Kenny Omega is the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Kazuchika Okada 2-1 in a Best 2-of-3 Match in Osaka, Japan this morning.

Okada’s record-breaking reign ends at 720 days and 12 successful title defenses (both all-time records).

The first fall was won by Okada. He reversed a sunset flip attempt into a pinning combination and got the 3-count at the 28:47 mark. There was then a 2-minute break between rounds.

Omega won the 2nd fall at 47:47 (total elapsed time) with a 1-Winged Angel. He won the 3rd and deciding fall with another 1-Winged Angel at 64:50 total elapsed time.

Following the victory, Omega embraced the Young Bucks, appearing to bury the hatchet with the brothers for the first time since Strong Style Evolved. Cody appeared on the ramp as well but decided to turn back after Omega invited him into the ring.

Changing the world (together). A new story begins. @MattJackson13 @NickJacksonYB @ibushi_kota #njdomininon #GoldenElite

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) June 9, 2018

66th IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega

Omega becomes the 28th person to win the title and begins the 66th all-time reign. He’s just the 2nd member of Bullet Club to win the title. AJ Styles won the title for the first time at Wrestling Dontaku 2014.

His post-match speech was brief but he said he can do anything with friends like the Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi. He referred to the 4 of them as “the Golden Elite.”

“Today, I defeated the greatest wrestler on planet Earth. This is a performance art. You can be a great wrestler but if the people don’t care, you aren’t worth a damn,” Omega explained.  “I give you (Okada) all the credit in the world for what you’ve done, the problem is the buck stops here. You’ve taken this company as far as you can domestically and I see so much more for this company. When I look at this company, I see the evolution of pro-wrestling.”

Omega’s 1st defense of the title could come on July 7th, 2018 when NJPW presents the G1 Special in San Francisco.

Seth Rollins recently let his Twitter followers know he spent some time with a former WWE prospect. Rollins met up with former NXT Superstar and current NJPW wrestler, Juice Robinson.

Hung out with Juice Robinson yesterday. One of my favorite humans and the future of @njpw1972. I should’ve taken a pic, but we were too busy livin’. #budtweet

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) June 7, 2018

Juice Robinson in NJPW

Robinson competed under the name CJ Parker in WWE. He worked an overly aggressive hippie gimmick. In an interview he gave to Chris Jericho earlier this year, Robinson said he was given the gimmick after putting his hair into dreadlocks. The 2-dimensional gimmick didn’t seem to have a long shelf life, however, so he made arrangements to leave the company.

Head NXT trainer, Matt Bloom, made arrangements for him to transfer to the New Japan dojo. Bloom, as Giant Bernard, is a former NJPW star himself and knew who to contact. Since arriving in NJPW in 2015, Robinson has slowly been moving up the ranks. In fact, Robinson made it all the way to the semi-finals of the New Japan Cup this year before losing to Hiroshi Tanahashi. The eventual tournament winner was Zack Sabre Jr.

What’s Next For Seth Rollins?

It has been 2 months since Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental Championship. He won the title in a triple threat match against the Miz and Finn Balor at WrestleMania 34. Since that time, Rollins has played the role of the fighting champion who defends his title often.

So far, Rollins has defended the title successfully 6x on WWE programming. He defended the title in a ladder match against Balor, Samoa Joe, and Miz at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Meanwhile, on Raw, he has defended the title another 5x. He’s defeated Finn Balor, the Miz, Mojo Rawley, and Kevin Owens. He lost a match to Jinder Mahal via DQ on May 28th, 2018 edition of Raw as well.

At the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view in Chicago, Rollins will defend the IC title against Elias.

Impact Wrestling airs a show tonight main event’ed by a “Fight in the Woods” match between Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards.

The tag team championships will also be on the line and Josh Matthews will sit down with 3x and current Impact World Champion, Austin Aries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DpkLH5HiEE

Impact Wrestling 6/7/18 Preview

Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan Fight in the Woods

Edwards has spiraled in recent weeks, arguably becoming just as sadistic as Callihan. Several people in Edwards’ life, including his wife and Tommy Dreamer, have attempted to calm him down but Edwards won’t move forward until his business with Callihan is finished.

Callihan and Edwards will face each other in an unsanctioned “Fight in the Woods” tonight.

Impact Tag Team Championships
Z&E (c) vs Aerostar and Drago

Luchadors from Lucha Underground will get a chance to win tag title gold on Impact tonight. It will be the last episode of Impact before the next season of Lucha Underground begins airing next Wednesday.

Z&E won the titles from Steiner and Eli Drake recently but there is no rest for the champs, they will be in tough to keep the titles around their waists throughout television leading up to Slammiversary.

Will the Mystery Attacker Come Forward?

Last week, X-Division veteran Sonjay Dutt was attacked in the backstage area. Joseph Park and Jimmy Jacobs have also been attacked in the back. Sonjay has said he has no memory of what happened let alone of who it was who attacked him.

Will the Mystery Attacker come forward tonight? Or will someone else be attacked in the back?

Su Yung Segment

Impact Wrestling has promised a segment tonight will be devoted to the new Knockouts Champion, Su Yung. The deranged undead bride has been the talk of the promotion as of late. Last week, Yung defeated Allie in a Last Rites (coffin) match to win the Knockouts title. She’s now locked both Rosemary and Allie in coffins, so a new challenger will have to be determined for the undead bride before Slammiversary (her opponent was actually announced earlier this week but it will play out on television).

Sit-Down Interview with Madison Rayne

It appears Madison Rayne’s in-ring career will be continuing in Impact. She recently pulled off a victory over the highly-touted Tessa Blanchard last week. Blanchard had controlled much of the match, however, before Rayne scored a victory on a roll-up.

Tonight we will find out more about the 5x Knockouts Champion’s plans for the future.

LAX vs the Cult of Lee

LAX returns to action tonight but will still be without their leader, Konnan. In his place, however, will be Eddie Kingston (now known as King).

The Cult of Lee could be in some trouble. Trevor Lee recently had this to say regarding his partner and their challenge tonight against LAX. “As long as Caleb listens to me and follows my instructions, we will be just fine,” Lee said. “We aren’t worried about LAX or any other tag team in IMPACT Wrestling. The fact that Z&E or E&Z or whatever they are called are tag team champions is a joke! We prove that tonight on IMPACT against these guys.”

