has yet to reveal who the guest will be.
Miz and Daniel Bryan will clash one-on-one at Super Show-Down once again, this time with the winner receiving a shot at the WWE Championship.
WWE Mixed Match Challenge 9/18
This year’s Mixed Match Challenge will be contested under round-robin rules. The tournament gets going tonight on Facebook Live at 10: 15 PM.
Braun Strowman & Ember Moon vs Natalya & Kevin Owens
WWE just announced that Strowman’s partner, Alexa Bliss, has been pulled from action this week due to an arm injury. Bliss will not be competing at live events this weekend nor during the MMC tonight. She’ll likely be put back on her team following this week, however. Last season, Strowman and Bliss made it to the semi-finals before losing to Miz and Asuka.
Natalya was beaten up last night by members of the Riott Squad, so she’ll have to make a quick comeback to be competitive tonight.
Charlotte Flair & AJ Styles vs Naomi and Jimmy Uso
Naomi and Jimmy Uso were knocked out by Strowman and Bliss in the quarter-finals last year. Flair teamed with Bobby Roode in the first tournament and made it all the way to the finals before losing to Miz and Asuka.
Both Styles and Flair will have to put their current rivalries with Samoa Joe and Becky Lynch respectively on hold as they look to start off the tournament tonight with a win.
Former co-holder of the Impact Wrestling tag-team championships, Andrew Everett, has been granted his release by Impact Wrestling. The 26-year-old had been with the company since the fall of 2015.
He posted the following to Twitter yesterday:
Hey guys, 1/2
Earlier today I was granted my release from IMPACT wrestling. I had great times with the company, and I'm grateful for the opportunities that I received while under contract. At this moment, I feel that I need to test the waters in free agency…
allowing myself find a new direction in my craft. It's exciting to see what awaits me in my career. Thank you for all your support, and again, thank you IMPACT Wrestling for bringing the Skywalker to a larger audience.
Andrew Everett Granted Release From Impact Wrestling
“Earlier today I was granted my release from IMPACT wrestling,” Everett Tweeted. “I had great times with the company, and I’m grateful for the opportunities that I received while under contract. At this moment, I feel that I need to test the waters in free agency, allowing myself to find a new direction in my craft.”
“It’s exciting to see what awaits me in my career. Thank you for all your support, and again, thank you IMPACT Wrestling for bringing the Skywalker to a larger audience.”
Andrew Everett Impact Wrestling 2015-2018
While Everett would compete mainly in the X-Division, he was never able to win the X-Division championship during his recent run with the company. He did, however, win the Impact tag-team championships along with DJZ earlier this year. Z&E defeated Eli Drake and Scott Steiner to win the belts back in April. They would defend the titles successfully once the following night against Aerostar and Drago before dropping them to LAX just 2 nights after winning them.
Bobby Lashley’s new manager/cruiserweight competitor, Lio Rush, has a plan for tonight’s Raw. He’s also concerned that Lashley’s kids play too much Fortnite but that’s another story. The 23-year-old piece of gold recently posted a conversation he had with his new client to Twitter.
Tonight’s Raw is in Dallas, where Rush and Lashley planned to meet. While they didn’t go into specifics of what they might do tonight, it’s clear they plan on making some kind of impact on the show.
“You know what needs to happen?” Rush said to Lashley after asking how his kids are. “They need to put down that Fornite, it’s messing up all the kids’ brains.”
Lio Rush and Drake Maverick recently have been used as managers on Monday Night Raw. The belief backstage is that introducing more managers or “Hype men” could help talent who aren’t strong talkers.
Being Lashley’s manager hasn’t changed Rush’s status on 205 Live now. This week, the purple brand’s show will air Wednesday night instead of Tuesday after Smackdown. There still has been no official word, however, on when the show will tape, where it will tape, and/or if the name of the show will change now that it is not scheduled to air live.
WWE has commissioned a newly redesigned structure for Sunday night’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. The company actually recorded the cage being erected inside the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The 2 1/2 hour video generated over a million views in 24 hours.
The Global Wrestling Network is the streaming service primarily associated with Impact Wrestling. Other promotions, such as Destiny, Smash, and World Series Wrestling also provide content for the streaming service.
NJPW broadcaster, Kevin Kelly, hasn’t been too kind on Bullet Club’s Firing Squad. Tama Tonga decided to respond to Kelly’s commentary following today’s NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima event.
