Fans of the cult-hit show, Lucha Underground, will be excited to know they only have 67 sleeps left until the premiere of season 4. The promotion released a poster last night which featured the premiere date of June 13, 2018 for the next season.
Previously all that was known about a premiere date for the next season was that it would air in the summer of 2018.
Lucha Underground Season 4
While we will avoid posting spoilers, there are several hurdles which season 4 of Lucha Underground will have to get out of the way.
For starters, the end of season 4 saw Dario Cueto shot and bleeding in his office, though it was never clear if he had died. Lucha Underground has also announced season 4 will take place inside a different temple.
Filming for the season began in late February and continued throughout March. Earlier seasons of Lucha Underground are available on Netflix.
Hulk Hogan’s name has been mentioned quite a bit in wrestling circles as of late. The former WWE Champion attended the premiere of the HBO documentary on Andre the Giant and there have been confirmed talks between Hogan and WWE for the first time since leaked audio conversations led to his excommunication from the company.
In recent weeks, soon-to-be Hall of Famer, Mark Henry, appeared on the Busted Open radio program to say he doesn’t feel Hogan has done enough just yet to earn a second chance.
Today, former wrestler and World Karate Champion, Ernest Miller, is stating Hogan attempted to help him receive a major push in WCW.
Ernest Miller on Hulk Hogan
Miller appeared on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show recently and spoke about how Hogan once pitched an idea of him dropping the WCW World Title to Miller.
“You know what, Hogan wanted to lose the title to me one time to get me involved with the nWo. But then, if you noticed, we had so much little to nothing going on outside of the nWo.”
Miller talked further in regards to his relationship with Hogan.
“[I] may have been different from a lot of people. [Hulk Hogan] and I had a bond, he was really a good guy and easy to talk to,” Miller said. “I would run things past him, and he’ll give me some of his respects about the situation… Hulk Hogan was just another wrestler, tell me what to do and he was professional at it. Give me some advice, and I’ll take it and move on. I had a great experience with Hulk Hogan.”
WWE has released merchandise for their Hall of Fame Class of 2018. 7 new t-shirts have been added to WWE Shop, all of them featuring the class of Hall of Famers scheduled to be inducted tonight.
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame ceremony takes place tonight from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event will air live on the WWE Network.
Headline Inductee: Bill Goldberg (to be inducted by Paul Heyman)
the Dudley Boyz (to be inducted by Edge and Christian)
WWE kicked off WrestleMania weekend last night with a show from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
The event featured the 1st round matches in the Axxess title tournaments. WWE is holding tournaments over WrestleMania weekend to crown new contenders in the NXT tag-team, North American, United Kingdom, and NXT Women’s divisions.
Additionally, NXT Superstar, Kassius Ohno, challenged Keith Lee for the WWN title.
Results from WrestleMania Axxess Night 1
WWN Title Match
Keith Lee (c) defeats Kassius Ohno
WWE NXT Tag Team Title Invitation First Round Match
Trent Seven & Tyler Bate defeat Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli
WWE NXT North American Title Invitation First Round Match
Fabian Aichner defeats Jason Kincaid
WWE NXT Women’s Title Invitation First Round Match
Nikki Cross defeats Aliyah
WWE United Kingdom Title Invitation First Round Match
Lio Rush defeats Buddy Murphy
WWE NXT Tag Team Title Invitation First Round Match
Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) defeat Adrian Jaoude & Cezar Bononi
WWE United Kingdom Title Invitation First Round Match
Drew Gulak defeats Dan Matha
WWE NXT North American Title Invitation First Round Match
Akira Tozawa defeats Kona Reeves
WWE NXT Women’s Title Invitation First Round Match
Kairi Sane defeats Bianca Belair
Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler will be calling matches at WrestleMania 34. They won’t be the only additional commentators WWE brings in for the event as well.
WWE announced the guest commentary schedule for Sunday at the WrestleMania 34 Kickoff show yesterday
Guest Commentators at WrestleMania
Beth Phoenix, who participated in the 1st ever women’s Royal Rumble, will do commentary for the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
Ross and Lawler will call the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal which is scheduled to take place on the Kickoff show along with the Women’s Battle Royal and Cruiserweight Championship match.
Additionally, Shawn Michaels was announced as joining Renee Young on the pre-show panel. WWE also hinted yesterday there would be some surprise guest commentators as well.
The Impact Wrestling roster is gearing up for their head-to-head show with Lucha Underground this weekend but they have a taped show airing tonight as well.