Austin Aries interview w/ Josh Matthews

After regaining his Impact World Championship in controversial fashion last week, Austin Aries will be on vacation this week. He sat down with Josh Matthews for an interview regardless, however. That interview will air tonight.

At the press conference in Toronto this week, Aries announced he was merging the Impact Grand Championship and World Championship. This will probably be mentioned tonight as well.

This Saturday, New Japan Pro Wrestling presents Dominion from Osaka Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan. The main event is scheduled to be a best 2-of-3 falls match between Omega and IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada. Chris Jericho also returns to NJPW to face Tetsuya Naito.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZIGbS1GRTE

NJPW Dominion 2018 Preview

1. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh)

All 4 members of this match managed a 3-4 record in the Best of the Super Juniors. While Kanemaru and Desperado are likely not pleased to have gone under .500, it was a great showing in the tourney for the members of Roppongi 3K. It was Sho’s first BOSJ tournament and Yoh’s second. Yoh wrestled a few years ago as a young lion in the tournament and went winless.

Kanemaru and Desperado defeated Roppongi 3K for the titles on the NJPW anniversary show on March 6th, 2018.

2. David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs Yoshi-Hashi and Jay White

The feud between David Finlay and Jay White will never end. This has sort of been insinuated by each guy. Either Finlay or Robinson would move into position for a shot at the IWGP United States Championship by scoring the pin for their team here. This possibility would increase tenfold if they score the pin on White.

3. Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Junior and Minoru Suzuki

Ishii and Yano are former tag champs and would seemingly love to move back into the title picture. ZSJ has risen up the NJPW rankings considerably this year with his victory in the New Japan Cup.

As for Minoru Suzuki, as he approaches 50 years of age he still believes he’s better than others on the roster. He’s lost both the Intercontinental and NEVER Openweight Championships in 2018, however. Suzuki is without a title belt for the first time in a long time.

4. NEVER Openweight Championship
3-Way
Hirooki Goto (c) vs Michael Elgin vs Taichi

In a match that has gone slightly under the radar, Goto will defend his NEVER Openweight title in a 3-way match. Former IWGP IC Champ, Michael Elgin, and Taichi will look to take the title from him.

If Taichi were to be victorious, it would be his first single’s title in NJPW. He’s previously held the jr tag-team titles with Taka Michinoku.

5. IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
Evil and Sanada (c) vs the Young Bucks

According to the Young Bucks, they’ve been asking NJPW to move to the heavyweight division for 3 years. In NJPW, anyone under 220lbs is a junior heavyweight, making the cut off 15lbs heavier than for cruiserweights. Whether the Bucks actually have bulked up to over 220lbs or not is currently unknown. Their only match in the division so far was a loss to the Golden Lovers at Strong Style Evolved.

The Bucks’ unmatched record in the junior heavyweight tag division is likely what earned them the title match here (in storyline).

Evil and Sanada won the titles at WrestleKingdom this year after having won the 2017 World Tag League. They haven’t defended the titles much this year as Evil broke his orbital bone on a tour of Australia in February.

6. Rey Mysterio Jr, Jushin Liger, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, and Cody

On the final night of the BOSJ, Marty Scurll continued his attack on Hiroshi Tanahashi after the bell. Liger came in to make the save and then a Japanese language promo seemed to indicate a 3-way dance had been organized. Turns out something was actually lost in translation and what Liger was really challenging Scurll for was a 6-person tag match. Liger and Tanahashi would team up with Rey Mysterio and they would face Scurll and two Bullet Club members of his choosing.

Rey originally challenged Jushin Liger for Strong Style Evolved but an injury kept him out of action. Now it appears Rey and Liger will be teammates instead.

7. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs Hiromu Takahashi

Takahashi earned the right to challenge Ospreay for the title by winning the most recent BOSJ tournament. Ospreay failed to reach the finals for the 4th straight year despite going 5-2 in the round-robin. He lost to group A block winner, Taiji Ishimori, on night 1 and that prevented him from going through.

As for Takahashi, winning the tournament after going 4-3 the year before in his first ever BOSJ is a significant accomplishment. The popular member of LIJ has his hands full in Ospreay, however, who has held the title since WrestleKingdom.

8. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Chris Jericho

Jericho seems to be enjoying the loose vocabulary restrictions available in NJPW. He used the term “F***face” to refer to Naito on the final night of the BOSJ.

During Jericho’s pre-recorded message to Naito on the show, Naito pretended to fall asleep in the ring as it was playing.

These two have been at each other since before WrestleKingdom when Jericho referred to his match with Omega as the real main event. Naito continues to claim he does not know who Jericho is.

9. IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Best 2-of-3 Falls
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega recently sat down with New Japan World to discuss his motivation for this match. His comments were pretty interesting.

“You (Okada) may be the best wrestler on the planet. I’ll admit it, you are,” Omega said “It’s not even an opinion thing anymore, this is something that you’ve proven. But you can’t say you are the best performer. That goes to me. If we’re going to move this thing forward – if we’re going to cause this revolution of professional wrestling and make it worldwide and something cool, we can’t just have the best natural wrestler steering the ship. We need someone who captures the imagination, who captures the heart. We need a professional wrestler and a showman. Which is why I’m doing everything in my power, to overtake your natural wrestling ability.”

As for Okada, even though he’s already broken all the records for a single title reign, he still has more to accomplish. Tanahashi has defended the title 28 times across all his reigns with the belt. Okada still trails this number by 3.

Impact Wrestling recently held a press conference in Toronto to promote their upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view.

During the conference, I asked Callis about Canadian wrestling prospects he might be interested in signing. His answer surprised me. “There’s a young Canadian kid I like, we’d love to sign him, his name is Kenny Omega,” Callis said. “Another is Chris Jericho.”

Can’t wait to get to Osaka and hang out with @KennyOmegamanX . #WinnipegBiz

— The Invisible Hand (@TheDonCallis) June 6, 2018

Chris Jericho likely isn’t working for an English language-based company other than WWE anytime soon. The potential for Kenny Omega ending up in Impact Wrestling somewhere down the line, however, is far greater.

NJPW Stars To Impact Wrestling?

Impact recently announced Taiji Ishimori will be returning to the company. Following Ishimori’s debut in NJPW, it was believed he was done with Impact. Ishimori was recently announced as competing at Slammiversary, however, indicating a deal has been reached for him to work for both companies.