“Hey, let get’s something straight, I didn’t come at anybody sideways,” Tonga said. “I came at them straight, straightforward after they started with me.”
“Roman started with me. Cody started with me. Brandi started with me and I just finish em, that’s it,” Tonga continued. “I mind my own damn business. And everybody who started with me should learn that same lesson: mind your own damn business.”
Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and “Bone Soldier” Taiji Ishimori defeated David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Ryusuke Taguchi today to retain their 6-Man Tag-Team Championships. Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga will challenge the Young Bucks for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag-Team Championships on September 30th in Long Beach.
Also in regards to Bullet Club’s Firing Squad, the faction has announced they are recruiting. They asked their followers on Instagram and Twitter to suggest possible new members.
Bullet Club Elite’s Cody responded, “Ummm we’re good here guys. We’ve got the best wrestlers in the world, a badass queen, a crazy actor, we’ve even got a dog…”
Cody will challenge Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship on NJPW’s Long Beach show as well.
“But yea I’m sure folks are chomping at the bit to join you and Mr Juicy’s bullet club?” Cody’s Tweet continued. “Go to NXT already please, nobody gives a shit.”
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair will clash tomorrow night for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. According to Lana, she hopes to one day be in the same position.
Lana recently spoke to Hollywood Life and the topic of her starting a family with Rusev came up.
“Rusev always puts on the pressure,” Lana said. “He’s like, ‘I want babies!’ But right now I’m very focused on my career. There’s a lot I want to achieve. I feel like I’m finally starting to get more momentum in the ring and getting more opportunities. There’s a lot I would love to do still — being Smackdown Women’s Champion is obviously a dream of mine.”
Lana On Competitiveness in WWE
Lana also spoke about the competitiveness which can exist in the locker room.
“I’m very competitive,” Lana continued. “We love each other and are supportive and all want the best for each other. We have an incredible locker room and support system, but at the end of the day, we are there to win and there to compete.”
Lana and Rusev will once again form a team in the Mixed Match Challenge this year. It was in the tournament last year that Lana picked up her first ever win on the WWE main roster. Rusev and Aiden English will challenge New Day for the Smackdown Tag-Team Championships tomorrow night at Hell in a Cell.
The Undertaker recently spoke to WWE.com regarding the 20th anniversary of his Hell in a Cell match with Mick Foley. During the interview, Taker recalled just how much worse Foley’s second fall from atop the cage could have been.
Foley’s second fall was not planned and happened when the panel atop the cage gave way after Taker chokeslammed Foley onto it. According to Taker, he almost ended up falling through the cell roof as well.
Undertaker on Hell In A Cell 1998
“That could have been catastrophic,” Taker said. “I stepped off of the panel and onto the support bars. If I hadn’t had done that, we would have both gone through that together. So if you could imagine, if I had stayed on that panel, my weight would have probably been on him too. And then what happens? It’s a scary thought.”
Taker also mentioned he wrestled the match with a fractured ankle. Just getting to the top of the cage proved challenging.
“To be completely honest, I was like ‘crap, am I gonna be able to get up there?’ The answer was yes because I would have got up there. I don’t care how but I would have got up there. It was definitely an exciting way to start out a Hell in a Cell match, to start out on top.”
For those unfamiliar with the Blues Brothers, it’s a hint that Chicago will be the next city MLW expands their territory into.
Major League Wrestling in 2018
It’s been an eventful year for Major League Wrestling. From 2002-04, the company produced 34 television shows in a period when alternatives to WWE were scarce.
Bauer would eventually go on to work in creative at WWE and MLW went on hiatus for 13 years. In the summer of 2017, however, Bauer promoted MLW “One Shot.” The success of that event then led to them announcing they would run a more frequent schedule the next year.
MLW signed a television deal with BeIN Sports and began producing episodes of Fusion earlier this year. Full episodes of Fusion air on BeIN Sports on Friday nights and are posted to YouTube the following Saturday at 6 PM.
The episode which aired last night on the network and will be posted to YouTube later today features a two-ring steel cage War Games match.
WWE 205 Live is moving to Tuesday nights. Starting this coming week, the show featuring WWE’s cruiserweight division will air at 7pm (Eastern) on the WWE Network. This creates a new 3-hour block of fresh Network programming each Wednesday night, at least for the next few months.