This will be the 10th episode from the company’s January tapings in Orlando. The first episode from the tapings aired on February 1st, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ieNtbdVhew
Matches Confirmed for Impact Wrestling Tonight
Briefcase versus Briefcase Match Moose (World Title Shot) vs Eli Drake (Tag Team Title Shot)
Eli Drake was not happy he picked the briefcase with the tag-team title shot in it following Feast or Fired but he will get a chance to upgrade to a World Title shot if he can beat Moose tonight. That’s a fairly tall order, however.
Johnny Impact vs Taiji Ishimori
The former X-Division Champion, Ishimori, takes on the top-ranked Johnny Impact here in a match which could have future title shot implications.
Lashley Calls Out Brian Cage
Last week, Cage continued his undefeated streak by defeating former Impact Champion, Lashley with a Discus Lariat. This week Lashley will call out Cage.
Cage looks to be moving up the Impact rankings fast. If he continues at this pace, it might not be long before he is in title contention.
Allie “Summons” Su Yung
Knockouts Champion, Allie, has been haunted by a new undead force in Impact, Su Yung, as of late.
Tonight Allie calls out the undead bride as their rivalry continues to develop.
There is mounting evidence that the 52-year-old “Boy Toy” and “Heartbreak Kid” might be growing up. In a move which has shocked his legions of fans, Michael “Shawn Michaels” Hickenbottom has cut off his ponytail.
— SiriusXM Busted Open (@BustedOpenRadio) April 4, 2018
Unfortunately, the below photo of Shawn after losing his ponytail seems to also indicate he might be having trouble finding his smile again. He only seems to get half of one out in the below photo:
Since late 2016, Michaels has been working as an instructor at the WWE Performance Center. According to a report from the Pro Wrestling Torch last year, he teaches the final of 4 stages of classes the students go through.
A fan on Twitter recently asked Cody why WWE doesn’t invite him to attend the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Classic which honors his late father. Cody’s response was as follows:
They always very kindly do. That's for Regal & the students. It's their moment. I personally can't honor him by standing next to a trophy(as beautiful as that trophy is). They do a great job promoting/protecting his influence/legacy. https://t.co/6cbbaP4fGh
WWE and Cody have had something of a tumultuous relationship since the 32-year-old left the company in 2016. As Cody had only ever performed under the name “Cody Rhodes” under WWE’s umbrella, the company and not Cody was able to claim ownership of the fictional last name “Rhodes”.
Cody and WWE also butted heads over the company using the name Starrcade for a show last year. On the other hand, Cody has generally been supportive of NXT using Dusty-created concepts, such as the return of War Games. He issued the below response after news of the match-concept returning broke:
I'm not mad. I was told. H worked for my Dad and then my Dad worked for him. They were friends. Care and effort will be placed into it.
On tonight’s episode of NXT, the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Classic tag-team tournament will take place. Additionally, two big singles matches will also round out today’s card.
The show was taped from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.
NXT Preview
Dusty Rhodes Classic Finals Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong vs the Authors of Pain
The AOP will be looking to win their second straight Dusty Rhodes Classic.
As for Dunne and Strong, Dunne successfully defended the UK Championship against Strong earlier this year and there could be some tension between the two despite their victory in the semi-finals.
With Bobby Fish’s injury now expected to keep him out of Takeover: New Orleans, we should find out more about the next tag-team title opportunity on tonight’s show.
Killian Dain versus Lars Sullivan
2 of the 6 competitors vying for the new Noth American Championship on Saturday will face off in 1-on-1 action tonight.
Sullivan is just returning from injury while Dain has been steadily moving up the ranks as a single’s competitor in recent months.
Kairi Sane vs Vanessa Borne
Ember Moon and Shayna Baszler may have their eyes on this match-up. A win for Sane could move her into title contention.
Sane recently lost to Shayna Baszler on an episode of NXT filmed from Center Stage in Atlanta. She is now 1-1 versus the Queen of Spades in 1-on-1 action, having defeated her in the finals of the Mae Young Classic. If Sane defeats Borne here, and Baszler defeats Moon at Takeover, we could see the rubber match between Baszler and Sane next. Bazler defeating Moon at Takeover is a big “if”, however.
As for Borne, she’s 1-2 in NXT single’s matches and went 1-1 in the Mae Young Classic (she won her qualifying match and lost in the first round). Her last match on NXT television was a loss to Nikki Cross in February.
Three years ago, Rusev rode into WrestleMania on an undefeated streak. He also literally rode into WrestleMania on a Russian tank. While he would eventually lose to John Cena at WrestleMania 31, the legacy of his entrance that day has endured.