Ishimori working for NJPW and Impact Wrestling is an interesting development. NJPW has talent-sharing agreements with CMLL and ROH. Impact Wrestling, in TNA form, previously had such an agreement as well.  After Kazuchika Okada’s excursion to the company went poorly, however, there was said to be a falling out between the two companies.

While one bridge between Impact and NJPW had been burnt, NJPW’s color commentator being hired as Impact Wrestling’s new co-Vice President built another. The Ishimori signing indicates Impact has at least cracked the door open for a talent-sharing arrangement with the talent-rich promotion. If that door opens fully, Kenny Omega will be the first one Callis brings in.

While it’s unknown if ROH and NJPW’s talent-sharing agreement is exclusive in the United States and Canada, it has worked out that way ever since TNA and NJPW had a falling out. ROH and Impact Wrestling don’t seem to mind sharing talent, however. They have already done so with Austin Aries.

To make things even more interesting, Chris Jericho recently announced Impact Wrestling will be apart of his cruise later this fall.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjqRD0BFl_j/?taken-by=chrisjerichofozzy

The performer behind one of the most controversial characters in wrestling history, Muhammed Hassan, has recently returned to pro-wrestling. In fact, Hassan won the Dynasty World Championship on Saturday at a show from Amsterdam, New York.

Real name Marc Copani, the 38-year-old returned to wrestling in April for the first time since his WWE run ended in 2005. On the July 4th, 2005 episode of Smackdown, Hassan’s character was involved in a segment many deemed to be an allusion to terroristic actions. The episode was filmed before but aired after the London Bombings. Hassan’s character was ordered off the air by the television network, UPN, who aired Smackdown at the time.

He recently spoke with the Pro Wrestling Sheet regarding his in-ring return.

Muhammad Hassan Returns To Wrestling

Hassan has wrestled twice since returning to wrestling. His first match was in April and then recently he defeated Bin Hamin to win the Dynasty Heavyweight belt. He had the following to say regarding what it felt like to return to the ring.

“The first time I was a little nervous — a little unsure of what I was doing. The second time it felt like it was the day after I stopped,” Hassan said. “It was a lot more fun the second time.”

The events in 2005 caused Hassan to walk away from wrestling for 13 years. He now works as an assistant principal at a high school near Syracuse.

“I had to put it behind me and I had to move forward,” Hassan said regarding his mindset after leaving WWE. “That was the only way I could survive — if I forgot about wrestling and I focused on a new career.”

It now appears Hassan’s passion for wrestling has returned, however, and he believes he’s got more to offer the industry.

“It might have taken 13 years to kind of get over it and get out and work again, but I miss working in the ring,” he continued.

Hassan even said he wouldn’t mind appearing in the Royal Rumble someday. There would certainly be many fans surprised but excited to see such an appearance.

“It would be enjoyable to be back in the atmosphere again,” Hassan said of a possible WWE return. “It’s nothing I would want to do full-time, but I’m not going to lie — I miss it.”

Last night on Smackdown, Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair to hand the former champion her 3rd single’s loss since defeating Asuka at WrestleMania 34.

Flair posted the following to her social media accounts after the loss:

Sometimes, people solve the riddle. Time to change the question. #SDLive pic.twitter.com/Y2GKb3O4I5

— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) June 6, 2018

Her comments suggest Flair will look to add something new to her in-ring game in order to solve her recent slump.

Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in Smackdown’s Women’s Division

For Flair, the loss was her 3rd loss out of her last 5 single’s matches. She lost to Carmella in an impromptu Smackdown Women’s Championship match against Carmella on the April 10th, 2018 Smackdown. Carmella successfully cashed in her MITB briefcase.

Flair defeated Billie Kay the next week on Smackdown. At Backlash 2018, it seemed as though Flair was in a good spot to win back the title, but her knee buckled at one point, allowing Carmella to score the victory on a pinning combination. The following week on Smackdown, however, Flair defeated Peyton Royce to qualify for the Money in the Bank match later this month.

As for Becky Lynch, the 31-year-old has been out of the title picture for some time now. Lynch, who is the inaugural Smakcodwn Women’s Champion, hasn’t held the title since losing it to Alexa Bliss on December 4th, 2016. Bliss defeated Lynch in a tables match at the WWE: TLC: Tables, Ladders, & Chairs 2016 pay-per-view.

Lynch would go on to challenge Bliss 3x on television or the Network after but failed to win the title back. She defeated Bliss via count-out on Smackdown just 9 days after losing the title but then lost a title match to Bliss 2 weeks later. They met inside a steel cage on the January 17th, 2017 edition of Smackdown, when Bliss once again defeated Lynch to retain her title. Since then, Lynch has largely been out of the title picture. She recently qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match, however.

205 Live this week featured two matches in the cruiserweight division. The brand continues to build towards as the introduction of cruiserweight tag-team championships, although it is still not clear when those will be unveiled.

Jack Gallagher and the Brian Kendrick are in the middle of a rivalry with the members of the Lucha House Party over tag-team bragging rights currently. The team of Akira Tozawa and Hideo Itami had previously been teaming together but that after a couple of losses and the shoving match, the team appears to have disbanded.

Kendrick would face Lince Dorado from the Lucha House Party in single’s action this week. Meanwhile, at the top of the cruiserweight rankings, Buddy Murphy and Mustafa Ali would face off in last night’s main event.

205 Live 6/5/18 Results

1) Lince Dorado defeated the Brian Kendrick

In the first match of the night, Lince Dorado hit a springboard cutter on Kendrick for the victory.

With Gallagher absent this week (was at a wedding), Drew Gulak accompanied Kendrick to the ring. Gulak has been vocally critical of the Lucha House Party and their high-flying tactics.

Following the match, Gulak attacked Dorado but was chased away by the other members of the Lucha House Party.

It was later revealed that the Lucha House Party will face Drew Gulak, Jack Gallagher, and the Brian Kendrick in a trios match next week.

2) TJP defeated Brian Keith

This was a squash match for TJP. Early in the match, he went to the outside and grabbed a mic. He expressed his dismay that he hasn’t been given tougher competition all the while putting his opponent in submission holds. He insinuated another GM might appreciate his talent better. Keith eventually tapped out while in a sharpshooter.

Lio Rush is Coming to 205 Live

Highly touted cruiserweight prospect, Lio Rush, is coming to 205 Live. The small but entertaining Rush barely wrestled in NXT during his short stay with the brand.