205 Live kicks off the new Wednesday night lineup. That show is followed by NXT and then the Mae Young Classic tournament series. 205 Live General Manager Drake Maverick officially announced the news on Saturday morning:
The move to Wednesday nights is WWE’s latest attempt to freshen up the brand. Earlier this year, it was widely reported that Triple H had taken over the creative direction of the show. The changes were immediately apparent. A lot of of the Vince McMahon Sports Entertainment aspects were toned down in favor of athleticism and a more sports-like presentation. Former Impact Wrestling star Rockstar Spud was brought in as the division’s new General Manager, Drake Maverick.
WWE pulled back on featuring cruiserweight matches on Raw in recent months. Most recently, we’ve seen cruiserweight talents like Lio Rush and even Drake Maverick appearing on Raw in managerial roles. Lio Rush is now aligned with Bobby Lashley and Maverick is the new handler of the Authors of Pain.
205 Live is currently filed each week after SmackDown Live. This has resulted in burned out crowds who often leave the arena before 205 Live begins. Maybe we will see WWE taping 205 Live at the monthly NXT TV tapings from Full Sail.
Recently on Monday Night Raw, Lio Rush was revealed as Bobby Lashley’s new manager. Rush will still be competing on 205 Live, however. In fact, Rush will take on Noam Dar next Tuesday night.
The Scottish Supernova has been having some fun with Rush on Twitter this week but Rush has recently responded in kind.
Dar had been posting some defamatory words in regards to his upcoming opponent. At first, it was just Dar posting comments about Rush but then he began re-Tweeting insults from fans as well.
Lio Rush makes people watch his matches at family events
Dar then re-tweeted a few of the better insults from his followers.
“Lio Rush wears a helmet when it rains,” said one Tweet. “Lio Rush always says ‘oh it must be free’ when an item doesn’t scan at the cash register,” read another.
Even Rush’s bowling ability was fair game. “Lio Rush bowls with the bumpers up,” another Tweet read.
Lio Rush Diss Track To Noam Dar
The outspoken Lio Rush responded with a diss-track directed to his upcoming opponent.
Rush was signed to WWE last year and began competing on the NXT house show circuit in September of 2017. Despite earning some criticism for an insensitive Tweet regarding Emma’s release, Rush has moved up through WWE’s developmental program in quick succession.
Natalya, Nia Jax, and Lana recently appeared on “Good Day New York” on Fox 5 to help promote Total Divas. During the interview, the topic of Natalya’s father Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart was discussed. Natalya mentioned that Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson reached out to her through Nia Jax (Rock’s cousin) and said some inspirational words to her following her father’s death.
“He reached out to me — he actually gave me powerful words of just not really having to say goodbye,” Natalya said. “He goes ‘you don’t have to say goodbye to your dad. You can have him with you forever.’”
Natalya Says Goodbye to the Anvil
Natalya also mentioned the family was not prepared for Jim’s untimely death.
“He was definitely going through some health issues but it wasn’t anything that was gonna take his life. For us, it was finding the right way to say goodbye.”
It was also revealed during their appearance on the show that Natalya’s father will appear in the upcoming season of Total Divas.
Shortly after Jim Neidhart’s death on August 13th, Natalya released a statement on what her father meant to her.
“There was no one like him! I’m just gonna miss him so much,” a segment of Natalya’s statement reads. “We are going to hold all of the moments we had with him close to our hearts forever and never let them go. I promise to keep your memory alive. We love you so much, Daddy!”
Three weeks ago, it was reported that Neville was no longer under contract to WWE. Despite this, there are also reports Neville is turning down bookings saying he is not contractually free to work for other promotions. Neville’s contractual status with WWE was addressed in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“WWE has told us that he is free and clear to work anywhere he wants,” wrote Dave Meltzer. “When he has been contacted by promoters, he has said that he can’t accept dates yet but will be able to very soon.”
There was speculation that Neville may have been asked to participate in All In as well. It is not yet clear when Neville will begin to take non-WWE bookings.
Neville Contractual Status
It will be almost one year since Neville has wrestled a match. His last contest was a DQ victory over Cruiserweight Champion, Enzo Amore. The match took place on an October 1st, 2017 house show. Neville is then said to have walked out on the company. He is believed to have been unhappy with the company’s creative plans for him.