Rusev Bringing the Tank Back for WrestleMania 34?
“This Sunday, maybe we dust off the old tank” – Rusev to WWE.com
Based on his comments to WWE.com, it appears Rusev might be looking to bring back the tank for this year’s WrestleMania.
Rusev will be 1/4 of the United States Championship match this Sunday. He was added to the match after pinning US champion, Randy Orton, in a tag match two weeks ago on Smackdown.
Tenille Dashwood (FKA Emma) has only been with ROH’s Women of Honor division for two months but she has already made a big impression. Currently, Dashwood is in the semi-finals of the promotion’s tournament to crown a Women of Honor champion. Dashwood defeated Brandi Rhodes in the quarter-finals.
Tenille Dashwood on Difference Between ROH and WWE
ScreenRant recently caught up with Dashwood and asked about how things have changed for her since she left WWE.
“Of course there are differences [between WWE and ROH],” said Dashwood. “I think WWE is very much entertainment, and obviously Ring of Honor is too, but I think you see a little more wrestling in Ring of Honor.”
Dashwood will wrestle Sumie Sakai in the semi-finals of the tournament. That match will take place on the SuperCard of Honor preshow this weekend. Should Dashwood be successful in that match, she would move on to face the winner of Kelly Kelin versus Mayu Iwatani. The finals of the tournament will take place on the SuperCard of Honor main show later the same night.
“I’m expecting to be in the finals, that means two matches in one night,” says Dashwood. “I’ve done three matches a night in NXT, so maybe I have that over the other competitors, maybe they’re not used to that. So I’ve thought ahead, I’ve taken that into account, and I’ll enjoy the moment, and in the end, I’ll walk out as champion.”
WWE Raw Women’s Champion, Alexa Bliss, recently took part in an interview with NHL.com. While much of the interview centered around Bliss’ fandom for the Columbus Blue Jackets, she also talked about women in sport.
When the topic of Ronda Rousey came up, Bliss expressed that her arrival is helping to legitimize what she and the other women on the roster are doing.
Alexa Bliss on Ronda Rousey’s WWE Impact
“Now with having Ronda Rousey, who has made a name for herself with UFC, and bringing her on board with what we do really legitimizes anyone’s question for what we do. It is tough and to have someone with her caliber develop and learn shows that it’s not easy as people think it is. It shows that we’re just as strong the men, we’re just as good as the men and now it’s our time to show it and prove it.” – Alexa Bliss to NHL.com
WrestleMania 34 will only be Alexa Bliss’ 2nd time on the “Grandest Stage of Them All”. It will also be her second time entering WrestleMania as champion. Last year, she lost her title to Naomi in the second last match on the card. This year, Bliss is hoping for a different result against Nia Jax.
“Last year I learned my lesson. One second of being distracted can end it all. Last year I was distracted for a split second and Naomi was able to submit me. This year I’ll make sure that I can do whatever it takes to win at all costs. Some people say that I cheat or whatever. I just call it strategy.”
WWE’s Smackdown, 205 Live, and Mixed Match Challenge shows will emanate from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN tonight.
In total 5 matches have been confirmed for tonight’s show.
Confirmed Matches and Segments for Smackdown Live
AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin
Styles and Nakamura will team up one last time before WrestleMania. They have been watching each other’s back recently but we’ll see tonight what happens on the last Smackdown before their WWE Championship match.
Rusev vs Jinder Mahal
The team of Rusev and Jinder Mahal defeated Bobby Roode and Randy Orton last week after Rusev pinned Orton. At first, Jinder wanted to reward Rusev by getting him front row tickets to WrestleMania. Instead, Rusev was added to the United States championship match at WrestleMania.
Charlotte Flair vs Natalya
Two weeks ago, Natalya defeated Charlotte in a non-title match. This match will also be non-title however.
Shane McMahon scheduled to appear
Despite saying he would be taking a leave of absence from Smackdown, Shane McMahon will be on hand for the last Smackdown before WrestleMania.
Mixed Match Challenge:
Finals: Charlotte Flair & Bobby Roode vs Asuka & the Miz
205 Live:
Drew Gulak vs Mark Andrews
A segment involving Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali is expected but details have not been revealed.
Cody believes he is the leader of Bullet Club and that is why he recently attempted to change the faction’s logo. Some of his stablemates appear to be growing frustrated with the former ROH World Champion.
In a recent Q&A session with ROH fans, Cody revealed he is looking to recruit two women into Bullet Club.