3) Buddy Murphy and Mustafa Ali Goes to a No-Contest

After a long match, it seemed as though Ali was in a position to avenge his recent loss to Murphy but Hideo Itami’s interference caused the match to be thrown out.

Itami took out both competitors before yelling for no one in particular to respect him. Perhaps, Itami is looking to be added to the cruiserweight title picture as well and this is why he interfered in last night’s main event.

Former WWE tag-team champion, Brian Christopher, has been arrested. Christopher and the owner/chairman of the Glory Championship Wrestling Alliance, Terry Teague, were arrested for failing to pay for a hotel bill totaling over $800.

It’s been an unfortunate few months for the son of Jerry Lawler. In March, it was reported that Christopher was beaten so badly he required surgery. Indie wrestler, Chase Stevens, was arrested shortly after the incident.

Fox Memphis was the first to report on Christopher’s arrest. According to their report, Lawler and Teague had used a company credit card to pay for their stay. When the hotel attempted to bill the wrestlers there was not enough money remaining on the card they used. The hotel then notified the police after being informed by Christopher and Teague that they were unable to pay their bill through other methods. The pair were staying at the Hampton Inn on Peabody Place in Memphis.

Christopher has been charged with Theft of Services under $1000 or less. The crime is deemed a misdemeanor offense in Tennessee.

Tennessee law lists the following possible penalties for Christopher’s offense:

“Tennessee law specifies that penalties for a Misdemeanor Theft conviction apply if the value of lost property or services was $1,000 or less.  Misdemeanor Theft is a Class A Misdemeanor and may result in some or all of the following penalties:

1. A sentence of up to 11 months, 29 days in prison;
2. A probationary period;
3. A fine of up to $2,500;
4. Court costs.”

Brian Christopher in 2018

The 46-year old has yet to wrestle a match in 2018. He’s been dealing with the facial injuries he suffered since March.

Christopher has been wrestling only sporadically in recent years. He wrestled 4 matches in 2017 and only 5 in 2016. Often, he will wrestle under his former Grandmasta Sexay gimmick as well. On occasion, he has been joined by Scotty 2 Hotty on the indie scene as well. In 2015, Too Cool wrested several matches together. Scotty 2 Hotty now works at the WWE Performance Center in Florida, however.

Daniel Bryan didn’t have a response to Big Cass’ Smackdown promo until after last night’s show. Bryan was interviewed by WWE backstage correspondents for a WWE.com exclusive interview.

“Big Cass, guess what? You said you’re going to break my leg in half? You don’t even know how. You haven’t trained hard enough, you haven’t been in the gym hard enough, you don’t know how to wrestle hard enough to break my leg in half. Do you know what’s going to happen at Money in the Bank? I am going to make you tap out one more time, whether it’s the YES Lock, whether it’s the heel hook, whether I just knee you in the face and stomp you in the face until you give up, that’s what’s going to happen at Money in the Bank. And you can’t teach surviving that.”

transcripts courtesy of Cageside Seats

Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass Rivalry

The story WWE appears to be telling with the Daniel Bryan vs Big Cass rivalry is that Big Cass wants to show Bryan he can’t “hang in a big man’s world”. Bryan, on the other hand, wants to prove that good wrestlers can beat naturally gifted athletes such as the 7-foot tall Big Cass.

It’s been an interesting in-ring return for Daniel Bryan these last few months. Not including house shows, Daniel Bryan has wrestled 8 times for WWE since returning to action at WrestleMania 34.

Daniel Bryan’s WWE Record Since Return 

not including house shows or dark matches

• WrestleMania 34: Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
• April 10th, 2018 Smackdown: AJ Styles vs Daniel Bryan went to a no-contest.
• April 17th, 2018 Smackdown: AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan defeated Aiden English and Rusev via DQ.
• Greatest Royal Rumble: Set a new record for longest time in a Rumble match but did not win.
• May 6th, 2018 Backlash PPV: Daniel Bryan defeated Big Cass.
• May 8th, 2018 Smackdown: Rusev defeated Daniel Bryan (MITB qualifier).
• May 22nd, 2018 Smackdown: Daniel Bryan defeated Jeff Hardy.
• May 29th, 2018 Smackdown: Samoa Joe defeated Daniel Bryan and Big Cass (MITB qualifier)

NXT will present a taped show from Full Sail University tonight. The brand is building towards the upcoming Takeover event in 10 days from Chicago’s All-State Arena.

4 matches have been confirmed already for Takeover but more could be announced on tonight’s show.

NXT 6/6/18 Preview

Tommaso Ciampa Addresses His Street Fight with Johnny Gargano

• At Takeover Chicago the epic rivalry between Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano will continue. They will meet in a street fight in Chicago in a match which might finally bring this long-running blood feud to an end. Tonight, Ciampa plans to address his match at Takeover: Chicago with the fans at Full Sail University.

Nikki Cross Segment

• Last week, Nikki Cross saved Dakota Kai from a post-match beatdown by Shayna Baszler. Cross then challenged the champion to an impromptu match and won after Kai counted the 3-count. The match was unofficial, of course, and Cross did not actually win the championship.
• The NXT Women’s Championship still doesn’t have an official match at Takeover: Chicago, perhaps Cross’ segment tonight could lead to such a match being confirmed.

Roderick Strong vs Danny Burch

• Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch will challenge the Undisputed Era at Takeover: Chicago for the NXT tag-team championships. This week, Danny Burch will face Roderick Strong in one-on-one action. Burch scored the win for his team (with Lorcan and Pete Dunne) over the 3 healthy members of Undisputed Era (O’Reilly, Strong, and Cole) recently on NXT.

Kairi Sane vs Lacey Evans

• Evans pulled off a huge upset the last time these two met in single’s action back in May. Sane had defeated Evans back in April, however. As the two are 1-and-1 with each other, this match here will be the rubber match. The winner likely moves into the title picture following Takeover: Chicago and the loser does not.

Matches Already Confirmed for Takeover: Chicago:

1. NXT Tag Team Championships
   Undisputed Era (c) vs Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch
2. NXT Championship
   Aleister Black (c) vs Lars Sullivan
3. Street Fight
   Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
4. Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream

New Japan Pro Wrestling presents one of the biggest shows of the year this Saturday from Osaka Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.

The main event will feature a 4th one-on-one match between Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada. In their 3 previous matches, each has won once and their match from Dominion last year went to a time-limit draw.