Tama Tonga of Bullet Club’s Firing Squad recently said he’s interested in bringing in the wrestler FKA Pac into his stable.
“I know Neville and I’ve followed his work,” Tonga said. “He’s a phenomenal worker and he’s been here in New Japan before, I watched him in the Super Juniors in 2012. I love his work.”
Where do you expect Neville to turn up next?
Posted September 14th, 2018 in News, WWE. Tagged: Neville.
Daniel Bryan recently praised the organizers of All In for selling out a 10,000 seat arena. Bryan made the comments recently while promoting the upcoming WWE 2K19 video game.
“They are like their own new 4 horsemen,” Bryan said “They are so different but they compliment each other and have this buzz about them. The idea that they are doing their own event outside of Ring of Honor, outside of New Japan. They are bringing in people from IMpact and doing all this kind of stuff.”
Unfortunately for fans who were hoping to see Bryan compete at All In 2, he is reported to have agreed to terms on a new deal with WWE recently.
Daniel Bryan On All In
“If you were to tell me 5 years ago that that would happen I’d say you’re crazy, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bryan said in reference to All In selling out the Sears Center Arena in Chicago. “But that’s a testament to these guys.”
Bryan would speak further on how Cody, the Bucks, and Omega have all created a buzz for themselves in different ways.
“I think it’s especially a credit to Cody, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega,” Bryan continued. “Because they’ve all created waves in different ways: Cody leaving WWE to say ‘you know what? I think I’m better than what they’re giving me, I’m going to go out and prove something.’ The Young Bucks doing this whole thing on their own being creative, they are starting this YouTube thing, doing this thing where they are like anti-authority anti-corporate people who are bucking the trends. And then Kenny Omega going out and having these matches some people look at them and say ‘these are the greatest pro-wrestling matches of all time.'”
“I think it’s so empowering and so cool,” Bryan continued.
Dean Ambrose went down with an injury to his right triceps in December. His injury cut the planned Shield reunion short and also caused the former WWE Champion to miss WrestleMania 34.
Ambrose’s return to the ring was then pushed back further due to a staph infection he developed after surgery to repair his tricep. According to an interview Ambrose recently gave, the staph infection was nearly fatal.
Dean Ambrose On His Injury And Recovery
“I ended up having two different surgeries,” Ambrose told the Monitor. “I had this MRSA, Staph infection, I nearly died.”
Ambrose continued to describe his stay in Hospital after the infection was discovered. “I was in the hospital for a week plugged up to this antibiotic drip thing, and I was on all these antibiotics for months that make you puke and crap your pants.”
Ambrose continued to say he’s not sure exactly when the infection began to develop.
“They said they found traces of an infection during the first surgery, but they cleaned it out,” he continued. Ambrose then said after about six weeks he felt his elbow wasn’t healing right and went back to his doctors. He eventually said he just picked up and moved to Birmingham to be closer to the doctors and rehab specialists.
“If I hadn’t gone in for that checkup,” Ambrose said. “I could’ve gotten seriously sick. It could’ve been even more dangerous. But it all worked out.”
There has been a significant update in the ongoing saga that is the Pentagon and Fenix to WWE speculation.
Both Lucha Brothers have once again started to accept indy bookings in 2019. The rumors of Pentagon and Fenix going to WWE were kickstarted by the pair trying to free their schedule for next year.
The status of the Lucha Brothers was discussed in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
“(Pentagon and Fenix) have started making commitments to promoters for next year,” Dave Meltzer wrote. “Which indicates they aren’t planning on doing anything (in WWE) anytime soon.”
Pentagon Jr. and Fenix Rumors
The report continues to speculate it might be the brothers’ Lucha Underground contracts which prevent them from signing with WWE. It had previously been reported the pair felt they had an opt-out clause following the completion of Season 4 airing. The El Rey Network has already committed to the 5th season of the show.
At a recent PCW event, Pentagon addressed the WWE rumors by saying he’s not going anywhere.
“Respect that I am the PCW Champion and no one is going to take that from me,” Pentagon said. “Thank you very much! And before I forget. I am not going anywhere. Penta will be in PCW for many, more years.”
Pentagon and Fenix teamed up last night on Impact Wrestling to defeat the Cult of Lee. The pair is also tag-team champions in MLW and will wrestle on the CMLL Anniversary show today.