Cody on Recruiting Women into Bullet Club
When asked, here is what Cody had to say on the subject:
“I’m going to recruit women to the Bullet Club and I have two in mind. Two in mind, which is a secret. All this nonsense, ‘Well, New Japan doesn’t have women,’ well, the world has women. Women of Honor. We have the tournament finals at Supercard of Honor, come on! The Bullet Club needs women and not just, ‘Oh, they’re kinda in, but kinda not,’ no, they need to be official members brought into the fold of the Bullet Club.”
Rumored names of female wrestlers for Bullet Club include Tenille Dashwood. She addressed these rumors last week:
“They would have to do some sweet talking and we’d have to work some things out. You never know what’s ahead. I’m not saying yes or no, I’m saying it depends.”
Another rumored name includes Summer Rae, who tweeted this out not long after her WWE release:
Further possible names include members of the WOH roster such as Kelly Klein or Mandy Leon. Cody may also be referring to Brandi Rhodes, although it is not clear if she is already officially a member of the faction or not.
Amber Gallows was the first ever female member of Bullet Club.
Ring of Honor has booked an 8-man tag-team match to main event their upcoming “Bound for Honor” show in Lakeland Florida. The event takes place April 28th, 2018 from the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
The show will air live for Honor Club subscribers.
Bullet Club vs ROH Champions
The match will involve 4 Bullet Club members (chosen by the faction) to go up against whatever 4 men hold the company’s main titles. The ROH World Champion, TV Champion, and 2-on-2 tag champions will make up the ROH team.
As of right now, the ROH team would consist of Dalton Castle, Kenny King, and the Briscoes but that could change between now and April 28th, 2018.
32-year veteran, Jeff Jarrett, will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend. Jarrett isn’t closing the door on his wrestling career just because he is entering the Hall of Fame, however. He still plans on getting his Global Force Wrestling promotion off the ground.
Last year, Jarrett was briefly named President of Impact Wrestling and the company was ready to re-brand as GFW. Backstage problems and a stay in rehab led to Jarrett being dismissed from Impact just months later, however.
Jeff Jarrett on Current Status of Global Force Wrestling
Jarrett took part in an interview with the Sporting News recently and confirmed GFW is still alive.
When asked about GFW’s future, here is what Jarrett had to say:
“Our industry has extreme growth potential international and Global Force is working on two specific projects. One very big, the other is still pretty big. When you look around the world and, through my TNA days and ever dating back a few years before that, the international scene is only going to get bigger. There’s no doubt in my mind it’s got such growth opportunity. Internationally is where I’m going, where Global Force is going, and I think that’s where the industry is going.”
WWE has announced the first five superstars for this month’s Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
Suspiciously, the five wrestlers announced today include one who has spent the last two years retired, another who was reported as retired earlier this year, another who is running for mayor of a town in Tennessee, and yet another who was recently “DELETED”.
Daniel Bryan, Big Show, Kane, Bray Wyatt, and Braun Strowman were all announced today as taking part in the 50-person match.
Greatest Royal Rumble Lineup
Confirmed Matches for the event so far include:
Greatest Royal Rumble Match (50-Person Rumble Match)
the Miz vs Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe (Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match)
John Cena vs Triple H
WWE has announced that all 7 male championship main roster titles will be defended on the show.
Cody and Disco Inferno were involved in an altercation on Twitter recently.
Disco sent out the following Tweet:
Nobody knows how to "work" anymore. They would rather kill each other to get @davemeltzerWON to put their match over. That is a problem that needs to be put front and center. Guys are going to keep getting hurt. https://t.co/NTwFopHlDR
Stop. You know nothing. You have drawn 0 dollars. No fan has ever left a show thinking about you. You were lucky to be a juiced up double-lifer "over with the boys" type in an era where you hid in plain sight coasting on others' success. Couldn't hang then, can't get booked now. https://t.co/0kiDAgyhlT
I take no pride in ending that man's career w/a single tweet…but this whole "they're doing it wrong…I know how to do it right…they're exposing the business…"
That logic itself is exposing the business. Don't let the bitter have a place in our world.
Cody has shown in the past he’s not afraid to go after people on Twitter if he feels they deserve it. After Jay White made reference to Brandi in a promo before Strong Style Evolved, Cody sent this Tweet out in response:
Jay White should remember that he's genuinely a trainee dojo boy, which is why NJPW gave him a spotlight, trainees are very very cheap. He should remember never to use my wife's name in an interview. He should remember how to wash guys' backs because that's currently his legacy. https://t.co/ROJFMxnGnm
WWE is reporting Bobby Fish may have torn his left ACL at an NXT live event this weekend. They sent out the following release this morning:
“NXT Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish suffered an injury to his left knee at an NXT Live Event over the weekend.”