Chris Jericho returns to NJPW this weekend to face Tetsuya Naito. Jericho filmed an expletive-laced promo directed at Naito which aired on the final night of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament this week.

Will Ospreay will defend his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against the winner of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors, Hiromu Takahashi.

Also on the card this Saturday, the Young Bucks will attempt to win heavyweight tag-team gold in the promotion for the first time. The Bucks will challenge Evil and Sanada of Los InGobernables for the IWGP Heavyweight tag-team championships.

Rey Mysterio Jr’s match in NJPW was also put together on the last night of the BOSJ tournament. Marty Scurll kept up the attack on Tanahashi after their tag match on the card, causing Liger to run in and make the save. Liger then said he would team with Tanahashi and Mysterio to take on Scurll and his Bullet Club teammates.

Naito vs Jericho… June 09 LIVE on #NJPWWorld!! Subscribe NOW ??https://t.co/Tj7UBINesh

DOMINION 6.9 ????3??@s_d_naito vs @IAmJericho??1.5????5.4????????6.9???????…???&??https://t.co/Tj7UBINesh#njDOMINION #NJPW pic.twitter.com/6MnXD25TTx

— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) June 5, 2018

Lineup for NJPW Dominion

1. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
   El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh)
2. David Finlay and Juice Robinson vs Yoshi-Hashi and Jay White
3. Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii vs Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki
4. NEVER Openweight Championship
   Hirooki Goto (c) vs Michael Elgin vs Taichi
5. IWGP Tag Team Championship
   Evil and Sanada (c) vs the Young Bucks
6. Rey Mysterio Jr, Jushin Liger, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, and Cody
7. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
   Will Ospreay (c) vs Hiromu Takahashi
8. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
   Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Chris Jericho
9. IWGP Heavyweight Championship
   Best 2-of-3 Falls
   Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Kenny Omega

Move over Papa Shango, here comes Rosemary. The former Knockouts Champion recently sat down for an interview with Alicia Atout and revealed she’s been working on a controversial new in-ring strategy.

“There are so many forms of the black arts in this world, child,” Rosemary explained. “Admittedly, we are not up on all of them as we’d like to be.”

Rosemary, who references herself in the plural, recently was in New Orleans and admitted to studying voodoo while she was there.

Rosemary Learning Voodoo

“Yes, we definitely wanted to learn more about voodoo, and tarot,” she expressed. “Would it not be helpful to see the future? So much better to plan. ”

When asked if she plans to use her newly gained knowledge of the black arts while wrestling, Rosemary didn’t hesitate in her answer.

“Yes, of course,” Rosemary said. “How better to control them all with dear?”

New Impact Wrestling backstage correspondent, Alicia Atout, hosted Rosemary on her YouTube and Blog site, Amby. You can watch the interview in its entirety below:

Demons, Bunnies, and Undead Brides

The Impact Wrestling Knockouts division is reminiscent of a Rob Zombie film at times. Most recently, Allie lost the Knockout Championship to undead bride Su Yung in a Last Rites (coffin) match. Previously, Yung had locked Rosemary in a coffin as well.

Rosemary suffered a torn ACL last month and could be out of action for the rest of the year. Her injury actual worked out conveniently for storyline purposes, however, as she had just recently been locked in a coffin by Su Yung and her army of undead brides.

When Allie faced Su Yung at “Under Pressure” last Thursday, she painted her face in a way reminiscent of Rosemary and came out to her music as well. Yung will defend the Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary on July 22nd, with her challenger being revealed in the coming weeks on television.

Kenny Omega will face Kazuchika Okada in the main event of Dominion on June 9th, 2018. It will be the fourth one-on-one match between the two.

Okada defeated Omega at WrestleKingdom 11. They met at last year’s Dominion event as well. That match went to a time limit draw. The last time they met was in last summer’s G1 tournament. Okada suffered a back injury in his previous match against Evil, which allowed Omega a slight advantage and the victory.

Kenny Omega recently sat down with New Japan World to discuss his upcoming title challenge on June 9th.

Kenny Omega Pre-Dominion Interview

“He’s done so much and beaten everyone so many times that he calls the shots! He makes the challenges; he makes the rules.,” Omega said on his opponent’s record-breaking title reign. “That’s the situation we’re in right now.”

In order to further break the deadlock between the two, their match will be a best out of two of three falls. Omega addressed the stipulation during the interview.

“Don’t give me a handicap, Okada. That makes it too easy for me. Let’s make this fair, 50-50, right down the line. That is why I wanted the best two out of three falls,” Omega said. “I know the secret to this match, Okada. The secret is in that first fall; I won’t let you take it. You’re not getting the first fall. I’m going to take the first fall and control the pace.”

Kenny Omega’s Motivation To Beat Okada

Omega also addressed his motivation for defeating Okada aside from winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

“You may be the best wrestler on the planet. I’ll admit it, you are,” Omega said “It’s not even an opinion thing anymore, this is something that you’ve proven. But you can’t say you are the best performer. That goes to me. If we’re going to move this thing forward, if we’re going to cause this revolution of professional wrestling and make it worldwide and something cool, we can’t just have the best natural wrestler steering the ship. We need someone who captures the imagination, who captures the heart. We need a professional wrestler and a showman. Which is why I’m doing everything in my power, to overtake your natural wrestling ability.”

NJPW Dominion takes place June 9th and airs live on New Japan World.

WWE filed for several new trademarks recently. One particular trademark filed could prove interesting as well. WWE has filed to trademark “NWO” not just for merchandising but also for wrestling purposes.

The statement of activity listed for the NWO trademark is as follows:

“Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer rendered live and through broadcast media including television and radio, and via the internet or commercial online service; providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network, providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment via an online community portal, providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information; fan club services, namely, organizing and staging events with wrestling fan club members; providing online newsletters in the fields of sports entertainment; online journals, namely blogs, in the fields of sports entertainment”

WWE Files to Trademark NWO and Several Other Terms

The free internet database of federally registered government records, Trademarkia, lists several recent trademarks the company has filed for.

In addition to filing the above-mentioned NWO trademarks, WWE has also filed to trademark the term “Skull King” and “Immortals”.

“Woken Warrior” is one of the terms WWE has filed for recently. The term has been used as part of Matt Hardy’s and Bray Wyatt’s current storyline.

The name Pete Dunne was only trademarked a few weeks ago as well.

The term “Talking Snack” was trademarked in March and that is definitely “Snack” and not “Smack” as well. WWE Brawl, AWA, and “The Irresistible Force” have all been trademarked by WWE recently. In March, WWE filed to trademark the phrase “the Most Patriotic Show on Television.”

“Project Rock” was also trademarked around the same time the company filed for trademarks on “WWE Mixed Match Challenge” and “Absolution”.

Do you think WWE will bring back an NWO Faction? Tell us what you think below:

Impact Wrestling just announced 2 championship matches for their July 22nd Slammiversary PPV in Toronto.

The promotion finished a set of TV tapings in Windsor this weekend and then filmed a One Night Only PPV in Mississauga last night. This morning, Impact’s management team held a press conference in Toronto and announced the Impact World Championship and Knockouts Championship matches.

Impact announcer, Josh Matthews, announced Su Yung will defend her Knockouts Championship against Madison Rayne. Also announced, Impact World Champion, Austin Aries, will defend against Moose.

Knockouts Championship: Su Yung (c) vs Madison Rayne

Madison Rayne was on hand in Toronto and was announced as Su Yung’s challenger for the Knockouts Championship on July 22nd. Rayne was speaking with media when she was interrupted by a video of Knockouts champion, Su Yung.

Impact World Championship: Austin Aries (c) vs Moose

Moose was also on hand in Toronto this morning. The former NFL’er was announced as Austin Aries’ challenger at the upcoming PPV. Aries came out shortly after Moose. In addition to announcing the title match, Aries announced he was merging the Impact World and Grand Championships into one.

When asked what merging the titles will mean for the championship picture in Impact, Aries took a shot at a former champion. Aries stated that ever since Josh Matthews was Impact Grand Champion, the title lost all value. He then continued to say the title was created under a different regime and under different rules.

Impact Wrestling Returns

Impact also announced the return of two members of their roster. Johnny Impact will return to action at Slammiversary. The popular star hasn’t been seen in the promotion since earlier this year. His absence on television has been explained via an injury angle with Kongo Kong.

Johnny Impact and member of the Impact Knockouts division, Taya Valkyrie, were married over the weekend. The former Lucha Underground Champion will be a contestant on the upcoming season of Survivor. He will also be featured in the upcoming season of Lucha Underground as well (begins airing June 13th, 2018).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWflEr3JHV8

Impact Wrestling and MLW star Sami Callihan is threatening to show up on Chris Jericho’s cruise this fall. Callihan is not officially booked for the cruise, but his recent comments suggest he might show up there anyway.

Cameras caught up with Callihan yesterday as he was arriving for the Impact Wrestling TV tapings in Windsor, ON, Canada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=irMgSd-1j_Q

Sami Callihan Threatens Chris Jericho and Ring of Honor

”I don’t care if it’s the Chris Jericho cruise, a cruise I didn’t even get booked on, which is bullshit,” Callihan said. “What are you guys, afraid? Chris Jericho, are you just afraid of Sami Callihan? Ring of Honor, are you afraid of making money with The Draw, Sami Callihan? That is my question. I am sick of being disrespected because I am The Draw and there is not one person that will tell me differently.

The way I’m looking at it right now, the only bigger bitches than Impact management is Ring of Honor and Chris Jericho. So here’s the thing: I might just have to get my baseball bat and show up on this cruise because I do what I want, when I want.”

Not long after, Chris Jericho responded.

Hmmm …now this is interesting. @TheSamiCallihan @ringofhonor @jericho_cruise @IMPACTWRESTLING https://t.co/E0SvSrEauB

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) June 2, 2018

Sami Callihan in Impact Wrestling

Ever since the promotion’s TV tapings in January, Callihan has been playing up the “loose cannon” gimmick. He broke Eddie Edwards’s orbital bone during a segment filmed in January which received a lot of coverage.

Since that time, Callahan and Edwards have wrestled on Impact Wrestling and in Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion. They are scheduled to face each other on Impact Wrestling again this Thursday in a match filmed in the woods.

Transcripts via Cagesideseats

In an interview with WWE.com, NXT Superstar Dakota Kai recently mentioned the Rock as one of her early influences.

“My brother was the one who actually got me into WWE,” Kai said when asked about first getting into wrestling. “He watched it all the time, and I started to watch with him. I was hooked on The Rock and his ability to captivate an audience. From there, one of my friends I used to do athletics with told me about a local company that needed more girls. That was in 2007, and I haven’t looked back since.”

The Rock responded to the article and Kai on Twitter.

Very cool and flattering @DakotaKai_WWE. Thank you! Look forward to following your career. Work extremely hard, have FUN in the ring performing for the fans and always stay above bullshit backstage politics ????? https://t.co/OI4PTiW20I

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 3, 2018

The Rock Offers Advice to Dakota Kai

“Very cool and flattering @DakotaKai_WWE,” Rock Tweeted. “Thank you! Look forward to following your career. Work extremely hard, have FUN in the ring performing for the fans and always stay above bullshit backstage politics”

Kai and the Rock are both half-Samoan. Kai was also asked if she feels any pressure because of the rich lineage of Samoan wrestlers.

“I never felt any pressure about that,” she explained. “I’ve simply always embraced being ‘afakasi. Mum would make sure us kids would grow up with a strong sense of who we are and where we came from. I’ve visited Samoa twice and visited my mum’s home village of Lepea. She would always make traditional Samoan dishes for us, and we would have family get togethers somewhat regularly. Family is priority within the Samoan community, which means the support system I get from them is amazing.”

Dakota Kai was recently defeated by NXT Women’s Champion, Shayna Baszler, on NXT. The 30-year-old has now been in WWE developmental since April 2017. Before signing with WWE, she wrestled as Evie for promotions such as Shimmer and Stardom. Kai defeated Rhea Ripley as the NXT house show from Fort Pierce, Florida last night.

CM Punk took the stand today as part of his ongoing trial. Dr. Chris Amann is suing Punk for comments he made on his friend Colt Cabana’s podcast regarding the medical care he received while with WWE.

A reporter for the Chicago Tribue, Gregory Pratt, is live at the trial and noted some interesting testimony was given by Punk this morning. His Tweets from the courtroom are below:

https://twitter.com/royalpratt/status/1002604531946082305

Notes From CM Punk Testimony

Punk was asked if there is anything he would change about his comments on the podcast.

“CM Punk took stand mid-morn,” Pratt tweeted. “His attorney asked if there’s anything he’d change about podcast, he said he swore a lot on there and wouldn’t today. Acknowledged being bitter then and wrestling being his whole life. Lots of things on the podcast he just doesn’t care about anymore.”