Bobby Fish Torn ACL
While WWE is reporting the injury took place over the weekend, it’s likely they are referring to an injury which took place nearly a month ago. The last time Fish wrestled was on a March 4th NXT house show in Indianapolis. It is believed he suffered a knee injury and needed to be helped to the back on that show.
WWE choosing to say the injury occured this weekend as opposed to 4 weeks ago is a bit of a mystery. This could be something done for storyline purposes on NXT, however.
While there is no timetable for his return, a torn ACL is an injury he would need months to recover from.
In the main event of NJPW’s Sakura Genesis, Kazuchika Okada successfully defended his IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It was the 11th straight title defense for Okada, tying Tanahashi’s record. Now Okada and Tanahashi are scheduled for the next title match.
Also yesterday in Tokyo, Cody and Hangman Page pulled off a surprising upset over the Golden Lovers.
Sakura Genesis Results
the Young Bucks defeated Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
Jeff Cobb has reportedly been offered a contract by Impact Wrestling. A recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is stating Cobb was offered a 2-year deal but has yet to sign.
Cobb most recently spurred some rumors he might be joining NJPW on a more regular basis. He Tweeted out a photo of himself at the New Japan dojo in Los Angeles recently.
Let the rumors begin ??????
This is where people need to be, scratching, clawing, and trying to get into to learn and get better in our profession. 2 great trainers teaching in Shibata and Scorpio Sky. Boys and girls, it’s in our backyard! pic.twitter.com/Ym0lQLaZjw
Impact Wrestling tonight is a taped show from the company’s January tapings in Orlando. The main event will feature a champion vs champion match between Matt Sydal and Austin Aries.
Impact continues to build towards their April 22nd Redemption PPV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWK_wtE0MLw
Impact Wrestling Confirmed Matches for Tonight (non-spoiler)
Fatal 4-way
Rohit Raju vs Taiji Ishimori vs Suicide vs Petey Williams
Brian Cage vs Bobby Lashley
Champion vs Champion
Matt Sydal (Grand Champion) vs Austin Aries (World Champion)
Eddie Edwards will go to Ohio seeking Sami Callihan and OVE.
Su Yung to make in-ring debut
KM vs Fallah Ball
In addition to building towards their Redemption PPV, Impact will also take part in a head-to-head show with Lucha Underground at WrestleCon.
Last week, WWE commented on rumors they had reached out to Hulk Hogan. The company released a statement indicating they had spoken with Hogan but he was not under contract.
“We have had discussions with Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan) about how he can help others learn from his mistakes, however, he is not under any contract with WWE.”
TMZ reporters caught up with Hogan recently. Hogan was on his way to the HBO Andre the Giant documentary premiere and he confirmed he won’t be at WrestleMania.
Mark Henry’s Delegation
Mark Henry has made several public comments regarding Hogan’s potential return to the company. Henry feels the time is not yet right for Hogan’s return. He also noted that he is part of a delegation of wrestlers who have spoken about what Hogan would have to do to redeem himself.
”The delegation is pretty much all of the more established African-American wrestlers in the country and in the world, for that matter. Every promotion… there’s not a wrestling promotion that doesn’t house someone from the delegation.” – Mark Henry on Busted Open Radio last week.
Henry continued to say everyone should be given a second chance but you have to own what you did.
”There’s gonna have to be more community service and outside work. Support for programs and even creative programs that deal with diversity in the workplace. … I don’t process everything like everybody else. I believe that everybody should be given a second chance but I also believe that you have to own your issue, whatever that issue is. You gotta try to make closure on everybody else’s behalf, not just yours.”
More testimony in defense of the Fabulous Moolah has come to light. Earlier this week, 9 former Moolah students came together to deny the allegations against their trainer.
Now, the son of Sweet Georgia Brown, Michael McCoy, has also come to Moolah’s defense. He has said his mother had an agenda for saying the things she did against Moolah. Brown’s statements against the former women’s champion played a key role in her name being removed from the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
Sweet Georgia Brown’s Son Denies Allegations Against Fabulous Moolah
“I come to say today, that’s not true. That’s not true at all. Especially knowing the Moolah that I had grew to know.”
McCoy would continue to say members of his family may have an agenda for making the claims against Moolah.
“I’m not a fake. I’m not a phony and I’m not fronting today. And nobody is coercing me to say what I’m saying. Moolah did the right thing and she helped my mother.”