Pratt also acknowledged that Punk confirmed “CM” stands for Chick Magnet.

“He confirmed “CM” stands for Chick Magnet,” Pratt continued. “Remembers first promo after hitting someone w roll of coins: ‘All’s I’m saying is, I’ve got a lot of cents.’ Amann atty won relevance objection”

https://twitter.com/royalpratt/status/1002603245766889472

“Punk explained his character saying it was heavy on straight edge — no drugs/alcohol subculture — and make no excuses for who you are. When a good guy, focuses on core good guy values, when bad guy, gets a little preachy, like call for cutting off beer sales if he wins match”

https://twitter.com/royalpratt/status/1002603537623339008

https://twitter.com/royalpratt/status/1002603587187376128

The Tribune also noted that lawyers from both sides debated the relevance of showing a video of CM Punk after having been put through a table. Evidently, the attorneys needed to explain to the judge who Kane was.

“There was a lawyer fight between Amann and Punk reps over video of CM Punk laying after going thru table,” Pratt Tweeted. “Amann counsel didn’t want video to show Kane chokeslamming Punk thru table. Judge:’ I don’t know who Kane is.’ Attorney: “The big man without a shirt.”

David Arquette announced yesterday he plans to return to professional wrestling. He made the announcement during an appearance on the Wendy Williams Show. He has since clarified his statements and motivation for returning.

Arquette explained his desire to return to wrestling has to do with wanting to silence the critics of his WCW World Championship run.

“I was promoting a movie I did called Ready to Rumble and it just so happened that I won the championship,” Arquette said yesterday on the Wendy Williams show. “(Fans) blamed me for ruining WCW. It’s no longer around and maybe I did have something to do with it.”

“For 18 years, I’ve been trolled on the internet,” he continued. “And I just want to bring some respect back to my name!”

After his announcement yesterday, Arquette spoke with TMZ Sports to clarify why he is returning to wrestling.

David “the Magic Man” Arquette Returns to Pro Wrestling

Arquette told TMZ he has been training to get in shape for his return. He’s been practicing jiu-jitsu and boxing as well.

He was asked if his return was a publicity stunt for a sequel to Ready 2 Rumble.

“Ready 2 Rumble 2 I don’t think will happen,” Arquette said before mentioning his co-star in the movie, Diamond Dallas Page. “I am going to be doing some DDP Yoga that’s for sure.”

When asked if Arquette plans to go for a championship or end up in WWE, here is what he had to say:

“I love WWE, I’ve always been a fan of the McMahons and Vince and everything they’ve been doing over there,” Arquette said. “It’s always been a weird relationship between me and wrestling. I’m just trying to clear my name.”

WWE wasted little time in promoting Arquette’s return to wrestling themselves. They Tweeted out the following not long after Arquette appeared on the Wendy Williams show.

Is @DavidArquette planning a return to championship glory?! The former #WCW Champion is ready for a comeback! https://t.co/cc4YyYcHi4

— WWE (@WWE) May 31, 2018

So far, it’s not clear what promotion Arquette is looking to get booked with. The Hollywood actor is located in Los Angeles and seemingly could appear for promotions such as Joey Ryan’s the Bar Wrestling, though that is only speculation.

27-year-old Kimberly Frankele is better known to wrestling fans as Kimber Lee. The former Chikara Grand Champion was released from her WWE contract earlier this year and has since returned to the independent scene.

Ahead of her participation in this weekend’s “the Northern” tournament with Smash Wrestling in Toronto, Kimber Lee spoke with Slam! Sports. During the interview, Kimber Lee spoke about her time in WWE developmental and her career on the independents.

Kimber Lee Interview Highlights

Kimber Lee was asked about the difference between the independent circuit and the year she spent in WWE developmental.

“When you’re on the independent circuit your schedule really depends on yourself,” she said. “If there are three [NXT] shows on the weekend you can work one or none at all.”

“When I first started at NXT I didn’t get to travel as much, I mainly stayed in Florida and trained a lot,” Kimber Lee continued. “I got to work with trainers like Robbie Brookside and Norman Smiley.”

https://twitter.com/Kimber_Lee90/status/998994532837584898

Abbey Laith in NXT

Kimber Lee wrestled under the name Abbey Laith while in NXT. She only appeared on 3 episodes of NXT television. She lost to Ruby Riot on the April 5th, 2017 episode and also participated in two battle royals, neither of which she won. Abbey Laith did regularly compete at NXT house shows, however. She lost most of her matches but did have a good showing in the inaugural Mae Young Classic. Laith made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament before losing to Mercedes Martinez. She had defeated Jazzy Gabert and Rachael Evers to reach that point in the tournament.

Kimber Lee was also asked about her experiences being a woman in the business and what her experience has been like with inter-gender matches.

Lee will wrestle in an inter-gender match in the 1st round of this weekend’s Northern tournament. She takes on Wheeler Yuta. Both Yuta and Lee were trained by 205 Live Superstar, Drew Gulak. Here is what Lee had to say about her upcoming opponent.

“He’s going to have a strong technical base because Drew is such a technical mat wrestler,” she said. “It’s going to be more of a grappling battle than people think.”

More information on Smash Wrestling’s tournament this weekend can be found here.

In addition to Lee, Matt Riddle, Joey Mercury, Joe Hendry, Joey Janela, and Mia Yim are also entered into the tournament.

Lee concluded the interview by stating, “The Crown Jewel is very much alive, so never count me out.”

The feud between Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan continues to roll on in Impact Wrestling. The rivalry has spilled into other promotions as well such as Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore and Santino Marella’s Destiny Wrestling.

Last night on Impact Wrestling’s “Under Pressure” it was revealed that Callihan and Edwards will face each other once more next week. The match will be a “Fight in the Woods”. By the sounds of it, Impact will film (or already has done so) a match between the two in the middle of a forest with no fans present.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wxEasAFw9g

Sami Callihan vs Eddie Edwards

So far in 2018, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan have faced each other on 4 occasions. Here are the results:

1. Impact Wrestling January 13th: Edwards defeated Callihan
2. Redemption PPV (Hardcore Rules): Callihan and oVe defeated Edwards, Moose, and Dreamer
3. House of Hardcore 41 (Street Fight): Edwards defeated Callihan
4. House of Hardcore 42 (Street Fight): Edwards defeated Callihan

Edwards spoke to the Mirror UK website about the recent changes in Impact Wrestling.

“Since (the new management team) came in it feels like a new regime but in a good way,” Edwards said. “Feels like at this point from the guys in the locker room to the guys in the office, Scott, Don, Sonjay and creative are all on the same page. We are trying to slowly but surely turn things around and get back to where we were in the heyday.”

Edwards continued to say he is pleased with the level of creative freedom and communication which currently exists in the promotion.

“Right now the lines of communication are open between everybody which is great,” he continued. “To be able to go back and forth with ideas and creative stuff. It’s nice to just have the team all on the same page going forward and that’s the biggest thing. We can’t have people going in different directions that doesn’t work. Right now it’s a good time.”

Impact Wrestling’s management and roster are in for a busy few days. The company is currently in Windsor, ON, Canada for the first of two nights of television tapings. Following the 3rd set of TV tapings under the new management, the promotion will head to Mississauga, ON, Canada for a One Night Only PPV on Sunday.

Impact co-Vice President, Don Callis, recently appeared on the Busted Open Radio show.

"Eliminate the stupid stuff and don't insult the fan's intelligence" @IMPACTWRESTLING EVP @CyrusOverHuge on the changes that needed to happen and his vision for the future of the company.@davidlagreca1 @bullyray5150 #IMPACTonPOP #UnderPressure pic.twitter.com/9N00uxDBdl

— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) May 31, 2018

Don Callis Interview Highlights

For much of its existence, Impact Wrestling has been a poorly reviewed promotion. Callis was asked how he plans to rebuild a new reputation for Impact Wrestling.

“You’ve got to start making the small changes, the changes that make sense. For us, that meant eliminating the stupid stuff. Don’t insult the fans’ intelligence, and also getting the talent roster the way you want it,” Callis said. “I think that despite the fact that when I came in here with Scott [D’Amore] for the first tapings in January, people were flustered by the fact that ‘oh EC3 is leaving’ and this guy is leaving, but they would never say ‘but they just signed Brian Cage, they just signed Sami Callihan’, etc. I said it would take a couple of months to get the roster the way we wanted it.”

Callis was also asked what the company has to do to create a buzz.

“I think the way you create buzz— we’ve had a bit of a honeymoon period, as any kind of new coach or whatever does — is you get compelling talents in storylines that people are invested in, and you do a good job promoting it and you go from there.”

transcriptions courtesy of WrestleZone

Impact Wrestling’s Under Pressure aired last night. During the show, Austin Aries won back the Impact World Championship and Su Yung defeated Allie to win the Knockouts title.

Tonight on Impact Wrestling’s “Under Pressure” Tessa Blanchard will take on Madison Rayne. Blanchard made her debut with the company at the Redemption PPV on April 22nd, 2018 and let the rest of the division know she plans on cutting in line to the top of the card.

Blanchard defeated up-and-comer Kiera Hogan on a recent episode of Impact. She then opted to continue the beating on her opponent after the match. Rayne then ran in to make the save.

Blanchard is someone the company appears to be high on. The Knockouts division has added several new talents recently but none with as much potential as the 22-year-old Blanchard.

She recently took part in an Impact Wrestling media teleconference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zlhgATPs2E

Tessa Blanchard Interview Highlights

“Things are about to get very, very, interesting” Tessa Blanchard on what is next for her in Impact Wrestling.

During the call, Blanchard was asked about her father’s history with the 4 Horseman and what influence he has had on her career.

“I have huge respect for the 4 Horsemen, all bias aside,” Blanchard said of her father’s old faction. “I think my Dad and Arn were one of the greatest tag-teams of all time.”

Blanchard would say that her father’s era of professional wrestling is one she studies often. The gritty and more realistic approach to wrestling from Tully Blanchard’s era in the 4 Horseman is something which appeals to the younger Blanchard.

“I watch that era of professional wrestling for inspiration and to study tape,” Blanchard continued to say. “I want to portray that style through my work.”

Blanchard was also asked about recent media reports that she was broken-hearted when she wasn’t signed to WWE after her tryout in 2014. She clarified that she believes everything happens for a reason and she does not believe she would be the wrestler she is today if she had signed with WWE 4 years ago.

“These life experiences, these personal experiences through wrestling, if I was signed on (with WWE), my entire path would be different,” she said. “I’m very blessed for things to have played out the way they have.”

Blanchard also revealed she broke her collarbone while wrestling in Lucha Underground. She otherwise praised the company, talent, and how they treated her, however.

Impact Wrestling presents a branded episode tonight titled “Under Pressure”. The matches taped for tonight’s show will be the last to air from the company’s tapings held in Orlando this April.

After tonight’s show, the company heads to Windsor for 2 days of television tapings on Friday and Saturday. They will be in Mississauga on Sunday for a One Night Only PPV in collaboration with Santino Marella’s Destiny Wrestling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R97ZEWhHBsk

Impact Wrestling Under Pressure Confirmed Matches

Brian Cage vs Dezmond Xavier

Recently on Impact Wrestling, Brian Cage has been shown wrestling in Japan, Australia, and Canada. Tonight he will return to Impact to face Dezmond Xavier.

Scott Steiner vs Eli Drake

The former tag team champions appear to blame one another for their losing the belts to Z&E. Steiner accidentally hit Drake in the head with a chair to cost their team their titles. Tonight they will go one-on-one with each other at Impact Wrestling’s Under Pressure.

Tessa Blanchard vs Madison Rayne

Madison Rayne has returned to pro-wrestling. She saved Kiera Hogan from suffering a post-match beatdown at the hands of Blanchard on a previous episode but tonight she will have to face the 3rd generation star herself.

Knockouts Championship
Allie (c) vs Su Yung

In recent weeks, we have seen Allie adopt a new and darker persona. After watching her friend, Rosemary, be locked in a coffin by the devious Su Yung, Allie appears to have gone unstable.

Yung’s army of undead bridesmaids may also be in attendance, however.

Impact Wrestling World Championship
Pentagon Jr. (c) vs Austin Aries

Following the departure of Alberto El Patron, Pentagon and his brother Fenix found themselves in an Impact World Championship match at Redemption on April 22nd. Pentagon came out the victor but has yet to have his one-on-one rematch with former champion Austin Aries.

Aries will get his chance to add more gold to his belt collection tonight and avenge his title loss at Redemption.